The Government has awarded £4.8 million to four projects to develop bi-directional charging technologies for electric vehicles (EVs).

The cash will be used to develop and implement so-called vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies.

The two-way charging would enable electricity stored in EVs to power homes or offices.

Businesses could benefit by storing electricity in their fleet of EVs and using it to power their operations at a later date.

It builds on existing smart charging technologies, where EVs can be charged when electricity prices are lower overnight.

V2X technologies also enables electricity to be sold back to the grid when prices are higher.

The technology will also help make it easier to rely on renewable technologies such as solar panels, with less need for fossil fuels to provide for surges in demand by allowing stored renewable energy to be sold into the grid instead.

Transport minister for technology and decarbonisation, Anthony Browne, said: “This innovative new development is the next step in levelling-up our charging technology, which will benefit many households across the country.”

The four projects receiving a share of £4.8m include Wireless V2G for fleets (V2Geasy), which involves 20 Royal Mail delivery vans.

Led by wireless charging company Electric Green, the London-based project has received £959k in Government cash.

Electric Green will convert the 20 delivery vehicles to bi-directionally charge and discharge wirelessly (inductively) and then conduct a comparison between wired and wireless bi-directional charging at Kingston’s Royal Mail depot. 

The wireless bi-directional solution aims to address depot space constraints, accessibility and safety concerns, while facilitating higher connection times and maximising monetisation for back to base fleets.

QEnergy, experts in the flexibility market, will analyse fleet duty cycles, vehicle battery and state of charge data mapped against grid capacity and flexibility market revenue potential, while Royal Mail drivers and fleet managers will add their feedback in order to investigate the practicalities of both systems.  

Martin Beaumont, CEO of Electric Green, said: “We are confident our wireless charging solution will help Royal Mail to not only decarbonise their fleet but drive forward cost-saving efficiencies in their productivity by removing the need to plug-in their vehicle.

"Together with Royal Mail and QEnergy, we aim to make a significant impact on the decarbonisation of the logistics sector and contribute to the electrification of road transport."

Another fleet project, which is being led by Otaski Energy Solutions, has received £1.5m in funding.  

The Fleet Bi-directional Charging (FLEXET) project will trial Otaski Energy Solutions’ bi-directional EV charger containing its multi-input multi-output (MIMO) DC-DC converter, integrated with Syselek’s telematics system and fleet energy management systems.

With partner University of Leeds, FLEXET will demonstrate V2X technology through multiple use cases to show the benefits of V2X and energy flexibility to reduce carbon footprint and improve energy efficiency, while addressing the limitations of smart charging for EV fleet operators.

The consortium will also work closely with local authorities and asset managers to deliver smart and bi-directional charging on lampposts and other charging assets.

Hangar19, a project involving Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), has also received a share of the funding, some £1m, to demonstrate a three-socket bidirectional charger, making a wider range of EVs available for energy flexibility and bidirectional charging.

Finally, 3ti Energy Hubs in Leatherhead has received £1.3m to combine a quick-to-deploy bidirectional charging hub with a solar canopy and energy storage battery, house in recycled shipping containers, which can make access to bidirectional charging available in more destinations, including vehicle depots. Read more here from 3ti here. 

The projects are part of the Flexibility Innovation Programme, supporting the efficient and flexible use of electricity, within the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP).