Nissan Leaf Can Now Power Homes using Bidirectional Charging: It’s Official

September 13, 2022 By Raulf Hernes

(Image Credit Google)

Reportedly, Nissan has permitted the first bidirectional charging system for use with its all-electric Leaf vehicle in the United States. In addition, the FE-15 charger by Fermata Energy, which can power homes using the EV's battery, charge it, and send stored energy back to the grid, is the first system of its kind to earn UL 9741 certification for bidirectional charging solutions. In 2012, Nissan affirmed that it might be a soon-to-be-discontinued EV that would eventually share its stored battery power back to your home or the grid during peak hours or even emergencies. However, this technology is broadly known as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), and Vehicle-to-Load (V2L), which all can be used correspondently to describe a system that converts EVs to a backup power station.

Also, other automakers have bidirectional charging solutions, including Ford's Intelligent Backup Power feature for its all-electric F-150 Lightning truck. Furthermore. There are also the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6 V2L features that can make them great camping companions. On the other hand, Tesla downbeat about the concept, pushing instead its dedicated PowerWall battery backup solution and the same one that it scales to the size of virtual power plants. And it could help reduce stress on the power grid. Although, for Nissan and Fermata, the solution is elementary. Fermata Energy CEO David Slutzky said that the Leaf owners could "create additional value from the energy stored in the vehicle's battery" in the press release. Additionally, the bi-directional charger can help reduce the EV's total cost of ownership by letting the building pull energy from it at peak times. Slutzky also claimed that it could help reduce stress on the power grid, a problem that, while it doesn't exist right now, could be an issue in the future unless utilities and grid operators make suitable investments.

Substantially, all models of 2013 and newer Nissan Leafs are approved for use with the FE-15 bidirectional charger, and the carmakers state that battery warranties will not be affected. You'll need a quick-charging CHAdeMO port on the Leaf to take advantage of bidirectional charging, which sometimes didn't come standard. Notably, the 2013 model of the Leaf received a more robust but similar capacity 24kWh battery than the 2012 model. Although previous models did have an option for fast charging, Nissan might not want to be responsible for the batteries' health rapidly depleting. If you are interested in the FE-15 charger, you can contact the company through their website. Meanwhile, Fermata Energy isn't the only product in Nissan's sight, though the automaker is also working with another company, Dcbel, to create a home-specific bidirectional charging solution.

By Raulf Hernes

If you ask me raulf means ALL ABOUT TECH!!

Nissan Leaf Can Now Power Homes using Bidirectional Charging: It’s Official

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