Nissan & Endesa Team Up For “1st Mass Market” Vehicle-To-Grid System

News from Nissan NewsRoom Europe reports that Nissan and Endesa, an Enel Group Subsidiary, plan to work together on a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system in Madrid, Spain. It will reportedly lead to the first “mass market” vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system.

Green Car Congress reports that, at the ongoing Geneva Motor Show, the combo signed their commitment to this innovative collaboration. “The two companies have pledged to work together to deliver a V2G system and an innovative business model designed to leverage this technology.” The two companies have agreed to collaborate on the following activities:

• Introduction of V2G services in the European market;
• Exploring the use of “second life” EV batteries for stationary applications (including households, buildings, grid);
• Designing and evaluating potential affordable energy and mobility pack offers consisting of a two-way charger and an energy management system.

“Using this equipment, a Nissan LEAF or e-NV200 owner can connect to charge at low-demand, and cheap tariff periods, with an option to then use the electricity stored in the vehicle’s battery at home when costs are higher, or even feed back to the grid with a net financial benefit.”

On March 12, 2015, Endesa will host a full demonstration of the market-ready and low-cost system in Madrid. Paul Willcox, Chairman of Nissan Europe, explains:

We believe this innovation represents a significant development for Nissan Leaf and e-NV200 customers. Every Nissan electric vehicle battery contains a power storage capability that will prove useful in contributing towards smarter and responsible management of the power demand & supply of local power grids, thus reducing our EV total cost of ownership. Not only does this represent an opportunity for Nissan’s EV private and fleet owners, it could also support grid stability and fully demonstrate that each Nissan EV represents a tangible social asset.

Nissan adds: “The longer term zero-emission vision is for EVs to be at the center of a fully integrated system through which owners can participate in wholesale energy markets using the power stored in the batteries.”

Notably, Nissan is the world leader in sales of electric vehicles. Furthermore, Nissan’s CEO & Chairman, Carlos Ghosn, recently said that it would soon take the issue of electric car range off the table, which could really blow up the electric vehicle market. If this happens, there could be a ton of old batteries within a few years that aren’t great for mobility needs but wonderful for home or grid storage.

In a separate article, James examined some of the range: “As far as what the potential range-increases would be, it’s worth noting that, if the currently used 24 kilowatt-hours battery packs were replaced with 36 kWh ones, the max range would likely rest somewhere around 120 to 130 miles per charge. A 42-kWh pack — which has been mentioned as a possibility casually by at least one North American Nissan executive — would likely increase range up to around 150 miles per charge.” Either way, multiply those pack sizes by hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles, and you have a lot of energy storage potential.

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