Vehicle-to-grid charging trial a “success”

Electric Nation has branded its vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging trial a success after proving users can reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint.

The project, operated by Western Power Distribution (WPD) in partnership with CrowdCharge, recruited 100 Nissan electric vehicle (EV) owners in the Midlands, South West England and South Wales.

Electric Nation was different to other V2G projects because it partnered with more than one energy supplier and allowed many different import and export tariff types. This means that the trial was a more realistic simulation of a future world in which many streets will have a number of EVs using V2G chargers operated by different energy suppliers.

Roger Hey, WPD’s electricity system manager, said: “Vehicle to grid charging doubles the amount of flexibility in the electricity system, although in reality it brings even greater benefit because it also allows us to use the same unit of energy multiple times through charge/discharge cycles. 

“V2G has enormous potential to reduce the amount of new electricity network that we build and can contribute towards optimising the whole energy system in Britain, ultimately needing less generating capacity and reserve.”

The project proved that vehicle to grid charging works both from a technical point of view, and from the perspective of customer acceptance. It has also shown that EV owners can charge at off-peak times when energy is cheaper and greener, and by using V2G, they can sell this energy back into the grid, or use it in their home, to help minimise energy demand at peak times. This can help take the stress off the electricity grid and enable low-cost renewable energy to be used in the home when grid prices and the carbon content of electricity are high.

Participants who also had solar panels were able to charge their EVs with free 100% renewable energy. The trial allowed participants to transfer this green energy from the EV to the home at peak times, so further reducing demand on the grid.

One participant was able to halve their home electricity bill during the trial.

Mike Potter, CEO, CrowdCharge, added: “The Electric Nation V2G project has shown that households can save money on energy bills by using vehicle to grid charging, especially if they have solar panels. However there is also an opportunity for commercial fleets to take advantage of this technology in order to help lower their carbon footprint and achieve their Net Zero goals.”

In the Electric Nation V2G trial, each electricity supplier used their charger groups to test their various energy services utilising CrowdCharge’s demand management platform, which provides optimised charging sessions.

Currently, only Nissan EVs can be used for V2G charging due to their CHAdeMO technology. The majority of EVs have the CCS charging system, which is due to be V2G-compatible by 2025; from that point V2G should be possible for all EVs. Action will be required from the energy supply industry to make V2G work for consumers.