The UK government is considering giving car manufacturers incentives to install 'vehicle to grid' (V2G) technology as part of its review of the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The technology allows drivers to charge automatically when electricity is cheap overnight, then sell some of it back to the grid at times of high demand. Carmakers could earn a credit for selling cars with V2G technology, also known as bidirectional charging, which would allow them to sell additional petrol cars without facing fines if they miss ZEV targets, according to plans detailed in a government consultation that closed on Friday.
The technology could help solve a major challenge in the transition to renewable energy: balancing the grid during still, cloudy or dark periods when wind and solar generation is lower than electricity demand. If millions of cars can send power back to the grid, it could lessen the load on the grid and reduce the need to activate expensive gas power plants. The National Energy System Operator forecasts that electricity supplied by V2G cars could add up to the equivalent of 1.2 gigawatts of power on demand by 2030, potentially growing to as much as 41 gigawatts by 2050, enough to meet more than a quarter of peak energy demand.
However, campaign groups raised concerns about the proposals. Ben Nelmes, chief executive of New AutoMotive, a thinktank tracking the transition to electric cars, warned that manufacturers could receive credits of around £4,000 each for equipment costing only a few hundred pounds, even though few drivers own the expensive charger needed to use V2G. He said carmakers should only be rewarded if the technology is actually used. Vicky Edmonds, chief executive of the Electric Vehicle Association England, which represents drivers, argued that the technology has not been tried and tested at scale by drivers in the real world, making it too early to give manufacturers credits that effectively allow them to sell fewer electric vehicles.
Some people already use V2G services through companies such as Octopus Energy in the UK, Renault in France, and BMW in Germany. Octopus Energy has claimed that drivers could save £620 a year with the service. The government is also preparing to cut electric vehicle sales targets under the ZEV mandate. Environmental groups are braced for changes that could mean an additional 147 million tonnes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere by 2050.