NRG Energy announced it will partner with eV2g, a project developed at the University of Delaware to earn EV drivers money by providing services to grid operators.
Pioneered by UD professor Willett Kempton, this patented leading-edge vehicle-to-grid technology has garnered worldwide attention and holds promise to transform the future of the electricity supply.
eV2g technology will offer a true two-way interface between EVs and the electric grid, resulting in cost savings to EV fleet operators and eventually other EV owners and consumers, and cleaner and more reliable electricity for everybody.
eV2g’s technology would allow EV owners to sell battery storage back to the electric grid while the EV is plugged in—at no risk or inconvenience to daily driving needs. The program will initially help EV fleet managers to get connected with eV2g, then individual EV owners in the future.
Once enrolled and plugged in, eV2g allows EVs to communicate with the grid and lets grid operators take power from connected EVs during peak usage periods. EV owners can schedule in advance any times their vehicles need more charging than usual, as for a unusually long trip, and what minimum level of charge they want to maintain at all times. eV2g collects payment from the grid operator and pays EV owners for making their vehicles available.
Electric grid operators rely on resources that can help provide or absorb short bursts of energy to keep the grid running smoothly, and parked and plugged-in EVs are ideal for helping to fill that role. Balancing the grid this way generates no additional emissions and can lead to a decrease in electricity costs over the long term by delaying or supplanting the need to build new generation facilities.
EVs—powered by electricity generated from cleaner domestic fuels—have the potential over time to reduce air emissions dramatically and begin to put the brakes on the ongoing transfer of American wealth to oil-producing nations. America spends approximately a billion dollars a day for imported oil and transportation accounts for more than a quarter of America’s greenhouse gas emissions.
