The U.K. government has pledged financial support towards the development of advanced charging technologies. These innovations aim to turn electric vehicles (EVs) into alternative power sources, aiding the country in reaching its ecological goals.
What Happened: As reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday, the U.K. government allocated £4.8 million ($6.1 million) to four local projects focusing on vehicle-to-everything systems. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero verified this in a recent statement.
The innovative bidirectional technology allows EV users to charge their vehicles during periods of low-cost electricity. The energy stored can then power household appliances during high-cost periods. Unlike conventional EV charging systems, this dual-direction charging enables the grid to draw on the energy stored in the vehicles.
This unique ability to utilize power stored in millions of EVs could reduce dependency on fossil-fuel power plants during peak demand periods, contributing to the stability of the country’s energy grid.
The funding initiative is a response to increasing pressure on the government to address the nation’s energy grid limitations. Government officials predict that electricity demand will double by 2035 due to the growing electrification of EVs and domestic heating, necessitating more power generation and network investment.
Supporting bidirectional charging technologies is a key component of the strategy to achieve net-zero emissions in the U.K. by 2050. The UK has also committed to ending sales of all new non-zero emission vehicles by 2035.
Why It Matters: This recent funding initiative follows a series of actions taken by the U.K. government and businesses to bolster the country’s EV infrastructure. In December 2020, the country’s first dedicated EV charging station was unveiled in Essex, as part of a $1.35 billion project to install 100 EV charging facilities across England. Then in September 2023, BP Plc inaugurated the U.K.’s largest public EV charging hub in the West Midlands, capable of charging 180 EVs simultaneously.
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