Electromobility in Switzerland
“Anyone with an electric car should be able to earn money on the electricity market”
22.09.2023
Mobility’s electric vehicles are designed not only to reduce the impact on the climate, but also on the power supply. Thanks to projects such as “V2X Suisse,” consumers are increasingly becoming active participants in the electricity market themselves.
Mobility has big plans: By 2030 at the latest, the entire fleet – currently around 3000 vehicles – will be electric. As pleasing as the trend towards e-mobility in Switzerland is, the associated challenges must not be underestimated. After all, the more electric vehicles, the higher the electricity demand. And the greater the demand, the harder it becomes to ensure grid stability – something that’s essential for a reliable and secure national supply.
This is where the Project “V2X Suisse” at the end of the day. The idea: electric cars don’t just consume electricity. Thanks to bidirectional charge stations, they can feed energy back into the grid. For the technical implementation of the project, Mobility has brought on board various partners from industry, including Zurich-based tiko. “Since its founding in 2012, tiko has pursued the approach of connecting decentralised electrical devices and batteries and using them to stabilise the grids,” explains Stefan Dörig, Head of Regulatory Affairs. “V2X technology is nothing radically new for us.” What is new for Dörig and his team is that electric cars from a car sharing company act as mini power plants. This is exciting, not least because Mobility has a fleet of vehicles at its disposal. “The fact that the electric vehicles mean we can use assets that already exist makes V2X economically as well as ecologically attractive. Mobility is once again demonstrating its innovative spirit,” says Dörig.
Mobility has big plans: By 2030 at the latest, the entire fleet – currently around 3000 vehicles – will be electric. As pleasing as the trend towards e-mobility in Switzerland is, the associated challenges must not be underestimated. After all, the more electric vehicles, the higher the electricity demand. And the greater the demand, the harder it becomes to ensure grid stability – something that’s essential for a reliable and secure national supply.
This is where the Project “V2X Suisse” at the end of the day. The idea: electric cars don’t just consume electricity. Thanks to bidirectional charge stations, they can feed energy back into the grid. For the technical implementation of the project, Mobility has brought on board various partners from industry, including Zurich-based tiko. “Since its founding in 2012, tiko has pursued the approach of connecting decentralised electrical devices and batteries and using them to stabilise the grids,” explains Stefan Dörig, Head of Regulatory Affairs. “V2X technology is nothing radically new for us.” What is new for Dörig and his team is that electric cars from a car sharing company act as mini power plants. This is exciting, not least because Mobility has a fleet of vehicles at its disposal. “The fact that the electric vehicles mean we can use assets that already exist makes V2X economically as well as ecologically attractive. Mobility is once again demonstrating its innovative spirit,” says Dörig.
Three success factors
According to Stefan Dörig, three conditions must be met for V2X electromobility to become established in the long term: “First of all, access to electromobility has to become easier.” To achieve this, the (charging) infrastructure in particular needs further expansion. As a second point, he mentions the costs: “The more V2X vehicles and charge stations there are, the more attractive the technology.” By way of example, Stefan Dörig cites the development of photovoltaic technology, which is cheaper than ever before. “The third point concerns the regulation of the electricity market.” It is still (too) strongly oriented towards traditional models: large power plants that produce electricity, and households that use it. It’s precisely this which is evolving. “Thanks to projects such as “V2X Suisse”, consumers are increasingly becoming active participants in the electricity market.” Policies must take account of this development.
Final spurt over the winter months
Despite the challenges, there’s no doubt in Dörig’s mind: “Together with Mobility and other project partners from industry, we’ve been able to demonstrate over the past twelve months that electric vehicles can be used for storing energy efficiently.” The project’s being extended by six months and continued in the coming winter in a bid to gain more experience. According to Dörig, V2X is a compelling technology that holds great promise for the future: He stresses: “Our vision is that every owner of an electric vehicle can earn money on the electricity market and at the same time contribute to the energy transition – without sacrificing comfort.”
This article was created at the half-way point of the project in autumn 2023.
What is “V2X-Suisse”?
The temporary research project ran operationally from autumn 2022 to spring 2024. Fifty bidirectional Honda e-cars were integrated into Mobility’s regular car sharing system. It was the first large-scale test of bidirectional charging electric cars in Switzerland. It was intended to show how this technology can be used to break peak loads in the power grid and how solar power stations can optimise their own consumption. It also wanted to investigate the business potential of bidirectional vehicles in Switzerland and test the competition between potential flexibility buyers at three grid levels (Swissgrid, distribution grid operators and private consumption alliance).
The final report will be published on ARAMIS (the Federal Administration’s research database) in summer 2024. ARAMIS – The Federal Administration’s research database – Home page (admin.ch)
Conclusion: The project proved the technical feasibility and gave impetus to the bidirectional technology. It showed that in addition to the tried-and-tested V2H (vehicle-to-home), V2 G (vehicle-to-grid) also works technically, both for the grid and the system. However, it is not yet worthwhile for a car sharing company to operate economically.
The following companies were involved in the project in addition to Mobility: Automobile manufacturers Honda, Software developer sun2wheel, Charging station developer EVTEC, aggregators tiko, scientific support by novatlantis, in collaboration with the ETH. The project will be supported by the pilot and demonstration programme of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE support.
Images Copyright: Patrick Besch