World first Groupe Renault starts piloting vehicle-to-grid charging
GROUPE Renault, the European leader in electric vehicles, is beginning the first large-scale pilot schemes in reversible electric charging. Its alternating-current technology is placing the reversible charger inside vehicles, so it just requires a simple, inexpensive adaptation of the existing charging terminals.
A fleet of 15 Zoe vehicles with vehicle-to-grid charging will be introduced in Europe over the course of 2019 to develop our future offerings in reversible charging and lay the groundwork for the future standards. These pilot schemes began last week in Utrecht in the Netherlands in an ecosystem developed by We Drive Solar and on Porto Santo Island in the archipelago of Madeira, Portugal) with Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira, an energy supplier. Following these, more pilot schemes will be introduced in France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark.
‘With this initiative, Groupe Renault is fully fulfilling its role as a leader in electric mobility for all and as a player in the energy transition. Vehicle-to-grid charging is a key pillar of the smart electric ecosystems that Groupe Renault has set up. We have chosen onboard technology that also optimizes the cost of recharging stations and thus facilitate a large-scale development,’ said Gilles Normand, Groupe Renault’s director of electric vehicles.
Vehicle-to-grid charging—also called reversible charging—modulates the charging and discharging of electric-vehicle batteries in accordance with users’ needs and the grid’s supply of available electricity.
Charging reaches its maximum level when the electricity supply exceeds demand, notably during peaks in production of renewable energy.
But vehicles are also capable of injecting electricity into the grid during peaks in consumption.
Electric vehicles can therefore serve units of temporary energy storage and become key drivers in the development of renewable energy. In this way, the electricity grid optimizes the supply of local renewable energy and reduces infrastructure costs. At the same time, customers enjoy greener, more economical consumption of electricity and are financially rewarded for serving the electricity grid.