The Nissan Leaf Could Help Power Your House

2015 Nissan Leaf (Credit: Nissan )

Nissan is hard at work making the Leaf an even more valuable asset. The automaker has teamed up with ENEL, an energy provider based in Italy, to launch a Vehicle 2 Grid (V2G) system that allows the car to help power a house.

Basically, V2G turns the Nissan Leaf into a mobile power supply for not only houses but also offices and even the grid in general. The technology would rival the Tesla Powerwall, which has been getting all kinds of press lately.

Leaf owners could save on some expenses by running their household off the car’s 30kWh battery during peak hours, then replenish it at night when the juice is cheaper.

If drivers decide they have enough charge for the time, they can also sell back some of the stored-up electricity to the local utility company, getting a credit and shrinking the monthly bill. If a person is purchasing electricity from the power company, then selling it back later, that’s pretty silly. But if a Nissan Leaf owner has solar panels (as many do) this is actually a pretty smart move.

One of the biggest benefits of V2G is that it offers grid stability. When electricity is in high demand, like if everyone is watching the Super Bowl or it’s a cloudy day and solar panels aren’t generating like usual, the chargers help pick up the slack.

There are a lot of unanswered questions about the V2G system, namely how much it will set you back. Engadget says that ENEL quoted the price of the charger at about $900, which would make it surprisingly affordable.

Nissan and ENEL also haven’t unveiled details of how the tech decides when to charge the car, use it to power a house or sell the juice. That’s a big issue, considering Leaf owners might be left high and dry if they suddenly decide to take their car out for a drive.

Consumers in North America who want to try out V2G need to be patient. The tech is debuting in Denmark, then in other Western European countries before hitting the United States and Canada sometime in the future.