For owners of electric cars choosing to visit the Nissan Pavilion in Yokohama, Japan, there will be no charge for parking if they’re willing to discharge their car’s battery to help power the building. The innovative exhibition space close to Nissan’s global headquarters is showcasing the technologies that the company thinks will become commonplace in the near future.
One of the biggest challenges with energy is storing it, and this is where electric cars come in. We usually think about plugging in electric vehicles to charge the battery so we can go driving. But when the car is parked all that energy in the battery isn’t doing anything. Companies like Tesla, as well as Nissan, now sell battery storage for domestic use, and these wall units aren’t any different to the battery in an electric car. As energy from renewable sources like wind or solar is generated, home owners can then store that in the battery to use later in the day.
The large battery that power each electric car can also be used in the same way. In Japan, Nissan has already entered into partnerships with local governments to use the Leaf as a mobile battery that can provide energy to buildings in the event of a natural disaster like an earthquake or tsunami. The company is also running a programme that repurposes the used batteries from older electric cars for power supply to streetlights.
At the Pavilion, the Nissan Chaya Cafe operates entirely from solar energy and power supplied from Nissan Leafs. When Leaf owners visit, they can choose to plug in when they park and allow their car's battery to be used to help power the venue. As thanks for this visitors then do not have to pay for parking. The system allows each EV owner to decide on how much energy they are happy to give, and a limit can be set to keep a fixed amount of energy in the battery for the drive home.
Nissan CEO, Makoto Uchida, said: The Pavilion is a place where customers can see, feel, and be inspired by our near-future vision for society and mobility. As the world shifts to electric mobility, EVs will be integrated into society in ways that go beyond just transportation.”
The Nissan Pavilion will open to the public from 1st August until 23rd October. Visitors will have a chance to go for a virtual passenger ride in the new Nissan Ariya electric crossover and experience the thrill of a Formula E race car. Other attractions will include Nissan’s electric ice cream van, based on the e-NV200, electric bike and car-sharing schemes and for the petrolheads, there will also be a lineup of the latest GT-Rs.
Covering 10,000 square metres, the Pavilion is a zero-emission building will all of its energy coming from solar panels and renewable hydroelectric power.
Keyword: Nissan will accept electricity as payment for parking