Skip to main content

Renault begins large-scale V2G trials in Europe

Renault is trialling large-scale pilot schemes in Vehicle to Grid (V2G) charging for electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe. The company says a fleet of 15 Zoe vehicles with V2G charging will be introduced over the course of 2019 to help lay the groundwork for future standards. V2G, also called reversible charging, modulates the charging and discharging of EV batteries between the users’ needs and the grid’s supply of available electricity, the company adds. The pilot schemes are currently taking place in
April 4, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

2453 Renault is trialling large-scale pilot schemes in Vehicle to Grid (V2G) charging for electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe.

The company says a fleet of 15 Zoe vehicles with V2G charging will be introduced over the course of 2019 to help lay the groundwork for future standards.

V2G, also called reversible charging, modulates the charging and discharging of EV batteries between the users’ needs and the grid’s supply of available electricity, the company adds.

The pilot schemes are currently taking place in the Netherlands city of Utrecht, in collaboration with electric driving company We Drive Solar, and on Porto Santo Island in Madeira, Portugal, with energy supplier Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira.

More trials will follow in France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark.

Gilles Normand, Renault’s director of electric vehicles, says: “We have chosen onboard technology that also optimises the cost of recharging stations and thus facilitate a large-scale development.”

The pilot schemes are expected to help the company underline the technical and economic advantages of an onboard solution in EVs, while demonstrating the value of services provided for the local and national electricity grid, such as encouraging consumption of solar and wind energy, checking the grid’s frequency or tension and reducing infrastructure costs.

Related Content

  • Charging station infrastructure boost to electric vehicle use
    July 17, 2012
    The first section of a planned network of stations for charging electric vehicles – the West Coast Electric Highway – opened in March, promising a welcome boost to the environment and economy of Oregon. Pete Goldin reports What should come first, the electric vehicle or the charging station? This dilemma has been hindering proliferation of ‘EVs’ in the US for years. Without a widespread and reliable infrastructure of charging stations, the American public is not likely to adopt EVs en masse. This may all b
  • Battery bottleneck: EV roll-out at risk
    June 17, 2019
    In order for the take-up of electric vehicles – a key part of the future mobility mix - to grow, we need batteries. And that might prove tricky, reports Graham Anderson Industry and commodities experts fear that the growth in electric vehicles (EVs) could be much slower than predicted due to bottlenecks in global battery market supply chains. “People seem to think that the switch from the internal combustion engine to electric vehicles just means you plug your car in rather than fill it with petrol,” a
  • Qualcomm and Renault sign MoU on wireless EV charging technology
    July 25, 2012
    Qualcomm and Renault have announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for their intended cooperation on the London trial of Qualcomm Halo Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) technology, and their intent with respect to conducting preliminary studies of the integration of this technology into Renault vehicles.
  • Port Authority of New York to go all-electric
    November 2, 2018
    A leading US public transportation agency has become the first in the country to embrace the Paris Climate Agreement, and will introduce an all-electric airport shuttle bus fleet. The voluntary Paris deal is aimed at curbing global temperature rise to under 2 degrees Celsius. As part of a commitment to achieving this, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says it will aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 35% by 2025 – and 80% by 2050. Its shuttle fleet will consist of 36 electric vehicl