Polestar To Undertake Vehicle-to-Grid Projects in Sweden, USA

Polestar is set to undertake two Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) projects in the coming months which are set to commence in Gothenburg, Sweden and California USA. The project in Sweden is funded by the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova and will utilise a substantial fleet of Polestar 3 cars.

The bidirectional charging technology integrated into the Polestar 3 cars enables them not only to charge but also to discharge energy from their batteries back to the individual home or the electricity grid. To manage V2G integration, Polestar is developing a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) that links all participating Polestar 3 cars connected to the grid. This cloud-based VPP calculates the collective capacity of connected batteries and initiates charging or discharging based on grid demand and battery longevity optimisation, providing a seamless experience for car owners and contributing to the energy transition.

V2G project in Sweden to use Polestar 3 SUVs.

Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO said, “Vehicle-to-grid has the potential to not only benefit individual customers, but whole communities. The average car is parked 90% of the time. With the bi-directional charging capabilities of Polestar 3 and the Polestar VPP, we can explore business models and community solutions that can unlock the true potential of V2G and enable owners to support the energy transition when they don’t need their car for driving”.

Polestar, in conjunction with the Swedish National Grid authority, local grid owner, regional energy distributor, home charging provider, and research partner Chalmers University of Technology, aims to explore potential business models for V2G and pilot tangible use cases that can be scalable and applicable across regions.

The company says that this initiative will allow car owners to both support the grid and monetise their EVs while parked, without any intervention. By plugging in their vehicle, the VPP and smart charging technology take over, optimising battery use for transport needs and supporting the grid.

Meanwhile, in California, Polestar is forming a collaboration with the California Energy Commission and the independent, non-profit energy R&D institute EPRI, on a pre-study to create a roadmap for the implementation of V2G services.

“V2G technologies turn EVs into virtual power plants, making homes and the grid more resilient while putting money into the pockets of drivers. The CEC is excited to have Polestar partner with innovators in California to advance their V2G plans,” says Commissioner Patty Monahan of the California Energy Commission.

The pilot project's test phase in Gothenburg is scheduled to commence in the first half of 2024 and run for two years, featuring a large fleet of Polestar 3 cars. As for California, pre-study is set to begin in December 2023 and run until October 2024.

Written by:- Ronit Agarwal