- In an ongoing pilot project between Volvo Cars and Swedish energy firm, Göteborg Energi, four fully-electric Volvos equipped with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability delivered the equivalent of 111 kWh into the Swedish city of Gothernburg’s energy market.
- The successful attempt marks a key step for Volvo Cars, as it plots for its future range of EVs – starting with the upcoming EX90 SUV – to natively support vehicle-to-grid technology, as other OEMs, such as Nissan, plot similarly ambitious steps.
- Vehicle-to-grid capabilities will have the ability to significantly reduce the cost of EV ownership, for those able to charge at home.
Volvo gets closer to its V2G ambitions
Volvo Cars and Göteborg Energi originally launched the pilot scheme back in late 2023, which coincided with the launch of Volvo Cars Energy Solutions, which offers energy storage and charging solutions – such as the vehicle-to-grid capabilities that Volvo aims to offer on future production electric cars.
Therese Caesar, at Göteborg Energi, commented on the initial results:
“This is an important step where we are at the forefront globally in showing that the technology works all the way. Now the opportunity for more economical electric car ownership opens up. Power can be sold locally to counteract capacity shortages in the electricity grid and also combined with participation in the national support and balancing service market.”
Previous calculations from Volvo Cars suggest that the total battery capacity of all its EVs on the road could reach around 50 GWh, globally, within the next couple of years. This represents a significant untapped potential for energy grids across the world, that could soon be realised with Volvo’s pilot project now shortly coming to a close. Ahead of the EX90 launch, which will be the first Volvo EV to support vehicle-to-grid technology, Volvo Cars’ UK branch has already forged a partnership with OVO Energy and Kaluza, to bring V2G technology to UK drivers.
With more V2G-capable EVs poised to hit the market in the coming years, the opportunities not just for driver cost savings but also for maximising use of renewable energies is significant. You can read Dr Euan McTurk’s full breakdown on vehicle-to-grid technology, here.
