“Smart energy management is one of the biggest challenges any nation faces for the future which is why this trial is so critical in assessing the feasibility of using variable, more flexible energy sources,” said Paul Willcox, chairman of Nissan Europe. “By enabling customers to sell energy back to the grid, we’re providing a financial incentive to choose the sustainable option.”
Ernesto Ciorra, Enel’s head of Innovation and Sustainability, added: “The installation of our two-way charging technology will encourage the integration of non-programmable renewable energy flow into the grid and will help the spread of electric mobility in the country, benefitting the energy sector and the environment, while also having a positive impact on electric owners’ wallets.”
Industry projections show that by 2050 there could be twice as many cars on the road as there are today. Currently, if all 18,000 Nissan electric vehicles in the UK were connected to the energy network, they would generate the equivalent output of a 180MW power plant. If that was scaled up in a future where all the vehicles on UK roads are electric, V2G technology could generate a virtual power plant of up to 370GW, enough to power the UK, Germany and France.
