What is vehicle-to-grid (V2G)?
Technical definition
V2G (Vehicle-to-grid) refers to a system in which rechargeable electric vehicles, such as electric cars, are connected to the grid. battery (BEV), Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHEV) or Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) can recharge, but can also re-distribute its electrical energy back into the grid, powering the owner's home and saving them money.
Most of the electricity is fed into the grid by a renewable system - such as a wind farm - and stored in the energy storage container.
And in practical terms, what good does it do?
In simple terms, when an electric vehicle is plugged in, it can recharge or discharge electricity into the grid. This can be useful, for example, during peaks in consumption. This process will allow electric car owners to sell energy to the grid. Utilities could also use electric cars as a source of 'back-up' if demand increases.
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology would be perfect for our already stretched national grid. By balancing the load of electric cars coming onto the market in the next few years, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) offers the possibility of integrating them easily and smoothly. With an intelligent system, they could even help stabilise the grid and reduce the need to upgrade the current grid infrastructure. According to EDF, 50 % of vehicles park permanently at home and 69 % of vehicles remain parked for at least 6 hours a day on average in a reserved space.
On average, an electric vehicle remains stationary for 95% of the time. This is an unprecedented opportunity for energy suppliers, who thus have a stock of energy available in the event of a peak in consumption.
There are also other technologies such as V2L and V2X. To find out more about the differences between them, read our article on the subject: V2G, V2L, V2X: what are they and what is their use?
1.2 million electric cars in France by 2023
Unlike Japan, France does not suffer major earthquakes or violent storms. We rarely suffer power cuts. But the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) concept - using the electric car as a source of energy - could well have great potential for us. Not as an emergency power source, but as a means of storing renewable energy. The demand for green energy will increase in the years to come. We no longer wish to use coal and fossil fuels because of their harmful effect on the environment.
If the government's projections prove accurate, there will be moreone million electric cars on French roads by 2023. In theory, this means that there will also be more than a million batteries that can be used to supply or temporarily store energy while connected to a charging station.
A number of tests are currently under way with a view to rolling out the use of V2G - vehicle-to-grid - in the near future.
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Carmakers test vehicle-to-grid (V2G) in Europe
Renault has begun testing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) in Portugal and the Netherlands on around twenty Renault Zoé vehicles.
Renault Zoé Porto Santo
On the small island of Porto Santo, the "Sustainable Porto Santo - Smart fossil free island" test began in 2018. French car manufacturer Renault is working with local company Empresa de Eletricidade da Madeira (EEM) to test a smart electric ecosystem on the island.
EEM is responsible for the production, transmission, distribution and sale of energy in the autonomous region of Madeira, which includes the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira. Other partners in the project include French company Bouygues, German recharging solutions provider The Mobility House and Swedish-Swiss automation company ABB. The aim of the programme is to accelerate the energy transition and minimise the use of fossil fuels.carbon footprint on the island, focusing mainly on V2G technology.
A promising three-stage project
Le project will take place in three phases. In the first, twenty volunteers from Porto Santo will drive Renault's EV ZOE and Kangoo Z.E.s for their regular daily use. The vehicles will recharge at the 40 charging points already installed on the island for 'intelligent' recharging.
The second phase will focus on V2G technology. This innovative system injects surplus energy from parked vehicles into the grid during peak hours, serving as a temporary storage unit as well as being intelligently charged.
The third and final phase will involve the use of second-life batteries. These will be recycled from Renault electric cars that have been retired or whose batteries have been upgraded. Naturally, an integrated, stationary storage system is essential to ensure optimum use of the energy produced by the island's solar and wind farms and to avoid waste.
Towards a sustainable city
In addition, this measure eliminates the production and materials extraction costs associated with the use of new batteries, as well as the environmental problems that battery recycling can cause.
The ultimate aim is to create a sustainable island powered by renewable energy. And this will be possible thanks to its intelligent and autonomous ecosystem. If the project succeeds, it could serve as an example for other islands, towns and regions.
Nissan Leaf in Amsterdam
For the first time in the Netherlands, an electric car has fed electricity into the public grid via a V2G - vehicle-to-grid - charging station. This historic energy transfer was part of a trial conducted by Nissan, the car-sharing initiative Buurauto, NewMotion, energy supplier Alliander and Amsterdam Smart City. One of the Nissan LEAF Buurauto has been able to deliver energy to homes via one of NewMotion's vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging stations.
Amsterdam Smart City said the trial was an important step in the transition to sustainable energy: energy from shared electric cars could act as a valuable buffer to compensate for the inconsistencies of solar and wind power, ensuring that sustainable energy is as efficient as possible.
Is this a feature that electric car drivers want?
V2G (vehicle-to-grid) at home
Drivers of electric cars can be an obstacle in themselves to this technology. In order to use it, users will have to constantly indicate when they are leaving home. This means they would have to be prepared to sacrifice a little flexibility. Add in the various constraints of electric cars, and this may put the brakes on some motorists. This also brings us to the issue of privacy: do we really want to communicate when we get home? When we're away? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves before we make this technology widely available.
Drivers of electric vehicles should be able to adapt the settings as far as possible to their personal preferences. They should also be able to interrupt charging unexpectedly if they need to use the car.
There also needs to be a strong financial incentive to compensate for the current lack of flexibility in the technology.
Vehicle-to-grid in the office
A more obvious opportunity is the use of V2G within offices. Given the limitations of using vehicle-to-grid at home, we could think of a more pragmatic use. In the working environment, energy is needed during the day to power the offices. And that's exactly when the vehicles are parked up and not in use. In this case, they could store and supply energy to power the offices.
Although the Vehicle to Home and Vehicle to Office applications may have a very similar structure - both involve a closed microsystem - there are significant differences. The first is the energy consumption and availability of the electric car.
In the world of work, energy demand is highest during the day. This is exactly when most company vehicles are parked outside. They are therefore available to store or supply energy (solar energy, for example). This makes it possible to cope with peaks in electricity supply and demand.
This is not the case in a house. The vehicle is not usually parked during the day, when it could be storing the maximum amount of energy (e.g. in the case of solar energy). When people go home, the demand for energy increases, but the car also has to recharge. So there is no surplus to be supplied. Supply and demand are not as well aligned in this scenario.
A real opportunity for companies
Energy is becoming an increasingly pressing issue for businesses. We can already do quite a lot with intelligent charging, but we can do even more with vehicle-to-grid (V2G).
The process becomes even more interesting with a large fleet of electric cars. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) will make it possible to trade a larger quantity on the energy market (or mandate someone to trade it). It will be easier to predict the availability of cars and their batteries - or perhaps even to control them.
The combination of all these factors - opportunities in the energy market, increasing solar panel efficiency and smarter, more efficient use of energy - means that Vehicle-to-Office is currently the solution with the most potential of all V2G applications.
What impact does V2G have on battery life?
"V2G and intelligent battery charge control can actually increase battery life."
According to Ian Cameron, Head of Innovation, UK Power NetworksThe electric car is an opportunity. Some motorists are reluctant to switch to electric cars because of the pollution involved.
Good to know: even if it consumes polluting energy (like coal, for example), the electric car is still less polluting than a thermal vehicle.
V2G does not change the way batteries are produced, but it does extend their lifespan. By extending the life of batteries, the harmful effects of battery production are smoothed out over time. What's more, we'll have less need to produce them, which will give us time to find more sustainable production solutions.
It should also be noted that electric cars are relatively new on the market. The more electric vehicles there are on the market, the better the technology will be. So we are well and truly moving towards even less polluting vehicles.
