Toyota Releases Storage Battery System for Residential Use Based on Electrified Vehicle Battery Technology | Corporate | Global Newsroom | Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website Toyota has introduced the O-Uchi Kyuden System, home battery storage system. Summary: Capacity: 8.7 kWh Output: 5.5 kW Weird they are now competing for their own batteries for cars. Really weird that pack is almost equal to the Prius Prime. Edited to fix the output power from their text. They fixed it in Specifications. iPad ? Pro
Now if they could only make and supply power cables for the 300 cars waiting for them ('19-'21 Rav4 hybrids cable to rear motor that Toyota claims is not part of the hybrid system. $5-6000 cost to replace. Failing in salted roads areas of the countries)
I don't understand? Why do you need a power wall if Prius has a gas tank? But seriously, this is yet another example of how the future EVs is going to change how home's manage their Electricity in the near future. I hope they start making TRD solar roof tiles that are as good as Teslas too!
A unique aspect is they can also use the power from your HEV, PHEV, FCEV and BEV to provide emergency power to your house through the power conditioner. Japan has special connectors that supply power from those vehicles. North America have a quite a few Toyota and Lexus vehicles that can provide 110V AC but those that do require a special package. This includes a few trims on Toyota gas only trucks and SUV’s as well. Most of these are through standard 5-15R outlets. iPad ? Pro
weird? more like ridiculous. Why not wait until battery & chip shortage scarcity causing $10,000 markups at auto dealerships in some instances - before moving into a new venture. .
Perhaps Toyota's supply of PHEV batteries, which aren't the ones going into the BEVs, is okay, but they are constrained on other parts for the cars. It is the supplying through 100V AC that is unique. Charger 'power stations' that allowed vahicle to home power have been available for some time in Japan. Maybe as early as the arrival of the Leaf. It was around when the PiP was out. It required the CHAdeMO plug, and is why the Mirai had one in trunk. There was consideration of offering the units for the Mirai here, but the cost was in the $8 to $10 thousand range.
Interesting specs. That battery pack seems huge, but since it is designed for outside use I suppose that doesn’t matter as much. I am very happy to see Toyota making solar more attractive. I’m even happier to see them mention solar power without linking it to hydrogen
The rated output seems a little small'ish as compared with a dual-fuel GenSet that you can get for $500 and connectorize to quickly attach to your house (or stay permanently attached) for less than another $500. Living in hurricane country, you deal with infrequent but potentially long power outages. Toyota's solution however might be applicable in less stable parts of the world where much more frequent, shorter power outages occur because of government and infrastructural inadequacies, corruption, resource mismanagement, etc....
https://electrek.co/2022/06/02/toyota-home-battery-pack-compete-tesla-powerwall/ Speculation in the comments is that the pack is NiMH based on the operating temperature range.
One aggravating thing about many battery backup companies catering to residential use - is they won't sell units separate from solar panels. That makes one wonder if Toyota is planning on entering that market as well.
Maybe it is a baby step designed to get infrastructure in place for future Toyota EVs that don't depend on gas?
Maybe they are. Back during the gen2 Prius days, Toyota had installed some batteries at Japanese stores made from reclaimed NiMH cells. Perhaps they now have enough supply of old packs coming in for this venture. They could also be doing the follower thing; M-B and Renault have also announced home storage batteries.
This looks like both a load leveler (useful in Japan with their thin grid) and a way to couple domestic power supply with production via solar and possibly exploit brand linkage with their cars. Bet the banks like that!
Here's a follow-on article that explains some of the development pitfalls Toyota had along the way when developing their Home Battery Business. Spotlighting Toyota's New Home Battery Business
