DriveElectric, a provider of leased ultra-low emission vehicles, has launched a vehicle to grid (V2G) service for electric vehicle drivers, both at home and at the workplace.

V2G charging equipment allows EV owners to help balance the UK’s electricity grid by providing energy from their vehicle batteries to the grid at times of peak demand.

In return for doing this, EV owners will benefit from rewards based on the provision of grid services and energy trading revenue.

At the Cenex Low Carbon Vehicle event (LCV2017), DriveElectric signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Japanese manufacturer Nichicon Corporation to sell and operate the company’s V2G chargers in the UK.

Nichicon Corporation is a leader in the vehicle to home (V2H) market in Japan. Okaya will be marketing the V2G equipment outside Japan.

Mike Potter, managing director at DriveElectric, said: “It’s the first time this has ever been done in the UK, and by enabling customers to sell energy back to the grid, becoming fully fledged and active participants in the UK energy market, we’re providing a financial incentive to choose the sustainable option.”

DriveElectric’s CrowdCharge platform will be able to connect and manage large numbers of EV batteries using V2G chargers, to act as one large battery to support the grid.

This will help to avoid the need for non-renewable sources of power to be used at times of peak energy demand.

The CrowdCharge platform, developed in conjunction with the University of Reading, uses advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence to provide optimised charging sessions for EV owners.

In combination with the CrowdCharge app, the platform ensures customers get the energy they need, when they need it.

CrowdCharge is being used for the Electric Nation project to provide smart charging to help manage demand from EVs on local electricity networks.

DriveElectric’s V2G service will be available for Chademo-equipped EVs such as the Nissan LEAF, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Kia Soul EV in summer/autumn 2018.

The price for vehicle to grid chargers is expected to be between £8,000-£9,500. Revenue from V2G is anticipated to be between £300-£800 per year initially, depending on people’s behaviour, but demand is likely to grow substantially due to more renewable generation.

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