Well Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan have other ideas about how efficiently we manage power at home – breathing new life into batteries from their LEAF electric vehicle (EV) after they’ve reached their usable lifespan in the auto.
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The company announced its vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial the first of its kind in the United Kingdom at an event in London yesterday.
Authorities in the United Kingdom are concerned the country’s power grid could be in trouble if Nissan goes forward with a scheme allowing electric vehicle (EV) owners to sell electricity back to the country’s grid.
Nissan announced its vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial – the first of its kind in the United Kingdom – at an event in London yesterday before revealing a slim wall-mounted battery pack for the home called xStorage. Partners in the project include National Grid, Italian energy company Enel and power management company Eaton.
NISSAN is celebrating the 50,000th European-built Leaf to roll off the production line, three years after the brand introduced electric vehicle and battery manufacturing to Europe. Right now, anyone selling their excess juice has to set a minimum charge through their smartphone, so it’s up to them to make sure they don’t need a tow truck to get home.
While the xStorage battery appeared to cost more the Powerwall, according to Nissan the total cost of ownership would be lower as the price included professional installation of the unit. Owners would then be able to sell the electricity back to the grid for more money than they paid for it.
The announcement comes one year after Tesla Motors announced a program to build stationary storage lithium-ion batteries for households, setting off a deluge of pre-orders from around the world.
“Some may think this is science fiction but we believe it is science fact”, said Paul Wilcox, chairman of Nissan Europe. But once installed, it can store up to 4.2kWh ready for supplying to the grid.
One fear of having a lot of EVs on the road is the potential strain on the power grid, possibly causing blackouts and infrastructure failure.
This is made possible by Nissan’s new xStorage system. The system will be priced starting at 4,000 euros ($A6,230).
The xStorage units will be more costly than Tesla’s offering.
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Nissan said a fully charged Leaf can power an average home for two days and the plan can earn owners as much as $1,100 a year.
