Features | Buildings and Design
Nissan LEAF to power homes
In a further announcement from Nissan last week, the Japanese company unveiled a system which will allow its all-electric LEAF car to act as a household power supply.
The connector links to the LEAF’s charging port, transferring energy stored in the vehicle’s lithium-ion batteries into the house’s electricity distribution panel. The LEAF’s batteries can store sufficient electricity to power the average Japanese home for two days.
The technology will enable the car to function as an emergency power supply in the case of outages and shortages. The system will also be able to store power generated at night or through sustainable methods and supply it to the house, reducing the burden on existing power supplies.
The system will not only supply electricity from the car, but can also charge it to the car from the home. Nissan hopes that this technology, currently installed in a model house in Japan, will be commercially available within a year.
For further information:
www.nissan-global.com
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British Gas to install charging points for Nissan LEAF (3-Mar)
Electric vehicles start delivery in Japan and US (3-Dec 2010)