This week, Nissan and affiliate 4R Energy Corporation are launching a new initiative to give used Nissan LEAF batteries a second life as the energy storage banks for off-grid lights in a new effort called “The Light Reborn.”
The concept is very simple — bundle a solar panel, LED light, and battery into a self-supporting product that allows the solar panel’s daytime output to be stored in a battery that will then provide enough power to run the LED streetlight at night. BYD has offered products like this for years, but what makes Nissan’s push unique is that it makes use of used LEAF batteries.
The new product is a logical step for Nissan as the company looks for ways to utilize the most valuable assets in its electric vehicles — the batteries — after they have lived past their functional life in those vehicles (or been rendered scrap as a result of an accident).
The light product by itself is interesting and worth noting, but the really exciting news in this release is buried in the details. Nissan is making a bullish push into the energy storage business with a new 3-pronged strategy that hints at a new model for the company that echoes the strategies of other new energy companies BYD and Tesla. Building outward from the core of the batteries that power its electric vehicles, Nissan slid in 3 major bullet point graphics that speak volumes.
When combined with onsite solar production, the addition of large-scale batteries as residential energy storage units improves the durability and functionality of the home energy system. This message especially resonates with Nissan’s home audience in Japan due to its frequent and recently severe earthquakes, which have driven a high cultural awareness of the need for robust backup plans in the event of a natural disaster and inevitable power outages. There are wide-ranging knock-on effects from such outages. As one example, the power outage that came along with the Thomas Fire in my hometown of Ventura is believed to have contributed to the loss of water pressure in critical fire pumps, resulting in the loss of additional homes.
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