Powering your home using the energy stored in your electric vehicle (vehicle-to-grid) isn’t commonplace yet, but it could be if trials are successful.
Speaking of which, a UK power distribution firm, that manages the energy grid across West England and Wales, has just launched a V2G trial and is giving away free smart chargers to Nissan EV drivers to test its platform, but there’s a catch.
In an announcement yesterday, Electric Nation, the consortium of organizations involved in the trial, said that it has opened applications to find EV owners that want to participate. As part of the trial, EV drivers will receive a £5,500 smart charger that is capable of managing power to and from their vehicle — for free.
It means that participants will be able to power their homes using energy from their electric car’s battery. It could let users charge their car when energy supply is cheap and plentiful and then use that energy to power their home during the day when electricity is expensive. The system could also reduce reliance on fossil fuels as clean energy can be sourced and stored for future use.
There are some caveats, though. Only Nissan EV drivers are eligible to participate and those free smart chargers will only be free for the duration of the trial. TNW has contacted Electric Nation to find out what’s going to happen to them when the trial is over, other trials have sold the units to participants at a discount.