Nissan’s LEAF is the world’s most popular and best selling electric vehicle, but what happens to its battery when it comes to the end of its drive life?
A NEw Lease on Life for an old Nissan LEAF battery
Once an electric car battery pack’s ability to store energy drops below 70% of its original storage capacity it is deemed to be no longer suitable for driving – but this doesn’t mean that it is no longer useful. Nissan has recently announced that they will be recycling the Nissan LEAF’s battery and creating a stationary power bank that will be able to store energy either from renewable sources or from the mains during off peak for use in off peak or blackouts.
This news follows our recent blog about how Tesla aims to power homes with batteries. Tesla’s Powerwall battery pack has already received immense interest and orders, but they are rather expensive. Nissan is hoping that they can provide a similar option to the Powerwall, but at a far lower cost as they intend to be built around repurposed and recycled batteries. Already they have plans to implement the LEAF batteries into their own factories in an attempt to reduce costs and maximize energy efficiency. In the next few months we can expect to see them announce pricings for home and business options.
This is not the first time that Nissan has used the LEAF’s batteries to provide an alternative energy source for homes and buildings. Two years ago Nissan connected sive Nissan LEAFs together to power an entire building from the parking lot.
Stationary power packs like these repurposed LEAF batteries are promising to be a massive business opportunity globally, but especially in South Africa where our power supply is… how do we say… erratic at best.
With electric vehicles promising to the future of driving, don’t you think it is time to take a test drive in the Nissan LEAF at Group1 Nissan.
