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Consortium to roll out vehicle-to-grid trials this year

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A consortium of Octopus Energy, Octopus Electric Vehicles, Open Energi, UK Power Networks, ChargePoint Services, Energy Saving Trust and Navigant is launching a large domestic trial of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging.

The consortium will roll out vehicle-to-grid charging technology to UK electric vehicle drivers this year. The £7 million project – with £3 million of government funding – will install 135 vehicle-to-grid chargers in a ‘cluster’. Customers will be able take vehicles for a test drive and access a special Vehicle to Grid (V2G) bundle. 

 

The consortium aims to:

  • Gain insights into customer needs and driving behaviours, and which V2G propositions attract them.
  • Collect data to on flexibility, network modelling, and planning for future infrastructure.
  • Build a scheduling engine and aggregation platform that lets the charger communicate with all service providers.
  • Develop a business model that delivers value to all parties.

The project funding came from the Vehicle-to-Grid competition, funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), in partnership with Innovate UK. Altogether they provided £31 million in funding to 21 projects (eight feasibility studies, five collaborative research and development projects, and eight real-world trials).