The information collected will be used by the V2Market project to identify ways to make V2B/V2G services accessible to all interested users. It also aims to show users how V2B/V2G can be an environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial business opportunity for electric vehicle owners.
V2M, a Horizon 2020 project to incorporate electric vehicle batteries into the electricity system as storage capacity and flexibility, is taking shape. Within the framework of Work Package 2, coordinated by the Ecoserveis Association, the project has completed in March a market study to commercialize the joint use of V2B and V2G services. To this end, extensive qualitative research has been carried out to document the opinions, interests and needs of the different actors involved in the promotion of sustainable mobility (actors such as car manufacturers or electric vehicle owners, to name a few).
This market study has been carried out with a dual objective. Firstly, to assess ways to make V2B/V2G services accessible and affordable for all European citizens. Secondly, to identify and further improve the contribution to environmental sustainability of the integration of electric vehicles into the electricity grid, as well as its potential to become a valid business model.
Four Focus Groups
To collect this information, during the month of March 2022 the Ecoserveis Association led four focus groups . The objective? To use a qualitative research method that brought together a group of participants knowledgeable about a topic of interest and exposed them to a set of questions. With this methodology, the groups provide a variety of different answers to the same question and allow researchers to observe the relationships between the participants to better understand the differences between them.
These four discussion groups brought together participants from across Europe, both online and in person. One of the groups was specifically aimed at electric vehicle owners and users: key stakeholders in the participation, as the integration of V2B and V2G will be crucial for vehicle batteries to help the grid reduce its fossil fuel energy consumption and resolve grid congestion, thus mitigating the risk of energy price escalation.
The second and third discussion groups brought together a wide range of experts, such as car and V2G manufacturers, electric mobility innovation consultants, researchers and legal advisors. All of them to collectively seek opportunities to make V2B/V2G accessible and profitable in Spain and the rest of the European Union. Finally, the fourth group included potential aggregators who explained their prerequisites to operate as flexibility aggregators through V2B/V2G.
The analysis and study of all the information collected has led to the following conclusions:
First, the majority of electric vehicle owners in Europe today (and mainly) consist of people with middle and high incomes, who are notably environmentally conscious and tech-savvy. What motivates this segment of the population? The guarantee of technical reliability, the non-disruption of daily habits and the contribution to environmental sustainability. These are much stronger drivers than modest economic benefits.
Secondly, all groups have identified the current national legal frameworks as a barrier to the large-scale implementation of V2B/V2G: The current regulation is not adequate to facilitate the deployment of these innovative technologies, becoming a deterrent. In particular, the reduction of the minimum amount of energy required for aggregation has been strongly highlighted, as it would allow the formation of local flexibility markets, necessary to widely extend the use of V2B/V2G.
Thirdly, several profiles have been selected as key end users to benefit from V2B/V2G. Households that own photovoltaic plants would benefit greatly from V2B/V2G systems, as it would allow them to avoid peak prices, power their home through their car and not need a local battery for energy storage. Likewise, operators of large or heavy fleets, with regular mobility patterns and long stops, would have enormous flexibility, which would allow them to benefit greatly from V2B/V2G.
Finally, alongside schemes to make V2B/V2G more accessible to EV owners, the group’s views reveal that other actors will also need incentives, financial support or the development of regulation to enable them to benefit from the flexibility services of EV aggregation. For example, distribution companies will need to upgrade and digitize the network, and energy traders will only be able to enter into contracts with external aggregators if it is legally established that their operation will not pose problems in managing diversions.
Based on these conclusions, following the market study, the project plans to test the V2B/V2G scheme in a pilot area within the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Taken together, these activities aim to develop the market framework conditions for incorporating V2G and V2B services into European electricity markets.
More information about the project on its website or on social networks .
