New energy trial enables people to power their homes from their electric vehicle

Kaluza and OVO Energy announce world-first ‘Vehicle-to-Everything’ (V2X) trial, INFLEXION, which will enable millions more drivers to benefit from powering their entire homes with their electric vehicle (EV) in the future.

The scheme is being led by energy software pioneer Kaluza in collaboration with OVO Energy, Volkswagen Group UK, and EV smart charging tech business, Indra. V2X technology not only allows EV drivers to power their home with their car, but also leverage their EV as a backup power source, as well as being able to sell any surplus energy back to the grid – which can help to significantly reduce energy bills. The consortium will prove the power of the latest VW EVs combined with Kaluza’s smart software, and develop rewarding services for customers that ultimately makes buying an EV a more affordable and easy choice.          

The announcement follows OVO’s hugely successful domestic ‘Vehicle-to-Grid’ (V2G) trial, the largest of its kind in the world, which enabled drivers to earn around £420 a year by selling their EV’s energy back to the grid, with some earning up to £800. 

The long-term ambition for INFLEXION is to enable millions more drivers to reap the benefits of this type of charging in the future, regardless of which EV they own, as well as making EVs an even more affordable and attractive option for customers, rewarding them for making a more sustainable choice.

And as one of the world’s fastest-growing EV markets, the UK is a prime testbed for V2X. According to Kaluza’s data, if all vehicles in the UK today were electric and V2X-enabled, they could displace 60% of all gas backup generation currently active in the UK.* 

Energy and Climate Minister Graham Stuart said: “We want to make smart charging an easier choice for drivers of electric vehicles, whether that is charging on the driveway, at the workplace, or parked on the street. To do that we need to build new network infrastructure at pace, using the latest available technologies.

“Today’s plan sets out how we will work with Ofgem and industry to kickstart the market for smart charging, which we are backing it up with £16m in innovation funding. This will let people take control of their energy usage, in the most convenient and low-cost way.”

Alex Thwaites, Head of Zero Carbon Living at OVO Energy, comments: “OVO has been leading the way in supporting customers to transition to electric vehicles and bring them on the journey to zero carbon living through exciting new products and offerings. This is not just about driving renewable energy solutions forward, it’s about demonstrating how customers can actually reduce their energy bills by making the switch to an EV. With OVO’s V2G tariff trial we saw some EV drivers save up to £800 a year on their bills.”

The V2X Flex project, part of the V2X Innovation Programme, is funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), delivered by Innovate-UK. V2X is part of the up to £65m Flexibility Innovation Programme, funded from the £1 billion BEIS Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.

If successful, OVO and Kaluza will look to roll out the trial to OVO customers later in 2023.