The LEAF's Solar-Powered Future

The LEAF's Solar-Powered Future: "

Nissan recently announced a new goal for their LEAF EV - to reduce the vehicles draw on the grid while mitigating battery waste. You might find yourself begging the question...How is that possible from a car that already produces zero emissions?

Well, Nissan has a very bright idea, literally. In two words: solar power.

To prevent excess strain on the power grid and excessive battery waste,
Nissan is working steadfast to create a new solar-powered system. The
current system utilizes 488 solar cells situated on the roof of
the automaker's headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. In a recent
demonstration, Nissan placed four LEAF batteries into a box in
the lowest-level of the building to store electricity collected by the
headquarters' solar panels. Nissan reports that this is enough energy to
charge LEAF EVs for one full year.

Though the battery life of the EV is incredible, the margin between the lifespan of the vehicle itself and the life of the battery may become a problem as the LEAF gains popularity. Once the vehicle has reached the end of its drivable life, the battery will still have about 80% of its lifespan remaining. As you can imagine, this creates the potential for a lot of waste.

Nissan has enlisted the help of Sumitomo Corp to aid them in completing their solar-power project. The automaker hopes to offer similar solar-powered charging systems to individual Nissan LEAF owners, businesses and public facilities as early as next year. The specific month Nissan hopes to offer individual Nissan LEAF drivers the solar-powered charging station is this coming April. Field tests are scheduled to begin, this December.

Be sure to stay tuned to learn more. Boardwalk Nissan, located at 1 Bair Island Road in Redwood City, California, promises to keep you up to date on new developments surrounding this innovative project.

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source: Google Reader