Charging and discharging cars in Utrecht

Project descrip­tion

Charging and discharging cars in Utrecht — Inno­va­tion Origins
The city of Utrecht will soon have charging stations that can charge and discharge elec­tric cars. This allows the car to return elec­tricity to the network in times of energy shortage. This new energy and mobility system is a result of a collab­o­ra­tion between We Drive Solar and Renault, who presented the system on Thursday in the pres­ence of the Dutch king.

With this system, the part­ner­ship wants to contribute to the solu­tion of a major energy problem: the supply of sustain­able energy at times of scarcity. “We view the car as a battery on wheels,” explains Robin Berg of We Drive Solar. “The battery is so big that when using it daily, you would only use a quarter of the battery. Three quar­ters would only be used when you’re taking a long drive or going on holiday.”

Storage

According to Berg, the three-quar­ters of the battery you don’t use daily, could be used more effi­ciently as storage. “It is enough to power an entire street.” With the discharge poles, cars can there­fore supply energy to homes when no wind or solar energy can be generated.

We Drive Solar and Renault’s open stan­dard is a first in Europe, although the tech­nology was previ­ously avail­able, for example in Japan. “After the Fukushima disaster, cars had to be adjusted to store energy, so that they could supply elec­tricity in the event of a blackout. We have further devel­oped the tech­nology,” says Berg.

The part­ner­ship is currently applying the system to shared cars. In Lombok, for example, solar panels on the roofs of schools are gener­ating energy, which is being used by shared cars in the neigh­bour­hood to charge. “The next step is to work with project devel­opers and apply it in new housing estates,” says Berg. For example in Utrecht, ‘MARK’ (the resi­den­tial tower near Leid­sche Rijn, which will be higher than the Dom) and the ‘Carte­sius­driehoek’ will have shared cars that can charge and discharge with local energy.

Value

As a result, the value of energy will there­fore shift. “Energy is getting cheaper”, explains Berg. Solar panels are becoming more effi­cient every year. “Twenty years ago, I placed solar panels on the roof and I’ve replaced them three years ago. I now collect six times the amount of energy I used to.”

According to Berg, storing energy will also receive value, as you can limit the peaks of the elec­tricity grid. “Coal, nuclear and gas energy will even­tu­ally all disap­pear. There­fore, we need storage to be able to have power 24 hours a day, when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing. If you use the car battery as storage, you will earn money with a motion­less car.”

In prac­tice, it will look like a charging station where you can buy energy to charge your car, or even sell its energy to supply the energy grid. One problem that according to Berg still needs to be solved is the price of elec­tric cars. “Elec­tric driving is still rela­tively expen­sive as elec­tric cars are still fairly pricy. Over the next few years, car manu­fac­turers will be working to try bring that price down,” says Berg.