Nissan developing new vehicle-to-home power system for LEAF in Japan, aiming for commercialization this fiscal year
02 August 2011
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. introduced a system which enables electricity to be supplied from the lithium-ion batteries installed in Nissan LEAF to ordinary households (i.e., vehicle-top-home). The new system was unveiled at Kan-kan-kyo, a house built in front of the Nissan Global Headquarters by Sekisui House Ltd. Nissan 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 aims to commercialize the system during this fiscal year.
Through this system, electricity stored in Nissan 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.
With this system, Nissan LEAF can be used as an electricity storage device for houses in preparation for power outages and/or shortages. The 24 kWh lithium-ion pack can power an average Japanese household for about two days.
Nissan 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.
EV buyers are going to pay about 2000 USD anyway getting a level II charger installed in their garage so paying perhaps 500 USD extra to get emergency backup power for the house is going to be another attractive feature of owing an EV. In Japan people are desperate to get emergency backup power for their houses so this devise is going to be a real hit in that country when it arrives at the Nissan dealers.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 02 August 2011 at 06:42 AM
The grid connected battery is going to enable peak shaving and so help not so much the owner as the whole grid - not worth it for the individual. What would it take to actually get the two days of power for the owner? A means of disconnecting from the grid?
Posted by: DavidJ | 02 August 2011 at 07:41 AM
Combining local solar domestic power source, EV on-board batteries and grid may be the way to go by the end of this decade.
Posted by: HarveyD | 02 August 2011 at 08:38 AM
I like the idea - but 24 kWh is only a bit more than 1 day's worth of electricity for my house.
It could be very useful in emergencies (where one would only run the essentials in which case 24 kWh could last a week) for backup power.
I could also see it as being very useful for V2G applications where the utility might want to be able to draw a handful of kWh during periods of peak grid load. I suspect that the utility would pay pretty well for this given how much many will pay you to install a remotely controllable AC disable switch.
I still think that grid-regulation/storage will be where the utilities find the most benefit - where the utility will either charge/discharge the battery in very small increments - like 1 kWh at a time resulting in very little overall state of charge swings.
Posted by: Dave R | 02 August 2011 at 09:56 AM
When 100+ million PEVS and/or BEVs batteries become available for LIMITED (1 to 3 Kwh each) discharge, they could handle most of the current peak loads problem. Recharging during off peak hours is not a problem. The price differential between the peak hours discharge and off-peak hours recharges may be as high as 5:1.
Having access to 20+ Kwh electrified vehicle battery power would be very useful in many parts of the world.
Posted by: HarveyD | 02 August 2011 at 11:03 AM
Combined with CHP appliances V2Home will be a benefit for those who would like to avoid the grid for all but last resort backup. These are people who elect to live with a small footprint and heightened security.
Posted by: Reel$$ | 02 August 2011 at 12:12 PM
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 02 August 2011 at 08:07 PM