Fiat Chrysler is the latest auto major to embrace vehicle-to-grid or V2G technology. The Italian-American auto maker has announced the commencement of a project where it will test hundreds of electric vehicles for transferring power to the electricity grid.
The project is located in Mirafiori, home of Fiat in Turin, Italy. Construction work for the phase 1 of the pilot project has started. Upon completion, the project will sprawl across 3,000 square metre of area and will include 32 V2G columns to service 64 electric vehicles at one time. The phase-1 is expected to be completed in July.
Through the project, Fiat is looking to utilise bidirectional charging capability in electric vehicles to supply electricity back to the grid. This means that electric cars will act as an energy source for the city, powering its electricity grid.
Among others, there is one big plus of vehicle-to-grid technology. Demand for electricity fluctuates through any typical day. At peak hours, the grid is often overburdened with the demand. Sourcing electricity from EVs will be able to smoothen out such curves of electricity demand.
Since cars are stagnant at a point for around 80% to 90% of a day, they can be used to ride out these curves of electricity demand easily. In such a case, they would essentially act as individual energy storage units in the form of batteries that can be used to supply electricity when needed.
The vehicle-to-grid pilot project by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles comes in partnership with Engie Eps, an energy storage division of French utility giant Engie. Through the project, the two industry majors plan to use V2G technology for backing an electricity grid that is increasingly being powered by renewable energy sources, as Italy resumes mobility post COVID-19 lockdown.
FCA plans to expand the facility to house up to 700 electric cars by the end of 2021. At that capacity, the plant will be able to supply up to 25MW of electricity, as per a report by The Driven. This would make it the largest facility of its kind on the planet.
The report estimates that Europe¡¯s electric car market will produce around 200 GWh of capacity through the EV batteries per year by 2025. The resulting increase in demand for electricity for EVs will have to be regulated for optimum efficiency. V2G technology seems to be the only true saviour from this for now.