Nissan Australia has launched the Nissan Node project, a circular economy initiative which will repurpose end-of-life Nissan Leaf batteries to power a section of its Dandenong production facility.
This initiative is part of Nissan’s sustainability strategy. The project involves the installation of a new solar array along with a battery-energy storage system, made from repurposed first-generation Leaf batteries at the Nissan Casting Australia Plant (NCAP).
EV manufacturing is said to have a 50-100% higher production emission as compared to ICE vehicles due to battery manufacturing.
Nissan expects its new system to cut NCAP’s annual CO2 emissions by nearly 259 tonnes while saving approximately 128 megawatt-hours of energy annually.
“This isn’t just a hugely exciting project, but an important step into the future for end-of-life EV batteries,” Nissan Oceania managing director Andrew Humberstone says.
“As an early pioneer of the electric vehicle both globally and locally, we can also demonstrate leadership in second-life battery initiatives. I’m proud that this solution is every bit as innovative as the launch of not only the Leaf but the recently introduced ARIYA.”
The initiative was delivered in partnership with Melbourne-based technology firm Relectrify, which developed the battery-management and inverter technology enabling second-life Leaf batteries to be repurposed effectively. Its ReVolve energy-storage system installed at NCAP is the first commercial product built entirely from retired Leaf batteries.
