The UK government has today (20 December) unveiled a £4.8 million funding package to support four vehicle-to-everything (V2X) projects.
V2X technology has often been touted as one of the most promising technologies for the UK’s energy transition with electric vehicles (EVs) able to store and discharge energy for a range of applications. This in turn can reduce the demand on the grid but also provide an additional balancing mechanism.
Using bi-directional charging, the wider adoption of V2X builds on existing smart charging technologies, where EVs can be charged when electricity prices are lower overnight. This could incentivise customers to earn money by enabling energy from the EV to flow back into the grid, a house or a workplace.
It is also worth noting that the technology can be coupled with other renewable technologies such as solar to create a self-sustainable and low-carbon method of powering a building.
All four of the projects that have received a share of the £4.8 million funding aiming to support the work and implementation of the technology.
Of the funding, £1,026,051 has been allocated to Hangar19 Ltd who, along with a consortium of partners including CrowdCharge, Electric Corby, FleetDrive, GridBeyond, Jaguar Land Rover and Oxfordshire County Council, will demonstrate a 3-socket bidirectional charger, making a wider range of EVs available for energy flexibility and bidirectional charging.
3ti Energy Hubs alongside partners CENEX, Gridbeyond and Turbo Power Systems, has received £1,344,552 of funding to combine a quick-to-deploy bidirectional charging hub with a solar canopy and energy storage battery, housed in recycled shipping containers, which can make access to bidirectional charging available in more destinations, including vehicle depots.
£1,517,682 has been awarded to Otasaki Energy Solutions which will use the funding to trial a bidirectional EV charger to enable fleet EV operators to access energy in a flexible way which could deliver savings in line with electricity supply and demand surges. This is being explored alongside its partners Syselek and Leeds University.
The final project to be awarded funding – £959,071 – is Electric Green Limited which, alongside Qbots Energy and Royal Mail, will trial wireless V2X technology with a fleet of 20 delivery vehicles at Royal Mail.
Dr Marco Landi, head of technology and innovation, electrification services at Jaguar Land Rover, expressed his “delight” at being awarded project funding stating that V2X technology will be “key to our all-electric future”.
Landi also stated that collaboration will be essential for success in the EV industry. “Working together with industry-leading partners, we are developing a complete EV ecosystem, from batteries to charging, supporting our net-zero transformation,” he said.