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Japanese electric car owners can pay for parking by discharging energy at the new Nissan Pavilion

Inside the pavilion

Inside the pavilion

Nissan is giving customers the ability to pay for parking with electricity at a technology showcase created near the company’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. Electric vehicle drivers will be able to discharge power from their car’s battery pack to pay for parking while visiting the Nissan Pavilion exhibition space in Yokohama.

The novel payment system is one of several innovations customers can experience at the Nissan Pavilion, which opened to the public on 1 August. Visitors can eat at the Nissan Chaya Café, which operates on power supplied by Nissan LEAF electric cars and solar energy. In a theatre space, visitors can also enjoy virtual experiences that allow them to feel the thrill of Formula E electric street racing or go for a ride in the new Nissan Ariya EV crossover. In front of the pavilion, a Mobility Hub offers services including electric vehicle (EV) car-sharing and rental bicycles, and even an electric ice cream van.

The 10,000m² pavilion has been designed to be a zero emission building. Besides showcasing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) it has been outfitted with solar panels and is also supplied with renewable hydroelectric power.

“The Pavilion is a place where customers can see, feel, and be inspired by our near-future vision for society and mobility,” said Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida. “As the world shifts to electric mobility, EVs will be integrated into society in ways that go beyond just transportation.”

Nissan introduced what is regarded the world’s first mass-market electric car, the zero-emission LEAF, in 2010. Since then, the company has also developed Nissan Energy Share and Nissan Energy Storage technologies that allow electricity from EV batteries to be stored, shared and re-purposed, for instance by powering homes or businesses, such as the off-grid café in the Nissan Pavilion.

In Japan, Nissan has entered agreements with local governments to use Leaf cars as mobile batteries that can supply energy during natural disasters. In another partnership, the company is re-purposing used EV batteries to power streetlights.

As part of the Nissan NEXT transformation plan, the company plans to expand its global line-up of electric cars and goods vehicles. Nissan aims to sell more than 1 million electrified vehicles a year by the end of fiscal 2023.

Besides Nissan Energy technologies, guests at the Nissan Pavilion can also experience a range innovations. These include the ProPILOT advanced driver assistance system as well as Nissan’s Invisible-to-Visible (I2V) technology, which combines information from the real and virtual worlds to assist drivers. By playing a virtual tennis match with Grand Slam champion and Nissan brand ambassador Naomi Osaka in the Pavilion theatre, children and adults can learn about I2V and get a feel for how the technology will change driving in the near future.

The Nissan Pavilion is open between 1 August-23 October
www.thenissannext.com