ABB is working with Nissan to reuse the automotive company’s LEAF electric car lithium-ion batteries as residential and commercial power sources.
Nissan North America is now the second car-maker ABB has approached, following a joint-venture with General Motors in 2011 to reuse its Chevrolet Volt battery systems.
ABB’s goal is to use the battery packs as supplementary power sources to feed electricity back to the grid during peak periods, and also as back-up during power outages.
‘End-of-life’ electric vehicle batteries that are no longer strong enough to power a vehicle are usually dumped into landfill, even though they often have up to 70% of their life remaining.
ABB claims the battery packs could be useful in both residential areas, and industrial applications, such as motor systems.
Last year, ABB and General Motors successfully developed a prototype energy storage system using an end-of-life 33-volt Chevrolet car battery teamed with a grid-tied electric power converter, which had the capacity to power 50 homes for approximately four hours.
Now, the power and automation specialist will work with Nissan, 4R Energy and Sumitomo Corporation of America to develop a LEAF battery storage prototype with a capacity of at least 50 kilowatt hours (kWh) – enough to supply 15 average homes with electricity for two hours.
“It’s important to Nissan that we manage the complete lifecycle of the electric vehicle battery pack, even beyond its use in a Nissan car,” said Ken Srebnik, senior manager, NNA Corporate Planning.
“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.”
Bruno Melles, head of ABB's Medium Voltage power products business, said: “This agreement will allow us to evaluate the commercial viability of a grid storage solution and develop a prototype to effectively reuse Nissan LEAF batteries.
“We look forward to working with our partners to take electric-vehicle battery energy storage technology a step further.”