Nissan's new Leaf can power your house when an outage hits

A zero emission vehicle is impressive in its own right, and Nissan's all-electric Leaf is the first consumer-focused production car to show us the future of green transportation. But a new feature just introduced by Nissan may be even more groundbreaking. Using a new charging device, the Leaf's beefy lithium ion batteries not only power the vehicle, but can also be used to provide juice to your entire home in the event of an outage. 

The company showed off the new technology — nicknamed "Leaf to Home" — on Tuesday in Japan, and claims that a fully-charged Leaf could theoretically power an average Japanese home for roughly 2 days. The Leaf's sizable batteries are capable of storing 24 kilowatt hours (kWh) worth of power. Taking a look at U.S. energy statistics reveals that as of 2008 the average residential utility customer used a little over 30kWh per day, so Leaf owners here in the states might not experience that same two day longevity. 

Aside from the benefit of using it in emergencies and disaster relief scenarios, Nissan is positioning the new feature as a money-saving opportunity. By filling the Leaf's batteries overnight — when power supplies are at their most plentiful, and cheapest — and then using that power during daytime peak hours, owners could save a good deal of cash. Nissan plans to introduce the technology in Japan by March of next year, with a stateside introduction sometime later.

(Source)

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