A subsidiary of Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Hitachi Ltd said on Friday they plan to launch a system to keep elevators running during power outages by using batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) to power them, Reuters reported.
Few cars are currently capable of bi-directional charging, where the car can become a power source for the home or feed energy back to the grid.
In earthquake-prone Japan, Nissan and Hitachi Building Systems Ltd. are exploring the wider use of electric vehicle batteries as they focus on keeping elevators running when the power supply is down.
In a pilot project announced Friday, the companies said they were able to run a nine-person elevator at low speed for 10 hours by drawing power from the batteries of the Sakura, an all-electric miniature “Kei” car made by Nissan.
The V2X system uses the Nissan-backed CHAdeMO charging standard, said a Nissan Building Systems executive. This allows it to also draw power from larger Nissan electric vehicles, such as the Ariya and Leaf models.
For his part, Tatsu Takahashi, director of Hitachi Building Systems’ domestic business management division, said he expects the company to begin offering the system to apartment buildings starting in the fiscal year beginning in April.
