Nissan, Hitachi to keep elevators running during blackouts with EV batteries

Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co Ltd and Hitachi Building System plan to utilize an EV battery-powered system to keep elevators running during blackouts.

In what appears to be an early attempt in earthquake-prone Japan to make wider use of EV batteries, Nissan and Hitachi Building Systems Co Ltd are focused on keeping elevators running when the power supply is disrupted.

The two Japanese firms had kept an elevator that can carry nine people running for 10 hours by drawing power from the battery of a Sakura, a micro electric car made by Nissan.

The system uses the CHAdeMO charging standard supported by Nissan, which allows it to draw power from larger Nissan EVs, such as the Ariya and Leaf models.

Tatsunori Takahashi, a Hitachi Building System director, said he hopes they could start providing the system to apartment buildings in April.