Research project: V2X
Accelerating the change to a more sustainable future is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. And as such, the challenge, can be approached from multiple angles while still working towards the same picture of sustainability. Putting electric performance cars on the road is certainly a corner stone, but many other pieces remain. Allowing the grid, our homes, and more to rely on more and more renewable energy being one of them.
Enter V2X.
V2X, an abbreviation of “Vehicle-to-Everything”, is a collective name for the technologies that enable the transfer of energy between electric vehicles and other functions. To accelerate its development, including Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), Polestar is co-founding a five-partner project in Sweden. Supported by Swedish Energy Agency, Polestar is joined by Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg energy grid supplier Göteborg Energi, charging solution provider CTEK and energy solution provider Ferroamp.
This cutting-edge technology allows electric vehicles to act as power sources when they are plugged into the grid. After having been charged (ideally with green energy, like wind or solar), the EV can then supply its stored energy back to the grid, a more advanced off-grid solution than the relatively small-capacity battery packs currently in use.
“This is exciting for us. We have been exploring this bidirectional technology for some time now and we want to bring it to life in our future products,” says Polestar Head of Research and Development Hans Pehrson. “It gives our R&D team great pleasure to be involved in this project with such fantastic future potential!”
During the study, which will span almost three years, two V2X demonstration charging stations will be constructed in Gothenburg: one at Polestar Headquarters and one on the Chalmers University campus.
The project aims to accelerate the development of technical solutions while also investigating benefits, barriers and potential business models. Ultimately, the technology is seen as an imperative puzzle piece in enabling the storage of renewable electricity, and could potentially revolutionise the future of power grids worldwide.
“I can imagine a world where thousands of electric vehicles, all plugged in to the grid, act as an important part of a fully renewable energy system,” continues Pehrson. “For example, a V2H solution could maximise the storage of local green energy and provide backup capacity for peak periods. This is a step towards a world without the need for coal or nuclear power plants.”
Creating sustainable mobility is an unparalleled challenge. But even the hardest puzzles have a solution. And as we’re assembling more pieces, the final picture becomes clearer.
