Electric auto charging points outnumber petrol stations in Japan

But if all 18,000 Nissan electric vehicles in the United Kingdom were connected to the energy network, they would generate the equivalent output of a 180 MW power plant.

Nissan and Enel will trial their program by identifying 100 drivers of electric vans and cars in the United Kingdom, who will be provided with Enel's "vehicle-to-grid" software, which allows the electricity to be traded through National Grid Plc.

Nissan says 95% of its auto batteries can be recycled into its new xStorage battery, and it should make sustainable energy an even more viable prospect.

Meanwhile, Nissan and power management company Eaton have formed a joint venture to provide wall-mountable lithium-ion batteries to power homes. Then it releases that energy, powering the house, when energy costs are higher.

Available to order from September this year, the xStorage unit will cost from £3,200, including installation.

Nissan is hoping selling excess energy will make its electric vehicles more attractive to United Kingdom consumers.

Nissan unveiled the device called xStorage system at an event in East London to take on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s Powerwall.

It is not about just using power to charge cars but rather give it back to the national grid. Users of such cars will be able to offer the battery capacity of their vehicles to buffer energy for the grid.

Five years ago the Nissan LEAF became the first mass-market electric vehicle to go on sale and it remains the best-selling EV of all time with nearly 220,000 vehicles sold worldwide. It will get charged either from the grid, when energy is available at a cheaper rate, which is usually at nights, or from solar and other renewable energy sources.

Paul Wilcox, chairman of Nissan Europe, said: "We believe electric vehicles can become mobile power units supplying cities and their homes, schools and hospitals". When not in use at night, the cars will share power gathered through the day which will be stored in special compartments. Later, the energy produced can be sold to Enel and the company will purchase it for a fair price. The system will be priced starting at 4,000 euros ($A6,230). If that idea sounds familiar, that's because we've seen exactly the same thing pitched by Elon Musk with the Tesla Powerwall. Three years later, it hopes to have sold at least 100,000 xStorage systems to the market.

Source: Electric auto charging points outnumber petrol stations in Japan