Joint Venture to Promote Second-Life Use for Batteries
The performance of the lithium-ion batteries used in Nissan’s EVs is so
high that they retain capacity after the use ful lifetime of the vehicles
themselves. “4R” business models—which reuse, resell, refabricate and
recycle lithium-ion batteries—allow their effective use for energy storage
solutions in a range of applications, thus creating a much more e fficient
energy cycle of battery use.
As the EV market expands, Nissan sees a need to utiliz e reusable
lithium-ion batteries more effectively. In 2010 it launched 4R Energy
Corporation, a joint venture with Sumitomo Corp. This company is
developing and testing to use EV batteries as part of a stationary energy
storage system. Japan is expected to see rising demand for such systems
as part of energy storage and backup power systems that also feature
solar panels on homes or business structures, and 4R Energy has started
sales of them for houses and apartment buildings. The systems have
already been installed in Park Tower Shinonome, a 585-unit residential
structure built by Mitsui Fudosan Residential Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, and sold
for Smart Solabo, a “smart house” designed by Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd