The UK government is investing in vehicle-to-everything technologies to help businesses and households save money on energy bills by selling electricity from their vehicles back to the grid.
The government is awarding four projects £4.8 million to develop and implement vehicle-to-everything technologies, which enables electricity stored in a vehicle’s battery to flow back into the grid or back into the home and workplaces, which can then be used to power other devices.
Businesses could benefit from the vehicle-to-everything technologies by storing electricity in their fleets of EVs and using it to power their operations later.
These technologies will also help make it easier to rely on renewable technologies such as solar panels, with less need for fossil fuels to provide for surges in demand by allowing stored renewable energy to be sold into the grid instead.
The four projects that will receive the funding are: Hangar19, 3ti Energy Hubs, Otasi Energy Solutions and Electric Green Limited.
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Transport minister for technology and decarbonisation Anthony Browne said: “We’re continuing to support drivers, and this innovative new development is the next step in levelling-up our charging technology, which will benefit many households across the country.
“This government has already spent over £2 billion in the transition to electric vehicles and our charging network is growing at pace, with 44% more public charge points than this time last year, meaning drivers can charge more easily than before.”
3ti CTO Mark Potter said the project proves that the technology can “work in the real world”.
“Connected EVs will be teamed together to act as virtual power and energy storage facilities, with each car releasing and replenishing its stored energy according to user preferences and grid demand.
“This generates income and cost savings, which can be passed on to our customers.”
