Skip to main content

UK government launches funding competition for vehicle to grid technology

The UK government is to invest US$25.7 million (£20 million) in vehicle to grid projects as part of its Industrial Strategy to create a smarter energy system, while increasing the numbers of electric cars on UK roads.
July 10, 2017 Read time: 1 min

The UK government is to invest US$25.7 million (£20 million) in vehicle to grid projects as part of its Industrial Strategy to 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 electric cars and 11,000 charge points and 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 funding will be awarded to three types of innovative vehicle to grid projects: feasibility studies; industrial research or experimental development; and demonstrator trials in the real-world environment.

The competition process will start in the next few weeks with the aim of winners being notified in December and projects starting in early 2018.

UTC

Related Content

  • May 17, 2016
    CarConnect to harmonise home plug-in-vehicle charging
    The CarConnect project, which aims to help the electricity industry better understand how plug-in electric vehicles (PIVs) charge at home in harmony with the electricity grid, is now under way in the UK. It is known from other projects that clusters of PIVs will have an impact on local electricity networks; analysis from the recently completed My Electric Avenue project indicates that by 2050 the electricity industry in Great Britain may have to invest an additional US$3.6 billion (£2.2 billion) to upgra
  • December 7, 2016
    UK government transport innovation grants open for new bids
    The UK government has announced a US$3 million (£2.5 million) package of transport innovation grants for companies, individuals and academics to make travelling safer, quicker and more reliable. These grants include 33 Transport Technology Research Innovation Grants (T-TRIG) worth a total of US$1 million (£833,000) awarded to early-stage science, engineering or technology innovations as well as a further round of competition for T-TRIG awards worth approximately US$834,000 (£700,000). A new Innovation Ch
  • October 10, 2018
    Pivot Power: 'We need to rethink the EV customer experience'
    Electric vehicles will increasingly become a key part of the mobility mix but charging infrastructure is currently patchy. Adam Hill talks to Matt Allen of Pivot Power about disruption, horses, slot machines – and the importance of customer experience. Electric vehicles (EVs) – including buses, taxis and cars for individual and shared use – are already a common sight on our roads. They are not yet ubiquitous. But that will come. There will be around 30 million electric cars in the world by 2030 (as they
  • August 31, 2021
    Microgrids & the new power generation
    Public transportation agencies are turning to microgrids to provide critical resilience in the event of local and regional power interruptions. Gordon Feller looks at projects in Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts