Volkswagen V2G project should lead to commercial launch this year
Mandfred Przybilla, CEO of Ambibox, explained on LinkedIn that after more than a year of testing, the project partners Volkswagen, Vattefall, Energybank and Ambibox have decided to leave the “protected environment of the test facility in Stenberg and offer the service to customers.”
The first pilots will include 200 companies and private customers in Sweden, after which the CEO stated that the product will be available to all customers “from autumn, but orders are already being accepted.”
Launched in 2023, for the two years of the project so far, Volkswagen’s ID. models with 77 kWh batteries or larger have been prepared for V2G technology. The new phase of the project aims to expand and ensure the quality of the V2H and V2G pilot project in Hudiksvall in Sweden with Energy Banks and the Stenberg housing association. Aspects that will be focused on in the coming months are functionality, customer experience, savings and potential revenues. The partners state that the goal directly after evaluation is a commercial launch.
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-home (V2H) technology for cars is complicated because it not only involves technology within the charger and the car, but also regulations from electricity providers and the driving habits of the customers involved.
“We would all be lying if we said it was an easy project; we had set ourselves a very ambitious goal. I am confident that we have created something very solid, especially with the software platform that Energybank and ambibox developed and optimised together for V2G with HEMS.”
V2G and V2H technology enables electric vehicle drivers and operators to charge their vehicles when demand on the grid is low, therefore soaking up excess renewable energy power, and alleviating some of the need for grid upgrades and stationary storage. With V2G, drivers can feed energy back into the grid in power outage situations or when demand is high and excess capacity is required.
V2G technology is currently being developed to scale up for general use as automotive companies and charging providers develop customer-facing products. In the Netherlands, V2G is being deployed by the charging provider WeDriveSolar in car-sharing initiatives. The technology of bidirectional charging is currently finding its place in energy storage and management systems as the energy transition drives forward.
0 Comments