Nissan To Create Electric Vehicle ‘Ecosystem’
Nissan is looking to make electric vehicles more useful to customers by introducing more ways to utilize the vehicle’s batteries’ ability to store and share energy.
Under the plan, called Nissan Energy, owners of Nissan’s electric vehicles will be able to connect their cars with energy systems to charge their batteries, power homes and businesses or feed energy back to power grids. The company will also develop new ways to reuse electric car batteries.
Nissan has already begun programs in the U.S., Japan and Europe aimed at creating an “ecosystem” around its range of electric vehicles, including the Nissan Leaf. Nissan Energy brings these initiatives together as part of the company’s Nissan Intelligent Mobility strategy.
“Nissan Energy will enable our customers to use their electric cars for much more than just driving – now they can be used in nearly every aspect of the customer’s lives,” said executive vice-president Daniele Schillaci, Nissan’s global head of marketing, sales and electric vehicles. “Our Nissan Intelligent Mobility vision calls for changing how cars are integrated with society, and Nissan Energy turns that vision into reality.”
Nissan Energy will establish new standards for connecting vehicles to energy systems through three key initiatives: Nissan Energy Supply, providing connected charging solutions for the home, on the road and at driver’s destinations; Nissan Energy Share, where Nissan will work with partners to harness energy integration potential; and Nissan Energy Storage, looking to provide a “second life” to an electric vehicle’s battery, where it can be recycled or refurbished so as to be put to other uses.
“Nissan now offers customers a true EV ecosystem with Nissan Energy,” said Schillaci. “This is what we feel is the ‘new standard for electrification’ – it’s not just about owning a vehicle but taking advantage of all the associated benefits, for the customer and society overall.”
