Used Nissan Leaf as Home Battery?

amorphous2111 on 12/07/2024 - 22:45

As in the title, just wonder if anyone has tried this option? To my understanding the NL has V2G and V2H capability, so can be used to power the house at night.

I have an existing 5 kWh solar without battery. The house doesn’t use much energy during the day so most of my solar power is exported to the grid at terrible rate. I typically ride my bike to work but always keep a cheap second car for literally a rainy day.

Looks like a 13 kWh (suitable for my house size in the evening) will cost about 15k to install.

There are a few 2019 NL on carsales for arround 20k, with quoted 40 kWh capacity, so even if it has aged down to 30 kWh capacity I figure it is still better option than installing a home baterry, and I have a car ready for a wet day. Wife got a good ICE car so don’t have to worry about longer trips.

To my circumstance it seems like a good option but I wonder if there is some issues that I need to be aware of?

Automotive

Comments

    • SBOB on 13/07/2024 - 07:35
      +6

      Pretty sure they weren't talking about hacking a battery out of a used car, but as that example used car supports v2l/v2g, buying the car as their 'rainy day car'. Justifying it as good value option compared to buying a battery system alone.

      The lack of v2g connection supporting devices (plus cost and state approvals) is the major hurdle preventing their 'idea' being valid though

  • sumyungguy on 12/07/2024 - 23:25

    I see you're in SA where V2H is permitted but the chargers don't appear to be available yet.

    • netjock on 13/07/2024 - 14:55

      The charger is $10k and only 1 company has a certified one. That is the real problem.

      Plus the cost of having a parking space dedicated to a battery

  • freefall101 on 12/07/2024 - 23:25
    +2

    Installing a connection that's compatible with V2H or V2G is pretty expensive and only available in a couple of states. That's the main problem.

  • team teri on 12/07/2024 - 23:29

    The problem is that you'd need a V2H or V2G bi-directional charger, and there aren't any that have approval to be installed in AU, or even if they got there without me noticing, the price tag was around $10k just for the hardware, plus install.

    What people have successfully done is to use a car that offers V2L in conjunction with a transfer switch and a generator input. Not enough to run a whole house, but certainly enough to run the most important circuits, i.e. fridge, freezer and lights. The hardware for that option is very cheap, it comes down to knowing a friendly electrician who does the installation.

    That said: the main issue you mentioned is the very high price for home batteries. You are right, prices for those are crazy. I reckon home batteries will come down in price a lot, just like all other components have already done (PV panels, inverters). It's just a matter of time.

    An alternative you could explore yourself, with less hassle than trying to make an old Leaf fit the bill is an ELV system. There is no law stopping you from installing a 48V battery bank yourself. Here's an example: 15kWh for $5556. You'd still need a way to charge the batteries and then make use of the stored energy.

    I'm keeping this option in mind for the day my current solar inverter packs it in. The panels are still top notch, but due to changing certification requirements no solar installer would touch allow me to keep the with just a new inverter. Rather than ripping them off and discarding them I'd convert the system to ELV and take it from there.

  • amorphous2111 on 12/07/2024 - 23:37

    It was on trial in SA, but not sure about now. Also the only approved Bi-directional charger is the Wallbox Quasar which costs like 10 grands.

    Probably keep an eye out for this, for now.

    • sumyungguy on 12/07/2024 - 23:40

      You've no doubt seen this? Wallbox have advised that its production of the Quasar 1 has been discontinued and that they are focusing their efforts on Quasar 2. Due to this, the Quasar 1 has limited stock and is no longer available for retail purchase.

      • amorphous2111 on 12/07/2024 - 23:49

        Yea I have. Not only the price but the fact that there is only one company providing this service and also very few EV with this V2G option probably indicate more issues… should just wait for the regulatory issues to be fixed first.

