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Nissan Leaf To Home - your electric car as emergency home generator
The new Nissan Leaf to Home system turns your electric car into an emergency home generator, and can give up to 2 days worth of power to keep your home running in case of natural disasters, or even generic power cuts.
It's a very clever technology, which uses the Nissan Leaf's ability to push electricity out of the charging socket as well as suck it in. The company has so far sold a few thousand units in Japan, and is now looking for manufacturing partners to bring the system to the rest of the world.
originally posted by: Bluntone22
At $30k for one of those cars I think I would rather just buy a generator and a cheaper car....
originally posted by: greencmp
a reply to: Bluntone22
Yeah, a home fuel cell would be a lot cheaper.
originally posted by: smurfy
Yes, that has been part of their advertising of the car for some time here. Mind you, the small petrol generators are becoming quite inexpensive and reliable these days, we should really all have standby's like that where you can.
To add, part of the blurb was being able to get 'payback' from the national grid.
originally posted by: greencmp
a reply to: TinkerHaus
That's great and, though you have a very high energy cost due to the high tech nature of your kit, it sounds like being off the grid has other features that make it desirable overall.
For most people who can't spend 20 years of energy costs up front, fuel cells are the most economical solution in my mind.
originally posted by: TinkerHaus
I understand the problem with price. Most people buy cars in the $30k range anyway, no?
originally posted by: greencmp
a reply to: Bluntone22
Yeah, a home fuel cell would be a lot cheaper.
originally posted by: TinkerHaus
I understand the problem with price. Most people buy cars in the $30k range anyway, no?
If you consider that you literally aren't paying for gas, plus factor in the cost of a new vehicle that is a little less expensive, the cost difference is minimal. Additional there are both federal and state tax deductions available when purchasing a hybrid, CNG, or electric vehicle. If you plan properly it's possible to get an alternatively powered car for the same price as a traditional car.
Your electric bill at home will increase slightly (less than your monthly fuel costs would be) unless you can plug in for free at work, in which case you don't have to charge at home except maybe if you're using the car on the weekends.
On top of all of this prices on electric vehicles are coming down. The Tesla Model S with the Ludicrous Speed upgrade is almost within my grasp. I'm pretty sure it will be my next car. 0-60 in 2.7 seconds? Yes, please!
originally posted by: DanDanDat
originally posted by: TinkerHaus
I understand the problem with price. Most people buy cars in the $30k range anyway, no?
The problem with the 30K price tag is not that it’s not affordable. Nissan is a mid-range vehicle manufacturer; they aren’t going to make a car that is “unaffordable”.
The problem is the quality of the car you are getting for that 30K.
Subtract the expensive home power generating electric engine and battery and your left with a car that would sell for far far cheaper with an internal combustion engine.
This is not a problem if it makes the individual consumer happy to be driving a cheap car with an expensive engine (not to mention the hire maintenance and repair costs). If going Green is your thing, and paying a premium on your vehicle in order to do your part is acceptable; than vehicles like this are perfect they are both affordable and move you closer to your goal.
But if going green is not a priority for you; than the 30K price tag (though affordable) may not be appealing due to the quality of car you be getting for your 30K.
This is why it’s important for the cost of these power systems to come down; so that the quality of the overall car can go up at the various price points. This will make buying these types of cars a no brainer; both those who want to go green will buy, and those who want a quality car will buy.
I had the pleasure of driving an “Affordable” prius the other day. It was a nice car that handled itself well. But I was taken aback by how I felt like I was driving the used neon I bought 15 years ago when I was in high school. Don’t get me wrong; I loved that neon; but if someone told me it would cost me 30K I would have laughed at them.
originally posted by: smurfy
originally posted by: TinkerHaus
I understand the problem with price. Most people buy cars in the $30k range anyway, no?
If you consider that you literally aren't paying for gas, plus factor in the cost of a new vehicle that is a little less expensive, the cost difference is minimal. Additional there are both federal and state tax deductions available when purchasing a hybrid, CNG, or electric vehicle. If you plan properly it's possible to get an alternatively powered car for the same price as a traditional car.
Your electric bill at home will increase slightly (less than your monthly fuel costs would be) unless you can plug in for free at work, in which case you don't have to charge at home except maybe if you're using the car on the weekends.
On top of all of this prices on electric vehicles are coming down. The Tesla Model S with the Ludicrous Speed upgrade is almost within my grasp. I'm pretty sure it will be my next car. 0-60 in 2.7 seconds? Yes, please!
Yes, I'm inclined to believe that some form of electric car is the future at least in a transitional interim, but there is miles to go, (pardon the expression) to get to the same stage as a fuel driven passenger car in any form.
What I think is wrong, or more likely goes wrong is the need to buy into a system that potentially ties you a particular entity, AKA the manufacturer.
We already know the expense of renewing electronic systems already fitted to cars that run on fuel just to make them more efficient, while at the same time we know a car can be run without an expensive all seeing eye quite well indefinitely, with nothing like the costs to the individual. However the electric motor car manufacturers, and most of them are established entities, sell their electric products at higher end prices, which could be obsolete at a stroke of a new computer programme and a well aimed robotic solder iron. Okay you have a plug and play vehicle today that can do patches for the electronics that can make your car non-electric driven car more efficient, in the current meantime, all those manufacturers, are working on ways to make the electric motors themselves properly responsive to driver inputs just to make the car more efficient in the use of the available electric power, since no electric motor seems to attain the published figures in variable driving. Will that be a patch, or a complete redesign of engine motor on an object that is truly an expensive buy, and nobody is saying that the patch will be free.