Thanks to research led by Dr. Kotub Uddin from the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), an academic department at the University of Warwick, the future of smart, renewable energy is looking bright. Current tests demonstrate that energy stored in electric vehicles (EVs) can be used to power buildings.
Using a Jaguar Land Rover, the team showed a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system can use energy from an idle EV battery and transfer it to the grid, successfully providing buildings with power. Not only does this whole process leave the vehicle’s battery unharmed, but studies suggest it potentially can increase battery life.
After studying the best lithium-ion batteries available on the EV market, the team created an exceedingly accurate battery degradation model. This model was used “to predict battery capacity and power fade over time, under various aging acceleration factors—including temperature, state of charge, current, and depth of discharge.”
The degradation model was used as a basis to develop a smart grid algorithm. In essence, the formula calculates how much energy the EV battery needs in order to properly function and preform daily tasks. Once that figure is calculated, the algorithm then determines how much energy can be taken from the battery without causing any negative side effects.
To put all this data to the test, the team attempted to power the WMG’s International Digital Laboratory from EVs parked on the campus grounds. They calculated the number of available EVs “could spare the energy to power this building—and that in doing so, capacity fade in participant EV batteries would be reduced by up to 9.1%, and power fade by up to 12.1% over a year.”
This research challenges previous thoughts that EV energy extraction using V2G technology serves as a catalyst for rapid battery degradation. The process has proved its complexity, and by navigating that intricate relationship, the battery life of EVs can even improve.
“These findings reinforce the attractiveness of vehicle-to-grid technologies to automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers: not only is vehicle-to-grid an effective solution for grid support—and subsequently a tidy revenue stream—but we have shown that there is a real possibility of extending the lifetime of traction batteries in tandem,“ says Dr. Uddin.
The entire report titled, “On the possibility of extending the lifetime of lithium-ion batteries through optimal V2G facilitated by an integrated vehicle and smart-grid system,” can be found in the journal Energy.
