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

  • July 26, 2013
    DG MOVE’s Christos Economou on the EU’s vision for road transport
    Christos Economou, Deputy Head of Unit dealing with land transport within the European Commission’s DG MOVE, describes a new framework for road charging in Europe to Jason Barnes. Within the European Union (EU), two Directives shape the legislative framework on road charging. Directive 1999/62/EC sets up a number of rules to make sure that national road charging schemes do not distort competition on the internal market or discriminate between hauliers. It is misleadingly called ‘Eurovignette’ after the comm
  • September 12, 2012
    Preparations building for French national truck toll
    The Autostrade led Ecomouv consortium is developing the next big system of truck tolling likely to be introduced in Europe – France’s ‘Eco-tax’. Jon Masters reports. Since October last year, a consortium of companies has been working on developing the technological and administrative systems necessary for a national system of truck tolling in France. Eco-tax, France’s truck toll, is not necessarily going to be implemented. The Ecomouv consortium has been set up as a long term concessionaire, but so far only
  • January 22, 2013
    Ertico kicks off Compass4D project
    Compass3D, the latest EU project, aims to prove the social and environmental benefits of cooperative systems by deploying services for road users, including drivers of buses, emergency vehicles, trucks, taxis, electric vehicles and private cars, to increase road safety and energy efficiency, while reducing the level of congestion in road transport. With a total budget of more than US$13 million, this new pilot project will involve 574 users and 334 vehicles in the deployment of co-operative ITS (C-ITS) in s
  • October 22, 2021
    Key to EV roll-out is understanding drivers
    Understanding EV technology and driver behaviour will be key to building out the world’s charging infrastructure. Andrew Stone finds out why from Bret Scott at Wejo