Telling consumers a better story is the key to rapid V2G expansion

Many V2G stakeholders understand the history of V2G and the positive difference the technology can make. The next task, according to CrowdCharge CEO Mike Potter, who spoke to the audience, is to tell the same story to customers in a way that will give confidence that V2G can work for them.

Mike revealed he was first inspired to find out more about V2G technology as long ago as 2011 after reading a New Scientist article which predicted that EV batteries would act as energy stores for the grid.

Soon afterwards, a business he founded called Drive Electric imported some of the UK’s first CHAdeMO V2G chargers from NICHICON in Japan. It was more than two years before they were certified for use amid a long series of modifications.

This was the main point of Mike’s V2G Day talk in a nutshell. He commented: “The technical aspects can be overcome, but user behaviour is the hardest part to deal with. In the next 18 months V2G will begin to work at some scale, so we need to think about what that will mean for customers.”

Lots of challenges lie ahead as the energy sector strives to get more homes connected and give power back to the grid. Mike pointed out, “It’s no good just sorting out chargers. We’ve got to treat the technology, the home and the energy network as one problem and do that at scale.”

Fortunately, CrowdCharge has been able to learn and share insights from unique pilot projects. One involved a group of 700 consumers to increase understanding of how V2G smart charging will be used in the real world. There were some eye-opening results.

“It’s clear that there is enough evidence that the technology works,” said Mike. “The trial was able to show savings can be made of up to £2,000 a year on a domestic energy bill. People just need access to the right equipment.”

But there is another barrier, the study in conjunction with SSE and Western Power revealed. Mike explained that while EVs can already support the grid many people might not want to micromanage their energy use to the level currently required by V2G.

He called this “automation anxiety”, adding, “Users would press and press a button because they weren’t sure what might happen. That’s when we realised how you frame V2G, the story you tell, is vital. They need a better explanation of the technology to feel comfortable with it.”

Part of telling that story, and taking any perceived strain away from users, will depend on how the industry can use AI. Mike suggested the technology could help boost adoption of V2G. It can do this by monitoring energy use and modelling the right tariff for each household. Dynamic pricing can also be offered.

As Mike said: “A lot of things are moving in the right direction with V2G. But making it work for the end user, with EVs that give and take energy, will take a lot of data and a lot of hard work.”

As the energy industry gears up for the V2G step change Jumptech is here to help you scale the technology. 

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