The future of energy on your driveway
Introducing the world’s first large-scale domestic vehicle-to-grid (V2G) project.
Our V2G Charger stores electricity in your Nissan LEAF battery when it’s cheaper and more likely to have been produced by renewable sources1, then sells energy back to the grid when it’s in demand, which might even save you enough to charge your car for free2.
This groundbreaking trial is completely free, only for OVO customers.
Building a better grid for everyone
The grid is the UK’s energy network, connecting millions of homes to thermal power stations and renewable energy sources. And it’s getting greener. But green energy is intermittent by nature. We can’t switch it on when demand is high. And without flexibility, adding more renewables to the grid is complicated and expensive.
For a flexible, balanced grid, we need more control. And that starts on your driveway.
Help shape the UK’s low carbon future
We’re excited to have been specially selected by the UK Government to pioneer vehicle-to-grid technology in the UK in collaboration with Nissan, Indra and Cenex.
Through Project ‘SCIURUS’, we’re offering our innovative technology to 1,000 UK households at no cost, with funding for a 2 year trial provided by the government’s innovation agency Innovate UK.
Charging that works for you, your car and the planet.
1. Tell us when you need to use your car and your chosen minimum charge level, via the app.
2. Plug your car in to your charger whenever you’re at home.
3. We’ll charge your car when demand on the grid is low, and export when demand is high (working around the charging schedule you’ve set in the app)
4. Anything exported that your house doesn’t use, we’ll sell back to the grid. You’ll see the money you’ve saved on your monthly statement.
The smarter way to charge
Get complete control of your V2G charger via the app.
- Set charging schedules with the option to override them for unexpected journeys.
- Set minimum charge levels.
- See live charging updates (i.e. when your car is discharging or charging).
- Keep a close eye on things by viewing your historical charging data.
How much money could I save?
If you have no other form of microgeneration at your property, we’ll pay you at your electricity unit rate + 6p for every kWh sold back to the grid. So you're making a profit of 6p on every kWh that we sell back to the grid, which you'll see as a saving on your energy bills.
You could save up to £3052 on your energy bill!
Join the pioneers
We couldn’t be more excited to hear what you think about V2G. By taking part in our trial, you’ll be helping to shape the future of EVs and V2G in the UK. Throughout the trial, you’ll get access to the OVO EV Forum VIP area, where you can share your thoughts and insights with fellow trial participants.
V2G with solar energy
You can enjoy all the benefits of V2G with solar and other microgeneration systems, as long as the power output is no greater than 4kW – the pricing just works slightly differently.
Power Output: 6kW on charge and export
Weight: 27kg
Dimensions: 520 x 230 x 690mm
Charging Cable: 5m Waterproof CHAdeMO cable
Installation: Outdoor, wall mounted
Compatible with: Nissan LEAFs with a battery capacity of 30kWh or more
Trial our charger for free!3
Your chance to shape the future
We couldn’t be more excited to hear what OVO customers think. And thanks to the government’s Innovate UK grant and our partnership with Nissan, we’re offering free entry to the trial, including installation: the first large scale trial of this technology in the UK.
Your feedback will make all the difference. It’s your chance to let the government know vehicle-to-grid is all it’s cracked up to be and then some.
To join our green revolution, register your interest here.
Frequently Asked Questions
The LEAF is currently the only vehicle we will be supporting as part of our trial. So you’ll need to drive one to take part.
But if you don’t own a Nissan LEAF, don’t sweat it. In future we plan to expand our V2G charger to more electric vehicles.
You’ll need to be an OVO energy customer on any of our plans. You’ll also need to have a smart meter installed and have your data sharing preferences set to half hourly. You also need a suitable space to install the charger, and unfortunately we can’t support people on Economy 7 tariffs.
Once on the trial, to remain eligible you’ll need to make sure your data preferences are kept as half hourly and that the V2G charger is the main method of charging your electric vehicle. If not, your charger may be removed.
The trial will last for 24 months from the date your charger is installed. You’ll need to remain an OVO customer throughout the duration of the trial on any OVO plan. During the trial we’ll ask you for regular feedback to help us develop and refine the product for the future.
As it is a trial, the terms may be subject to change. At worst, if we need to change or cancel the trial, we will let you know 30 days before doing so.
We’ll own the charger at all times, but at the end of the 2 year trial you can have it removed for free. You’ll be responsible for any loss or damage caused to the charger during the trial.
We are working closely with Nissan to ensure that no battery degradation is caused by V2G charging beyond what would be expected from normal charging using a standard EV home charge point. We continue to work with Nissan to make sure that during our trial, your existing warranty will remain unaffected. Please note, our warranty agreement with Nissan only relates to 30kWh and 40kWh Nissan LEAF batteries - if you own a vehicle with a battery capacity lower than 30kWh, use of the V2G charger may invalidate your warranty. Please speak to your warranty provider directly if you have further questions.
Our agreement with Nissan currently only guarantees warranty coverage for batteries with 30kWh or 40kWh capacity. Using V2G with a lower battery size may invalidate your warranty. We are working hard to ensure V2G is compatible with lower battery capacities and will update you if there are any changes.
To install the V2G charger you’ll need off-street parking and a wall we can attach the charger to. We will support any standard installs for free as part of the trial. If it’s a very complex install, we’ll provide you with a no-obligation quote for the work, or advise you that we can’t install at your house during the trial. Either way, we’ll make sure you’re 100% happy with the detail of the install process before we start any work.
Terms & Conditions
1 Subject to what you choose as the Vehicle to Grid charger's charging schedule,it will charge your vehicle battery with electricity from the grid when electricity is cheap and more likely to be of a lower carbon intensity. The charger will discharge your battery when electricity is expensive and more likely to be of a higher carbon intensity.
Electricity is more likely to have come from a renewable or green source, when carbon intensity is low. Carbon intensity is a measure of the grammes of CO2 emitted in producing a kWh of electricity, which is usually lower for renewable or green sources of energy.
2 If you discharged your EV battery at 5.4kW from 4-7pm every day for a year, you'd potentially export 5913kWh to the grid. You'd likely use some of this to power your home - we estimate 14% of your EV battery's output. This would equate to 830kWh annually (based on a PC1 consumption profile and our average EV driver's annual electricity consumption of 4722kWh). For the kWh you don't use in your home, that we can sell back to the grid, we'll pay you a net export payment of £0.06. Based on the above assumptions, means you could save £305 annually:
(5913kWh - 830kWh) x £0.06 = £304.98
The estimated average annual charging cost for a Nissan LEAF is £282.14, based on the following assumptions:
- Average annual mileage for private vehicle: 7,500 miles (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts09-vehicle-mileage-and-occupancy)
- 4.2miles per kWh
- Unit price of 15.80p per kWh (the price for an OVO customer on our Better Plan excluding regions 16, 17 & 18 where V2G is unavailable)
(7500/4.2) x £0.1580 = £282.14
Using this example, the estimated average annual costs of £282.14 would be covered by the estimated annual export credit of £305.
All data and calculations are presented as at 06.06.2018
3 Free entry to the trial, provided that your installation is classed as a "standard installation".