Is the EV-enabled smart grid on it’s way? Nissan and a UK energy supplier, Ovo, have teamed up to offer a vehicle-to-grid program on the new Leaf, that will enable Ovo to manage the battery’s energy, buying during offpeak periods and selling during peak periods. Owners will get to charge their cars for free while providing load balancing services.
In this sense, electric car owners who share their battery with energy companies are driving for free. The programme is intended to incentivise the adoption of cleaner vehicles and help power grids manage green energy growth.
Electric car owners ‘can drive for free by letting energy firms use battery’
Electric car owners will be paid for letting an energy company use their vehicle’s battery in a pioneering scheme to increase take-up of the cleaner vehicles and help power grids manage the growth in green energy. Nissan and one of the UK’s biggest challenger energy suppliers, Ovo, will offer the “vehicle-to-grid” service to buyers of the Japanese carmaker’s new Leaf from next year.
