Nissan Joins EV-Grid Venture with BMW, Ford and Honda

By Dean Seal

Nissan Motor is joining BMW Group, Ford Motor and Honda Motor's joint venture to create a software platform that integrates electric vehicles with the power grid.

The carmaker said Monday that it would become a 25% investor in ChargeScape, the joint venture unveiled a year ago and launched last month by Nissan's auto industry peers.

Nissan intends to roll out ChargeScape's services to its EV drivers in the U.S. and Canada.

The platform is intended to improve grid stability by temporarily reducing EV charging at times of grid strain and sending energy back to the power grid when needed. EV drivers can receive financial incentives for this managed charging and exporting power to the grid, while helping grid operators avoid using expensive tactics to keep the grid from overloading.

Nissan is joining the group after selling more than 650,000 all-electric LEAF vehicles, which are able to export power back to the grid. Nissan said it is investing heavily in bidirectional charging capabilities for its entire EV fleet.

ChargeScape launched in September with Joseph Vellone, co-founder of ev.energy, as its chief executive and Kalidindi Raju as chief technology officer.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 07, 2024 09:53 ET (13:53 GMT)

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