A £20 million new government investment will help develop BPVs (battery powered vehicles) which are capable of returning electricity to the grid
The new investment will support vehicle-to-grid projects as part of the government’s Industrial Strategy and create a smarter energy system, while increasing the numbers of electric cars on UK roads.
The projects will investigate technology that allows plug-in electric vehicles to not only draw power from the grid when charging but return it to people’s homes or back to the grid.
There are already 100,000 BPVs and 11,000 charge-points in the UK. As this number grows they become a resource for a smart electricity grid – bringing benefits for drivers and creating a more flexible and efficient energy system.
The government’s ambition is that nearly all cars and vans on Britain’s roads will be zero-emission by 2050.
The £20 million will be awarded to three types of innovative vehicle to grid projects:
- Feasibility studies to investigate the ways vehicle to grid technology can be used in the future
- Industrial research or experimental development – for example, to develop vehicle-to-grid charging equipment, and:
- Demonstrator trials in the real-world environment – projects that trial vehicle to grid technology in different locations across the country
Last week, Swedish car manufacturer Volvo announced that it would stop producing petrol and diesel vehicles by 2019.
And France said it would ban all internal-combustion engine vehicles by 2040. Environment minister Nicolas Hulot also said that poorer households will receive financial assistance to replace older, more polluting vehicles with cleaner ones.
Norway, which is the leader in the use of BPVs in Europe, wants to move to electric-only vehicles by 2025.
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