Indra, a leading British electric vehicle (EV) charging and smart energy technology business, has been awarded funding for two pioneering vehicle-to-everything (V2X) charging projects. This will play a significant role in the UK Government’sV2X Innovation Programme.
Indra, which was founded in 2013, will be further developing its industry-leading bidirectional charging technology as part of the Next Generation V2X Power Module project to make it even more efficient, powerful and cost-effective. Indra is also partnering in the V2X Inflexion project with Kaluza, OVO Energy and the Volkswagen Group UK.
Indra will be spearheading the development of V2X technology with combined charging system standard (CCS) charging compatibility, which is the most commonly used by European EV manufacturers, in this world-first trial.
Mike Schooling, Indra founder and CTO, said: “As pioneers in bidirectional charging technology, Indra is delighted to receive funding to develop the capabilities of V2X even further.
“Making energy smarter has never been more important and, with V2X technology, an electric vehicle effectively becomes a personal energy storage device on wheels, allowing power to be transferred to the home, to the workplace or even back to the grid.
“This game-changing technology can deliver major cost and environmental savings and Indra is committed to bringing this innovation closer to wider real-world use.”
Graham Stuart, Energy and Climate Minister, said: “We want to make smart charging an easier choice for drivers of electric vehicles, whether that is charging on the driveway, at the workplace, or parked on the street. To do that we need to build new network infrastructure at pace, using the latest available technologies.
“Today’s plan sets out how we will work with Ofgem and industry to kickstart the market for smart charging, which we are backing it up with £16 million in innovation funding. This will let people take control of their energy usage, in the most convenient and low-cost way.”
Next Generation Power Module
Already a global leader in V2X technology, Indra’s existing bidirectional hardware and software solutions have been used in the first viable vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trials with more than 1,000 charging units manufactured to date. While these still set industry standards today, research data from the trials and progress in the automotive and energy sectors have presented new innovation opportunities.
Bidirectional charging is now expanding from V2G to vehicle-to-home (V2H) technology, opening up the ability for homeowners to use their cars to power their own domestic energy use rather than export energy back to the grid. Key benefits to consumers include cost savings from off-peak energy tariffs and the ability to use a greater volume of energy from renewable sources at peak use periods.
The increase in battery capacity for EVs presents a huge opportunity for them to power their homes and therefore an even more sophisticated, efficient and powerful V2X system is required. The Next Generation V2X Power Module project will bring this game-changing technology closer to commercial scale and use.
Project INFLEXION
In a world first, the INFLEXION consortium brings together energy, mobility and technology stakeholders to develop V2X business models and rewarding customer propositions that will increase electric vehicle (EV) affordability and adoption.
Working in collaboration with software experts Kaluza, VW Group UK and OVO Energy, Indra will take a key role in Project INFLEXION. This has been established to investigate and deliver smart V2X methods that will make the technology attractive and affordable to a broader segment of the population.
This approach will allow more consumers to make the most of both V2H and V2G possibilities, letting them use their EVs to lower energy bills and reduce demand on the grid at peak times.
The two projects will be funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and delivered by Innovate UK. V2X is part of the up to £65m Flexibility Innovation Programme, funded from the £1 billion BEIS Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.
