Nissan’s newest regional office in France will house the largest grid-integrated electric vehicle (EV) system and second-life battery storage unit ever installed in a building, according to the automaker.
The integration of this technology is a demonstration of how cars in the future can be connected to social infrastructure such as road, information and electric power networks, and brings to life the vision’s third pillar, intelligent integration.
The new building will feature 100 vehicle-to-grid chargers, from Nissan’s partner ENEL, allowing Nissan’s range of EVs to plug in and draw down energy from the grid at off-peak periods with the ability to “sell back” the stored energy to the grid. It will also feature a 1 MWh energy storage system, from Nissan’s partner EATON, powered by 64 Nissan LEAF second-life EV batteries combined with solar energy generation.
The company hopes to extend this innovative battery technology to other major Nissan sites and facilities around the world over the next few years. The systems, which will be installed at Nissan’s new France office, will serve as a live test case of what can be achieved when electric cars are used to their full potential.
“At Nissan, we’re going beyond product. Innovation is about more than creating something new,” says Paul Willcox, chairman of Nissan Europe. “By demonstrating that electric vehicles can play an integral part in the energy management systems of the future, this project is a watershed moment on our journey towards a fully electric future.”
By reducing grid dependency and using excess energy stored in EV batteries in a smart way, Nissan believes today’s announcement will be a game-changer in the way people and businesses utilize EV fleets.
The new technology is expected to slash energy costs at the new France office by reducing drawdown of energy during peak periods in favor of off-peak tariffs. The new energy management system will also decrease the amount of contracted power consumed from the local electricity supplier.
“Nissan has always been at the frontier of electric vehicle technology, and we’re excited to be using our expertise to adopt a more sustainable approach to powering our business,” added Willcox.
