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GE, Nissan agree to research vehicle charging

The Nissan Leaf electric car is seen at the 2010 North American International Auto Show during press days in Detroit, Michigan, January 12, 2010. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

The Nissan Leaf electric car is seen at the 2010 North American International Auto Show during press days in Detroit, Michigan, January 12, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Mark Blinch

DETROIT | Mon Apr 26, 2010 1:49pm EDT

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Electric Co and Nissan Motor Co on Monday announced a three-year agreement to collectively research development of charging stations for electric vehicles.

Nissan will debut the electric Leaf hatchback later this year in Japan, the United States and Europe. The Leaf's batteries will allow it to have a 100-mile range on a full charge, Nissan says.

The two companies say the work will center on "smart" charging stations that would allow for communication with utility companies to ease strain on electric power grids. Eventually, car companies and utilities hope that vehicles can form a power storage source.

"Together with Nissan, we will take a comprehensive look at what technologies will be needed in the car, on the grid, and at home or work to make smart charging a reality," said Mark Little, director of GE Global Research.

GE and Nissan said they will in the next few months identify specific projects for the new partnership.

Utility companies are working with home and business owners to install 220-volt charging stations what will charge electric vehicles more quickly than the conventional 110-volt outlets in most U.S. homes.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall, editing by Maureen Bavdek)
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Comments (1)
Raleightom wrote:
Maybe the batteries could be in a cartridge that can be easily swapped out. Then, when you are running low on power; just pull into a service station and a machine swaps your battery cartridge with a fully powered one. Batteries would be leased for the duration of the charge and the leasing firm would periodically test and replace bad batteries. Then, we could have centralized charging stations (Possibly Solar charging) and we would not have too worry about battery charging faux pas.

This would eliminate our EV range problems. Our existing service station facilities and jobs would still be utilized. Gasoline delivery trucks would be replaced with battery delivery trucks. Overall, I think this is far better than what GE & Nissan are looking at ! ! ! ! ! !

THIS IDEA IS FREE . . . . . . . SOMEONE PLEASE UTILIZE IT (ROYALTY FREE ;) . . . .

Apr 27, 2010 3:23pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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