Nissan unveils new power supply system through LEAF
Technology ( 11 )
YOKOHAMA —
Nissan Motor Co on Tuesday unveiled a system which enables electricity to be supplied from the lithium-ion batteries installed in its LEAF to ordinary households, as part of its comprehensive efforts toward the realization of a zero-emission society.
The new system was unveiled at Kan-kan-kyo, a house built in front of the Nissan Global Headquarters by Sekisui House Ltd. Nissan said it will continue development and study how it can be fully aligned and connected with current power systems. Working with a wide range of partners interested in both its development and sales, Nissan said it aims to commercialize the system during this fiscal year.
Through this system, electricity stored in Nissan’s LEAF can be supplied to a house by connecting the car to the house’s electricity distribution panel using a connector linked to the LEAF’s quick charging port. The connector complies with the CHAdeMO Association’s protocol for quick chargers, adopted globally for its great versatility, safety and reliability.
With this system, Nissan LEAF can be used as an electricity storage device for houses in preparation for power outages and/or shortages. The lithium-ion batteries can store up to 24kWh of electricity, sufficient to power an average Japanese household for about two days.
Nissan said it believes this system will allow households to be supplied with a stable amount of electricity throughout the day and reduce the burden on the current power supply by charging and storing electricity in Nissan LEAF with electricity generated at night or through sustainable methods such as solar power, and using it during high demand periods.
This system can not only supply electricity from the vehicle but also charge it to the vehicle. Current Nissan LEAF owners will also be able to use this system, the automaker said.
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11 Comments
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0
the_harper
Of course if the car is used to supply power during the day and is charged at night you get to drive it... oh. Don't get me wrong - I think this is a great idea as a temporary measure to provide emergency power to a house in an emergency. Presumably in the long term for a house it would be better to have a set of storage batteries and an inverter.
-1
sunhawk
"green" power sources wind and solar aren't always on and need storage to be viable. putting the power in electric cars is just a start to that realization.
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jforce
Seems like a good step. Can't wait to see their competitors respond to the trend.
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Virtuoso
I suggest some carmaker start work on development of a nuclear-powered vehicle that will supply electricity to the entire neighborhood.
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melguy
Yeah, great idea, a mobile nuclear generator truck. When a tsunami comes, you just drive it to the evacuation area. If it needs emergency cooling you just drive it into a swimming pool.
Seriously, using EVs for load-levelling and during outages is great, but using battery storage always wastes energy, and you can't drive and power the house at the same time. It's like all the latest charge-at-night and run-off-battery-during-the-day TV's, computers, etc: they're advertised as power saving, but they actually use more power overall, they just use it at a more acceptable time, so that peak grid load is lower. I wonder if people will be surprised to see their bills actually go up.
Of course, power should be priced cheaper at times of greater supply/lower demand, then this would work economically too.
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Darrin Flores
AND where exactly does the electricity come from?...Coal?.. Oil?... Nuclear?.. the earth-loving quacks haven't got an answer for that..... and don't say wind or solar... that's a no-go for the island of Japan
1
Steve Lemke
Darren: At my house, power comes from the solar panels on my roof. I've been waiting to hear about a device like this and am thrilled to hear it will work with my 2011 LEAF through the CHAdeMO (quick-charge) port. I already generate twice as much power as I need for driving, and am adding more solar panels to cover the rest of my household use. A device like this would mean not losing a fridge full of food during an extended power outage, as well as powering everything else in the house without having to use (or own) a standby generator. Nissan: When can I get one of these in California? Sign me up!!
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Fadamor
This is all well and good, but as others have pointed out, you can't be using the Leaf for transportation if it's providing battery back-up for your house. Buying a vehicle so it can sit at the house is as crazy as... buying a phone for something OTHER than the ability to make a phone call. (OK, bad example but you get my point. :-/ ) Unless you're one of these people who can call in to work and say, "We've had a power outage, so I can't make it in today because the car is powering the house", you'll need to buy a SECOND car so that you can get to work while your Leaf is tied to the house.
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sfjp330
It's nice if you have single homes, but many people in Japan live in high rise condos. I guess if you live in a 9th floor of the building in Tokyo, you can put 100 meters of extension cord out of your living room window to the street level and charge your Leaf. Maybe Nissan should invent a wireless 220V charger for people that live on the highrise. What a great idea.
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arnolddeleon
The immediate application is backup power. It would be a great complement for solar electric system. There is also lots of value in grid regulation (not necessarily supplying power). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle-to-grid
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yasukuni
Seems to me that what we need is a breakthrough in battery technology. I predict that in 10 years there will be a radical development in the method of storing electricity. So if you could use solar panels, then store it for later use our problems would be solved.
A nissan battery powering a house for two days is not impressive to some of you, but maybe it's a start.
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