Initial situation:
The number of battery electric vehicles (BEV) is steadily increasing. More and more people are using BEVs for both personal and professional purposes, and an increasing number of BEVs are on the road every day. However, most of the time, these electric cars are parked in private garages, carports, public commuter or company parking lots. On average, a private car is driven for a maximum of 1 hour per day.
There are significant opportunities here, especially the ability of bidirectional charging and discharging. This can not only reduce or eliminate the undesirable impacts of electromobility but, when used correctly, also create an additional value for our energy system that benefits everyone, whether they are individuals, businesses or communities. While the technical feasibility of bidirectional charging has been demonstrated in projects like Storebility and Car2Flex, applicable, turnkey solutions remain scarce, and public awareness and acceptance are still limited.
Goals and methods:
To address these challenges and unlock the substantial potential of this technology, the planned project aims to develop tested and applicable turnkey system solutions for bidirectional charging as well as scalable, user-oriented business models with high acceptance among companies and the general public. Therefore the following objectives will be pursued:
1. Systemintegration of different bidirectional charging stations and demonstration of technical feasibility: Up to 5 different bidirectional charging stations available on the market will be system integrated and tested at highly visible and heavily frequented test locations for more than 6 months, using various management strategies.
2. Development of scalable, user-oriented concepts and solutions: In co-creation workshops conducted with various stakeholders such as companies and their employees, interest groups, private individuals, etc., user- and application-oriented concepts and solutions for optimal future use of V2G and V2H will be developed. The collaborative development aims to achieve a high level of acceptance for the developed solutions. Finally, the developed solutions will be optimized for scalability to facilitate rapid adoption and penetration into different market structures.
3. Raise awareness and acceptance: To make electric mobility and especially bidirectional charging more understandable and accessible to people, a bidirectional charging station will be deployed at high-traffic events - in addition to the planned multi-month test sites. On-site visualization will help illustrate and demonstrate the potentials of bidirectional charging in a comprehensible manner. The focus will be on rural regions where individual transportation will still play a significant role in the future.
4. Analysis/Assessment of individual and systemic impacts of the developed solutions / business models and their contribution to the SDGs using a mix of experimental and qualitative empirical methods.
Expected results and findings:
- Tested and applicable turnkey system solutions for bidirectional charging
- Scalable, user- and application-oriented business models with high acceptance among businesses and the general public
- Technical, economic, sustainable, and societal impacts and potentials of bidirectional charging solutions
- Recommendations and hands-on guidelines for decision-makers and authorities for the practical implementation, taking into account the SDGs
