Ministers have awarded almost £30m to help develop technology that will unlock the potential for electric vehicles to help power homes – known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G).
The funding has been awarded to 21 V2G projects to pay for research, design and development, with the aim of exploring and trialling both the technology itself and its commercial potential.
Transport minister Jesse Norman said: ‘As the number of electric vehicles grows and their battery capabilities increase, there is a huge opportunity for them to make a significant contribution to a smart grid.
‘These projects are at the cutting edge of their field. Just like the visionary designs of Brunel and Stephenson in transport, they could revolutionise the ways in which we store and manage electricity, both now and in the future.’
The funded schemes will demonstrate how energy stored in electric vehicle batteries could be borrowed by the electricity system during peak hours, before being recharged during the off-peak in time for their drivers to set off on their next journey.
They include EDF Energy’s V2GO scheme (pictured) – a large scale demonstration of V2G charging in Oxford using 100 electric fleet vehicles (cars and vans) from a number of organisations including several delivery and taxi companies.
The project will develop, trial and evaluate potential business models for fleet operators’ use of electric vehicles and their suitability for V2G charging.
Officials said the £30m investment will help deliver on the Government’s ambition, set out in the recently published Automotive Sector Deal under the Industrial Strategy, to be at the forefront of low-emission and electric vehicle production.
Other winners in the competition run by Innovate UK included SSE Services, Nissan, OVO Energy, Octopus Energy, Cisco, Flexisolar and AT Kearney.
Grants provide up to 70% of project costs.