Vehicle-To-Xmas-Tree Lights Up Christmas

FOR those concerned that fleet electrification will lead to power blackouts as we all plug in at once – not true by the way (see National Grid’s mythbusters), but often cited by some as a reason to stick with fossil fuels – here’s an example of an electric car working as an electricity hub.

In Sunderland, where the Nissan Leaf has been made for over a decade, the plant’s 32 foot Christmas tree is being powered by an electric Nissan Leaf, along with some of Rudolf’s reindeers looking highly festive.

They are lit up by the Leaf’s battery using V2X technology. Or, as Nissan would have it, V2X-MAS TREE…well, it is Christmas, so we’re all allowed a Christmas cracker pun.

The Nissan Leaf’s vehicle-to-grid capability (sometimes called vehicle-to-building or vehicle-to-everything – V2X) puts energy management back in the hands of the owner by turning their vehicle into a mobile electric vehicle hub. Drivers can store electricity in their vehicle’s battery and feed it to the grid, their building – or in this case their Christmas Tree – when needed.

The technology allows electric vehicles to be fully integrated into the electricity grid and helps improve grid capability to handle renewable power as well as managing energy more efficiently.

For example, you could charge your car on cheaper off peak electricity and then use it to power your house during peak hours. 

Anyway, back to Nissan’s rather neat idea to highlight the 250,000 Nissan Leaf models that have rolled out of the plant.