Nissan has begun repurposing used Leaf electric car batteries into portable power banks that still pack a punch. This involves dismantling the original power packs into individual cells, and then reassembling them as smaller units. Repurposing Nissan batteries is feasible because they still contain a healthy charge, even if this is no longer powerful enough to meet the original specification.
Nuts and Bolts of Repurposing Nissan Batteries
Repurposing takes place at Nissan’s 4R plant in Namie, Japan. The company began working on the concept a few months after Nissan’s first electric car rolled out. Fortunately, Leaf batteries have almost legendary resilience, because it took a while to come up with the right approach.
The Nissan method seems logical, and could become the prototype for other electric vehicle manufacturers elesewhere:
- The cells are graded after they arrive at Nissan’s 4R plant in Namie.
- Those with an ‘A Rating’ are reused in new, high performance battery units.
- Cells with ‘B Ratings’ are deployed in industrial machinery, or for storage.
- ‘B Ratings’ are also suitable for private / commercial solar panel installations.
- Those with ‘C Ratings find a home in diverse backup power supply units.
Engineers repurposing Nissan batteries at the 4R facility seem confident their repurposed batteries have a life-span of years’. This dramatically extends their usefulness, where after their components will be available for material recycling.
How Stakeholders Benefit from This Arrangement
Eiji Makino, CEO of 4R Energy explains how this strategy converts an aging electric vehicle battery into an asset the owner can sell, and recover part of the original cost. Repurposed versions find new lives in factories, battery storage farms and solar energy systems.
This extends their useful lives, while avoiding the need to manufacture new batteries for some instances. And as a result users’ carbon footprints will become lighter, as Leaf batteries fulfill their new mission of delivering further renewable energy.
More Information
Used EV Batteries Tackle Domestic Power Cuts
Amsterdam Arena Repurposes Leaf Batteries
