The one electric vehicle quality that consumers can't seem to help but worry about is range anxiety, or running out of charge before reaching a destination or another charging station for refueling. With this connotation, it's hard to imagine EVs being capable of returning excess energy to the electric grid — a technology known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G).
However, one London-based startup, Volteras, is making strong headway on creating a viable and accessible V2G future, TechCrunch recently reported.
In fact, the startup's co-founder and CEO, Peter Wilson, imagines a world where "the electric vehicle will be the center of the entire energy grid," he told TechCrunch.
V2G technology involves bidirectional charging where an EV charges by pulling energy from the grid, but will work vice versa, too — the grid can also pull energy from the EV battery. Because the technology is relatively new and underexplored, current V2G charger options are costly, making the technology inaccessible for many.
Volteras, which recently closed an $11.1 million Series A round of funding, is building the software, or "virtual connective tissue," that would allow EVs to help create virtual power plants to return, or sell, energy back to the grid.
This connective service would also allow companies, like rental car services, to use the startup's software technology, which integrates with over 30 current automakers' application programming interfaces — including that of Tesla, Ford, and BMW — to improve customer experiences.
This accessible innovation could also benefit communities prone to power outages or energy price spikes, helping to stabilize the grid and lower energy costs for users during these peak or crucial periods. At the same time, EV owners can earn a little money back.
But, do EVs have the range and battery capacity to return energy to the grid?
Most EVs have a usable battery capacity of 71 kilowatt-hours, according to the EV Database. Based on the average miles per kilowatt-hour of an average EV, per the Electric Car Scheme, this would translate to about 213 miles of range capacity — of course, this figure will also vary depending on your EV's battery health.
A V2G system with 17,000 participants, and pulls only 10 kilowatt-hours from an EV battery — about 30 miles of range — could aggregate under 170,000 kilowatt-hours of returned energy. Some energy is lost during the charge and discharge process.
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Cost 💰 Based on the average home power consumption — that is 30 kilowatt-hours per day, according to Constellation — the returned energy is enough energy to power about 5,600 homes in one day.
On a full charge, after participating in the V2G system, you would still have about 85% of your battery capacity for daily personal use.
This all could "make it more affordable to own an electric vehicle," said Wilson, per TechCrunch.
Owning an EV is even more affordable with home solar, which helps lower pollution from dirty energy sources, and can reduce household energy costs to next to nothing. Tackling pollution can reduce the health consequences associated with this energy source, improving community health.
Homeowners interested in installing solar on their homes may find EnergySage useful for gathering and comparing quotes from trusted local solar installers to find the best price for their project.
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