Sunday, August 14, 2011

Mitsubishi and Nissan to unify EV-to-home power distribution system [JP]

Nissan, MMC to unify EV power







Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plan to standardize a device that enables electric vehicle batteries to supply power to households, it was learned Saturday.

The unification of standards by the two automakers that currently split the domestic electric car market will highly likely lead to a unified national standard, observers said.

Electric vehicles have been attracting attention as "movable batteries" since the Great East Japan Earthquake, due to their portability and large power storage capacity.

The device makes it possible for users to connect their electric vehicles to a house's electricity distribution panel to supply the house with electricity.

Mitsubishi unveiled its device in July, while Nissan introduced its device on Aug. 2. Nissan and Mitsubishi plan to put their respective devices on the market by the end of this fiscal year.

However, they are not compatible. This means that if a user installs a Nissan electricity distribution panel at home, the user will have to purchase only Nissan cars.

An electric vehicle battery can store enough power to supply an ordinary household for two days.

But to supply electricity to a household from an electric car, a device is needed to convert the direct current from the car battery to alternating current.

The device recognizes the car's model number, selects the proper electrical current speed and checks the power level.

In Japan, more than 6,000 Nissan Leaf electric vehicles and more than 4,000 of Mitsubishi's i-MiEV cars are on the market.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. said they also planned to sell electric vehicles next year.

Companies are now studying the use of electric vehicle batteries rather than household storage batteries in next generation energy-efficient households, such as those that run on a solar energy power station.

Source:The Yomiuri Shimbun

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