Nissan and EDF Energy explore 2nd life use of batteries

Nissan teams up with EDF Energy, the UK-based subsidiary of French utility EDF, to explore secondary use of old EV batteries. The first joint project will focus on creating a business model to reuse recycled batteries of the Nissan Leaf into commercial storage systems.

This partnership comes as EDF’s president Jean-Bernard Levy announced the plan to operate 75,000 charging stations in Europe by 2022 as it aims for a 30% market share in its main markets of France, Belgium, Italy and Great Britain. With Nissan, the focus will be on making use of the 70 percent of original capacity that batteries still provide after having served in EVs. According to Nissan, their second life as part of a storage system could still last more than 10 years.

According to Beatrice Bigois, Director of Customers at EDF Energy, the transition to EVs provides huge opportunities for businesses and households, “which is why we are investing in the best technology and products to help consumers and business realise the associated benefits.” Francisco Carranza, Director of Energy Services at Nissan Europe says, “we believe electric cars are just the start, and our second life programme ensures batteries from our cars continue to provide energy storage capacity in other applications – in houses, businesses, football stadiums even – long after their life in cars.”

At its home market in Japan, Nissan is meanwhile partnering with several companies – among them Tepco – to create virtual power plants, combining batteries from electric cars, homes and offices. According to Nikkei, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry aims to have systems capable of handling around 50 MW – equivalent to around 15,000 households – as of fiscal 2020.
greencarcongress.com, newsroom.nissan-europe.com, asia.nikkei.com (Japan)