Nissan Motors automobile could double as house generator

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Japanese vehicle manufacturer Nissan is trying to develop a new feature for its eco-friendly Leaf car. They want it to be used as a disaster house generator. The Japanese vehicle manufacturer is creating the technology as it simultaneously tries to gear back up to full manufacturing after the country was ruined by severe disasters in March.



Considered pure electric



Last December, the Leaf went on sale. It is a fully electric car that runs solely on battery energy. The Chevrolet Volt and other eco-friendly cars are typically hybrid cars. There are batteries in the auto. A gas powered generator is there for other times though. It costs about $37,000 for a Leaf, or 2.98 million yen, while using a high-performance, 24 kWh lithium-ion batteries.



Vehicle to be used for generating energy too



Carlos Ghosn is the Nissan Motors president that states Leaf EVs (Electronic Vehicles) will have new engineering put in them. They will be able to put power into private homes. The company hopes to have the new automobiles in showrooms within a year.



The recent earthquake and tsunami destruction in Japan has piqued interest in the car. The zero-emissions vehicles head in Nissan is Hideaki Watanabe. He said, "Some people are saying that instead of installing a generator, they would just purchase a Leaf." For $25,000, or 2 million yen, you are able to get a household storage battery put in, in Japan. This is very comparable to the Leaf.



The Leaf battery reportedly will store 24 kilowatt hours, which is sufficient to run the average United States house for one day. In times of disaster -- power outages for instance -- the vehicle could be used to charge the next day's energy overnight.



Not able to get charge units here



Hopefully, Nissan Motors can very easily industry the home-powering automobiles. It hopes to not have to put new hardware in to do this. Nissan's quick-charge unit can, in just 30 minutes, restore 80 percent of energy which Watanabe thinks could be a way to connect it to the home. With a normal outlet, charging the vehicle takes a whole day. It would take about 20 hours to do so. It costs about $15,000 to buy the quick charger which is only accessible in Japan currently. Watanabe hopes to get that cost down to about $10,000.



Plant opening pushed back



Of the 7,600 Leafs that have been sold so far, U.S. vehicle owners bought about 2,000. Manufacturing slowed with the Japan disasters though. That means the Smyrna, Tenn., production plant was unable to open. It could be late next year before the opening occurs. "Because of the earthquake, it's putting us in a difficult situation," claims Watanabe. "But we're not giving up yet," he explained.



Articles cited



Auto News

autonews247.com/nissans-home-city-seeks-to-power-homes-from-electric-cars/



Business Link Japan

steve-crane.blogspot.com/2011/06/jun-7th-nissan-future-houses-could-be.html



Detroit Free Press

freep.com/article/20110613/BUSINESS01/110613072/Nissan-plans-help-earthquake-struck-Leaf-owners-use-cars-power-homes?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Auto news