Volkswagen partners with Elia group to explore vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services
Volkswagen says it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) Friday with Ellia Group to explore V2G technology and how it can potentially help stabilize the energy grid while rewarding EV drivers.
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology has immense potential as more electric vehicles hit the road. EV chargers and the technology behind connectors have evolved as automakers work with tech leaders, charging companies, and utility companies to allow their vehicles to be used for more than zero-emission driving.
For example, Ford, Hyundai, Porsche, Nissan, Tesla, and others have explored how drivers can utilize V2G technology to send energy back from their vehicles to the energy grid.
EV batteries have incredible storage ability, which is a significant advantage as countries move to renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar hold incredible value, but they also come with hurdles.
For one thing, wind and solar cannot be produced on demand, making storage solutions essential. Although the transition will require more transmission capacity, electric vehicles offer a unique solution.
Elia is Belgium’s high voltage transmission operator, maintaining electricity supply and demand. The company believes electric vehicles can be a key asset for balancing the grid, referring to them as “batteries on wheels.”
Volkswagen is joining Elia’s mission as the automaker accelerates its transition to sustainable transportation and explores how V2G technology can help integrate EVs for a superior energy grid.
Volkswagen, Elia agree on plans to integrate V2G into the grid
Over the next few years, Volkswagen, Elli (VW’s energy and charging division), Elia, and its startup re.alto will explore the benefits of V2G integration and the potential challenges that come along with it.
According to the press release, VW’s new partnership aims to show how electric vehicle drivers “will be able to charge their EVs when there are high amounts of renewable energy” available on the grid and “inject the electricity stored in the EVs back into the grid when it needs it most” with V2G technology.
Elli’s CEO, Elke Temme, talks of the benefits of using bi-directional power, stating:
An essential key to achieving climate neutrality lies in linking of the energy and mobility sectors. Using the electric vehicle battery as a mobile power bank delivers a triple benefit: Firstly, the climate benefits as renewable energy can be stored and therefore be used more efficiently; secondly, the electric grid benefits, as the car can contribute toward grid stability, and thirdly, the customer can earn additional revenue with vehicle-to-grid services. To explore the benefits of this consumer-centric approach, this cooperation with Elia Group is crucial for us.”
The technology, when deployed properly, can benefit all parties involved. With less stress on the energy grid, utility companies can offer lower rates to consumers. On top of this, for sending energy back when it’s needed most, EV drivers can earn incentives.
Volkswagen and its partners will focus on four critical areas that would lead to the successful integration of V2G, including:
- Price signals (incentives) – Exploring ways to incentivize EV drivers to use their vehicles to store and send energy back to the grid.
- Market design – Working to remove barriers preventing EV owners from being able to choose their energy supplier.
- Trusted data – EVs must have some verification process to plug into the grid for security purposes.
- Secure connectivity – Ensuring the connection is secure and any data transferred is safe.
For V2G to work on a wide scale, Volkswagen and its partners recognize these critical factors must be addressed first.
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Formula E unveiled its new “Gen3 EVO” car, an update to the Gen3 car which debuted last season, ahead of the Monaco ePrix this weekend.
The new car will be used for next season, and is basically a mid-cycle update of the Gen3 car which has been in service for last and this season. The succeeding Gen4 car is not expected until 2027.
The Gen3 car was introduced as both lighter and more powerful as the previous generation car, with a lot of promises about how much quicker it could be in the races.
It also utilized some pretty unique design ideas. The biggest difference is the addition of a front motor, but this motor was only used for braking, and conversely, the rear friction brakes were entirely deleted and instead the rear axle is braked only by the rear motor using regenerative braking, for a total of 600kW regenerative braking power.
However, The Gen3 didn’t turn out to be all that much faster. This often happens with new racecars as teams get used to tuning and using them, but teams struggled to harness the extra power available to them.
At the same time, the series switched tire providers, and the new tires may have proven to be a limiting factor.
Now, the Gen3 car is hoping to fix both of these problems at once. Not only has Hankook provided stickier tires (with 5-10% more grip, and made of 35% recycled materials) which should help to harness some of the car’s additional power, Formula E has also taken the rather unique move (in the world of formula cars) of activating the Gen3 car’s front motor for thrust, not just regen – thus making its cars all-wheel drive.
The Gen3’s inclusion of a front motor left many thinking – ourselves included – that it would inevitably get activated not just for regen, but for power delivery.
There have been all-wheel drive single seater open wheel cars in the past, but it has only been tried a few times. Currently, other open-wheel single seaters (like F1, IndyCar and the like) are rear-wheel drive only.
AWD has been popular on road cars recently, because it enhances acceleration and drivability. And on EVs, it’s quite easy to add, because you can just slap a second motor on the other axle and run a few cables to it, rather than needing to run driveshafts and gearing mechanisms all through your car to transfer the power from a single combustion engine to two separate axles.
However, sportscar and racing enthusiasts have often preferred rear-wheel drive because it makes cars more squirrelly and difficult to control, showcasing driver skill more readily.
So Formula E is going to allow all-wheel drive only in certain situations. During qualifying duels, race starts, and during the activation of “attack mode,” a temporary 50kW power boost that each driver gets at certain points in the race.
One complaint about the Gen3 cars was that attack mode was hard to use, because the car felt like it couldn’t properly utilize that additional 50kW. By activating the front motor, this should give drivers a huge advantage – quicker acceleration through and out of corners is an enormous benefit.
While 0-60 numbers don’t matter a lot for a racecar – they’re only ever at 0mph at one point, at the start of the race, after all – acceleration is still important for exiting corners, and gives you a lasting benefit for the entire straight if you can get a better exit than another racer. And the Gen3 EVO boasts a truly impressive 0-60 number: 1.82 seconds.
This 0-60 time is 30% quicker than an F1 car and 36% quicker than the Gen3 car, thanks to that front motor helping pull the car forward with 4 contact patches instead of 2.
In addition, the design of the car has changed somewhat. The nose and front wing have been redesigned from the (perhaps overly) angular design of the original Gen3 car. Over the last season and a half, cars have struggled with front wing damage, so hopefully the new wing will be a little more durable.
All told, Formula E says that the new car could be 1-3 seconds faster per lap, depending on circuit and whether the AWD system is in use. This would be a pretty massive improvement as far as laptimes go, but we’ll have to see how it plays out when next season comes around.
Now, if only we could also see that 600kW mid-race charging they’ve been working on…
The new Gen3 EVO car will start seeing use next season, but if you want to see the current Gen3 car in action, you can watch it this weekend at the Monaco ePrix.
The race proper starts at 6am PDT, 9am EDT, 1pm UTC, and 3pm local Monaco time on Saturday April 27. In the US, all sessions other than the race will be available on the Roku channel, practice sessions will be on Formula E’s YouTube, and the race will be on CBS/CBS Sports Network. To see how to watch the race in other countries, head on over to Formula E’s Ways to Watch site.
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