The Nissan Leaf can now officially power homes using bidirectional charging

Image: Nissan

Nissan's all-electric Leaf is the first car in the US to have a bidirectional charging system. The first system of its kind to earn certification for bidirectional charging solutions is the FE-15 charger by Fermata Energy.

Nissan promised in 2012 that its soon-to-be-discontinued EV would eventually share its stored battery power with the grid. The term Vehicle-to-G, Vehicle-to-H, and Vehicle-to-L are used to describe a system that converts EVs to a backup power station.

Ford has an intelligent backup power feature for its all-electric F-150 truck. The Ioniq 5 and 6 V2L can be used as camping companions. The PowerWall solution is the same one that scales to the size of virtual power plants and is bearish about the idea.

The solution is simple for Nissan. Fermata Energy CEO David Slutzky said in a press release that the Leaf owners can create additional value from the energy stored in the vehicle's battery and that the charging station can help reduce the EV's total cost of ownership. It could help reduce stress on the power grid if utilities and grid operators make the right investments.

The Nissan Leafs of all model years are approved for use with the FE-15 bidirectional charger, and the company states that battery warranty will not be affected. If you want to take advantage of bidirectional charging on the Leaf, you will need a quick-charging CHAdeMo port. The 2012 model of the Leaf had an option for fast charging but Nissan might not want to be responsible for the health of the batteries.

The company can be contacted through their website. Nissan is working with another company called Dcbel that is creating a home-specific charging solution for Fermata Energy and other products.

Image: Dcbel

The CHAdemo charging standard is having a last stand. The port is no longer at many charging stations. There is a new feature that is great to see and a great story to tell.