The Mobility Congress has offered around 300 interested parties a platform for discussion and dialogue since 2017. The 2024 Congress at the Swiss Museum of Transport attracted a record number of participants. In addition to a packed conference hall, around 60 participants watched speakers from the worlds of business, politics and academia via a live stream. Energy took centre stage on the Wednesday afternoon. E for energy, energy transition, electric cars, electrification and emissions. But the afternoon also saw discussion of a range of other concepts such as transportation, photovoltaics, power, sustainability, targets and traffic. The conclusion: everyone will need to get involved if the energy and mobility transition are to be a success.
Mobility’s pilot project offers inspiration and a challenge
Everyone is called on to play their part – a motto that fits in well with Mobility’s status quo. Mobility CEO Roland Lötscher introduced visitors to the pilot project V2X Suisse. Over the past year and a half, Mobility has been testing the operational feasibility of bidirectional charging in regular car sharing activities. Here you can find out everything you need to know about the pilot project involving 50 Mobility cars across Switzerland that are both absorbing and releasing electric power. The project is about to be finalised, and in the months to come an assessment will be carried out to see whether or not the technology is suited to car sharing. The final report is expected to be published in July. At the Congress, Lötscher revealed initial findings from Mobility'’ perspective:
- e-car sharing with bidirectional charging seems possible
- It has been shown to be technically feasible
- The process chain works
- The project has passed the SwissGrid prequalification
- The project V2X Suisse has attracted interest, acting as both a source of inspiration and a challenge
The learning curve is steep
V2Suisse is not the only way in which Mobility is playing a pioneering role. “We’re looking to electrify our entire fleet by 2030 – that’s around 3,000 vehicles. The biggest hurdle to a fossil-free fleet? “Providing the infrastructure,” says Roland. He goes on to explain: “Every electrified car park involves intense discussion and a lot of work. Electrification is a major endeavour and we rely on the right framework conditions being established as we embark on this challenging path.” But the Mobility boss is confident about the future: “It’s an intense process, but the learning curve is extremely steep.”
Find out here why it takes around six months for Mobility to get an electric parking space up and running.
But the most important message from Mobility CEO Roland Lötscher this afternoon is a different one. “What’s important to me is that the areas of mobility and energy become even more closely intertwined and are conceptually coordinated: there’s going to be much more interchange between the two in the future. My job is to ensure Mobility is even more solidly placed within this fascinating environment and to position our messages accordingly. Change is coming and we have a lot to learn, but we must never forget our core business: car sharing!
What is “V2X Suisse”?
The research project ran from autumn 2022 to spring 2024. It involved the integration of 50 fully electric bidirectional Honda model ‘e’ cars into Mobility’s regular car-sharing scheme. It was the first large-scale trial featuring bidirectional charging e-cars to be held in Switzerland. The idea was to explore how this technology can be used to reduce load peaks in the power grid and how households with solar installations can optimise their own consumption. In addition, the aim was to investigate the economic potential of bidirectional vehicles in Switzerland and test the competition between potential flexibility consumers on three grid levels (Swissgrid, distribution grid operator and ZEV – association of electricity producers and consumers).
The final report is due to be published on ARAMIS (the Federal Administration’s research database) in summer 2024. ARAMIS – the Federal Administration’s research database – homepage (admin.ch)
Conclusion: the project has demonstrated the technical feasibility of bidirectional charging and given the technology a boost. It has confirmed that V2H (vehicle-to-home – a proven methodology), and V2G (vehicle-to-grid) work technically, at both the grid level and in terms of benefiting the system as a whole. Such a scheme cannot yet be operated economically by a car sharing company, however.
The following companies were involved in the project in addition to Mobility: Car manufacturer Honda, software developer sun2wheel, charge point developer EVTEC, aggregators tiko, scientific support by novatlantis, in collaboration with ETH. The project is supported under the Swiss Federal Office of Energy’s pilot and demonstration programme.
Images: Fabian Stamm
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