Nissan has revealed a vision of the future where batteries in its electric vehicles are used to power motorists’ homes and offices.

The company is launching a pilot programme in the UK where 100 of its Leaf electric cars can be plugged into the power network and energy in their batteries fed into the UK power system.

Motorists would be able to charge their cars as normal by plugging in but the batteries would also act as added capacity to the national grid, helping balance demand at peak times with power being sold back into the grid.

Motorists can also charge their cars at off-peak times, making motoring cheaper for them.