Nissan turns Leaf electric car into cool-looking mobile power supply for disaster relief

Nissan modified a Leaf electric car to turn it into a cool-looking mobile power supply on wheels for disaster relief.

With the Leaf, Nissan has been an early adopter of vehicle-to-grid technology for electric vehicles.

The technology has great potential for grid services, but Nissan first implemented it as a way to provide backup power in case of natural disasters.

Now the Japanese automaker went a step further and modified a Leaf to turn it into an emergency response vehicle concept to supply power as part of disaster relief efforts.

They call it the Nissan RE-LEAF:

The Nissan RE-LEAF is a 100% electric emergency response vehicle concept, designed to provide a mobile power supply following natural disasters or extreme weather events.

Nissan also made modifications to the Leaf, like a raised driving height and rugged tires, to better navigate in disaster areas:

The automaker added about the electric vehicle concept:

The RE-LEAF can be driven into the center of a disaster zone and provide emergency power to aid the recovery process. The integrated energy management system can run medical, communications, lighting, and other life-supporting equipment.

Here’s a quick video about the Nissan RE-LEAF.

While this concept is for potential future emergency response fleets, all Nissan Leaf electric cars are equipped with bidirectional charging capacity, and some devices, like the Wallbox Quasar, are starting to become available to let owners take advantage of the feature.