Everyone loves a car with flashing lights on the roof and Nissan’s RE-LEAF emergency response concept ticks the box.
Maybe, it’s the way the LEAF should look because it’s a whole lot more interesting than the production version.
The concept is designed to provide a mobile power supply following natural disasters or extreme weather events.
To better enable the car to navigate roads where there might be obstructions or fallen debris, the RE-LEAF has been jacked up 70mm with a custom sump guard to protect the car’s floor pan.
It also has a wider track: +90mm at the front and +130mm at the rear, with custom wheel arches, mud flaps and all-terrain tyres on 17-inch motorsport wheels.
As part of its emergency response role, RE-LEAF features weatherproof plug sockets mounted directly to the exterior of the vehicle, which enable 110-230 volt devices to be powered from the car’s high capacity lithium-ion battery.
This enable the vehicle to driven into the heart of a disaster zone to provide a fully mobile power supply to aid the recovery process.
The integrated energy management system can run medical, communications, lighting and other life-supporting equipment.
When a disaster hits, the time for electricity supply to be restored is typically 24-48 hours, depending on the severity of damage.
In Japan, Nissan has been using the LEAF to provide emergency power and transportation following natural disasters since 2011, and the company has formed partnerships with more than 60 local governments to support disaster relief efforts.
Through Nissan Energy Share, EVs act as mobile storage batteries to supply homes and society with electricity, creating an energy distribution model that can be used to help stabilise the supply and demand of electricity.
The RE-LEAF uses the LEAF’s bi-directional charging ability, which has been a standard feature of the model since its introduction in 2010.
This means it can not only ‘pull’ power to recharge the high-capacity battery, but also ‘push’ it back to the grid through V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid), or directly to electronic devices through V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) technology.
Acting as a portable power station, the latest generation Nissan LEAF e+ with a fully charged 62 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery can provide enough electricity to power the average European household for six days.
As a disaster recovery vehicle, the RE-LEAF can power multiple devices simultaneously.
Some example 230v power consumptions are detailed below:
- Electric Jack Hammer – 24 hours – 36kWh
- Pressure Ventilation Fan – 24 hours – 21.6kWh
- 10-litre Soup Kettle – 24 hours – 9.6kWh
- Intensive Care Medical Ventilator – 24 hours – 3kWh
- 100 watt LED flood light – 24 hours – 2.4kWh
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