patrick.net

...the automaker is looking ahead to about five years time when aging Leaf vehicles may offer alternative business opportunities in using their lithium-ion batteries as a storage place for electricity.

...flood of used batteries could result as the life span of a battery is longer than an electric vehicle’s.

What? they expect that their Leaf vehicles will only last 5 years? A new car should have at least 12-15 years of life in it.

The life of electric car batteries has always been a negative. Battery life has gotten much better, and I expect that this is just a publicity stunt to convince people that the batteries will outlast the car.

This is Japan...what can I say?

You can recharge any electric powered vehicle with a solar array that you mount of your roof. What makes Nissan so special?

zzyzzx says

You can recharge any electric powered vehicle with a solar array that you mount of your roof. What makes Nissan so special?

Well, Nissan is saying that when the car reaches end of life, and is ready for the wrecking yard (after 5 years apparently), you remove the batteries and use them as power storage in your home. They have a current setup with solar power, but it could be any generating system: wind, geothermal, from the grid, etc.

Quick Batman to the Gimmick mobile!

Nissan acknowledges that, once the Leaf catches on, a flood of used batteries could result as the life span of a battery is longer than an electric vehicle’s.

I'm pretty sure that it works the other way around.

I found a little bit of clarification on the "5 years" here:
http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2011/07/13/nissan-develops-recycling-plan-for-leaf-batteries/

“The Nissan LEAF has only just been launched, but we have to think now about how we will dispose of the car when it comes to the end of its life,” said Jerry Hardcastle vice president, vehicle design & development, Nissan Technical Centre Europe. “Although the LEAF is designed to last as long as any conventional car, some batteries will become available from accident-damaged cars sooner and we must manage the use of the parts now.”

I still don't see this power storage solution as a long term solution for reusing the Li-ion batteries in the Leaf. Nissan expects about a 10 year life from the Li-ion batteries in the Leaf. The life of the car, baring accidents etc., should be around 15 years.

So, for the first decade the secondary power storage market should be a fine place to reuse the batteries, rather than go through the trouble of recycling them.

After about 10 years the Leafs still in service will be needing replacement batteries to finish out their 15 year life, and probably at a greater rate than provided by crashed cars. The supply of batteries that were going to the power storage market will be quickly eaten up by the Leafs needing usable batteries.

This one is out:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/business/view/nissan-to-expand-u-s-market-of-all-electric-leaf-model

good comments...