Nissan Leaf batteries could be recycled for power grid backup

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Nissan and three energy-technology corporations have joined forces to create a way to make use of discharged lithium-ion battery packs that comes from Nissan’s electric vehicles, by finding way to store energy that has been created by the public power grid when the factory is in its off-peak hours. They also are trying to form a way to make to make the discharged batteries available for the time when electricity is greatly used, such as hot summer days.

Wednesday, Franklin-based Nissan North America Incorporated said that the technology that the companies are exploring would make it possible for the batteries after stripped from the vehicle the Leaf electric contain to be converted to backup power sources for personal and commercial use, according to Nissan. This discovery would make them beneficial in large arrays; one way to use them is to charge them from the power grid during off-peak hours, and then to give back the energy when it is needed, such as during blackouts.

A group including some workers from Nissan and the partners-ABB and 4R Energy of Japan, and Sumitomo Corp. of America- plot to create a battery storage installation, in which each system could supply up to 50 kilowatt-hours of energy, which according to Nissan that has the ability to supply enough electricity to run 15 households for around two hours.

Senior manager of corporate planning for Nissan North America, Ken Srebnik stated, “It’s important to Nissan that we manage the complete life cycle of the electric vehicle battery pack, even beyond its use in a Nissan car.”

He also said, “Innovations in energy storage systems are becoming more viable as the electric grid gets smarter, and Nissan is proud to work with ABB, 4R Energy and Sumitomo to help bring these possibilities to market.”

Because of this idea, batteries could have several more years of use, beyond their original call of duty in electric cars, where they are estimated to remain industrious for 10 or more years.