  • Euphemistic on 13/07/2024 - 05:43
    -2

    Asking this question here indicates you dont know enough to be doing this yourself. Unless you are an electrician or electeical engineer this is not for you becasue its not a done thing in aus …yet.

  • Noppy on 13/07/2024 - 06:36

    There is a youtube video of a guy in Finland doing it. Go have a look at that.

  • May4th on 13/07/2024 - 07:31
    +4

    too early to explore V2G - leaf is also trash

    • cloudy on 13/07/2024 - 09:35

      At what date should we explore this option?

      • team teri on 13/07/2024 - 11:33

        When V2H is implemented for all new CCS2 vehicles (and maybe made available via software updates to existing ones).

        That will open it up to a lot more vehicles and especially those with batteries with a higher cycle life (LFP).

        At first the bi-directional chargers will still be horribly expensive. Just like with solar we'll need some countries to subsidise them for a few years to pave the way to mass production and falling prices. I doubt Australia will be one of those countries.

        So for us: somewhere between 5 and 10 years from now.

        In the meantime we (as in our grid operators) will get by through tariffs that entice EV owners to mostly charge when there is an abundance of cheap power, mid day and in the wee hours of the morning.

  • tanksinatra on 13/07/2024 - 07:58
    +1

    It’s an interesting thought to use an existing used Leaf as a house battery. The biggest challenge is that the Leaf is trash. The batteries have horrible degradation and short cycle life. Nissan even got sued for it in the USA.

    House battery usage is extremely hard on batteries, you’ll be cycling them a lot more than in a car. I don’t think the Leaf is a realistic option for this.

  • TEER3X on 13/07/2024 - 08:08
    +1

    Then there's insurance and rego costs for a car you'll almost never use on the road.

  • RockyRaccoon on 13/07/2024 - 08:22

    I have a car ready for a wet day

    This is just an additional point to those above. Like cost, connection issues, battery life. Its the practability.

    If this was doable then consider, you use the Leaf's power for running the house at night, it gets charged during the day.

    It will be run down by the morning, so its raining and you drive to work.

    Will there be enough power left and during the day, while its at work, its not charged up again until its back at home and its sunny during the day. Namely, no rain and not being driven to work. (of course you can charge from the grid, but thats not the purpose of the exercise)

    That is - Theory and Practice doesnt always match

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/09/….

    Its a great story with some holes in it. Like its the car's generator (ICE driven) that kicks in when battery runs out. Therefore not completely Zero emissions or Zero cost.

    • Euphemistic on 13/07/2024 - 09:29

      It is a bit of an issue that the car would likely be out during the day while it could charge for free. But i think with a larger battery it would be perfectly manageable.

      Cars can have a battery 2-4x the capacity of an average household daily usage. If your cimmute is short, it makss sense to use the battery to run the house the rest of the time. Id just want to make sure the system is smart enough to use the car power down to a level which allowed an average days driving, and recharge from the grid/solar when its cheapest. Plus id want an override so that i could prepare the car battery for extra kms on the weekends. Ideally it would learn my patterns and charge and discharge accordingly.

  • GordonD on 13/07/2024 - 09:55

    Its an idea that scores 9/10 for good intentions. Unfortunately in this country, at this point in time, it scores 1/10 for practicality. Maybe in a couple of years when battery chemistry is better and hardware to do it available and approved we'll all be doing it.

    • Euphemistic on 13/07/2024 - 10:03
      +1

      It will happen. A smart grid will use car batteries as grid support and enable you to use the car to power thebhome easily. We just arnet there yet and anything you want to do will be custom and expensive unless you are a qualified electrickery bandit.

      • GordonD on 13/07/2024 - 13:24

        Yes, unfortunately the best batteries for a car, which only needs to go through a charge-discharge cycle every week, and have to store as much energy as possible in the least mass and volume, are not the best batteries for a home battery, which has to charge and discharge every day, and you want as cheap as possible. At the moment its lithium ion for the former, but sodium ion for the latter.

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