As part of INCIT-EV’s Use Case 1.b, an initiative involving the startup WeDriveSolar, MRA Elektrisch, house developers and homeowners was launched in a district of Odijk, a townlocated near Utrecht, in the Netherlands.
We Drive Solar is currently striving to push the boundaries of bidirectional charging, an innovative technology allowing electric vehicles to discharge excess power back into the local power grid (Vehicle-to-Grid).
Bidirectional charging has proven to be an effective response to :
- cope with the surges in power demand during peak hours,
- increase the share of renewable energies in the electricity mix
- decrease the future costs of electricity supply of cities, companies or individuals.
All the citizens living in the neighborhood have been offered a free three-year subscription to the We Drive Solar electric cars sharing scheme.
They have access to three electric cars and to three bidirectional charging stations in the neighborhood, as well as to other shared cars of We Drive Solar. Given the fast development of the neighborhood and the steadily increasing demand in e-cars, 2 extra shared electric cars will be available in the neighborhood in the coming months. Two new bidirectional charging stations will also be installed.
This Use Case both focuses on :
- further developing We Drive Solar’s bidirectional ecosystem
- studying the socio-economic aspects of such a shared electric cars program. It is expected to have a high replication potential, especially in newly-built districts.
