Nissan inks major deal with French utility to develop vehicle-to-grid smart charging

Japanese automotive giant Nissan and French electric utility EDF Group will work together to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles across Europe, particularly through the smart charging of electric vehicles.

Nissan and EDF Group announced on Wednesday the signing of a cooperation agreement which will focus primarily on developing smart charging solutions – such as vehicle to grid (V2G) services – by bringing together technologies which both companies have individually developed and mastered.

V2G technology, simply put, allows electricity to both charge an electric vehicle as well as feed from electricity stored in the electric vehicle back into the grid in times of peak demand and need.

Additionally, this electricity is sold to the grid, compensating EV owners for the grid stability services they provide.

Given the nature of each company’s existing specialities, Nissan will be responsible for the sale of V2G compatible electric vehicles while EDF Group will be in charge of V2G charging solutions and related services.

“This new partnership with EDF across four major European markets is another sign that our vision of an electric ecosystem is becoming a reality,” said Francisco Carranza, managing director for Nissan Energy in Europe.

“Businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits and opportunities offered by the Nissan LEAF and e-NV200 and adding a V2G solution is a logical next step for managing their energy supply and opening new revenue opportunities.”

The newly signed cooperation agreement builds on a previous partnership in the UK between EDF Energy and Nissan which saw the two companies collaborate around the development of shared offerings in the areas of electric mobility, smart charging, second-life battery use, energy storage and renewable energy sources.

The original UK partnership between the two companies was part of EDF Group’s larger Electric Mobility Plan announced in October 2018, which is intended to make EDF Group the electric mobility sector’s leading energy company on its four biggest European markets – France, the UK, Italy, and Belgium.

“The cooperation agreement is fully in line with the Electric Mobility Plan launched last October,” explained Yannick Duport, EDF group electric mobility director.

“We are convinced that the development of electric mobility will be supported by partnerships. I am very pleased to count among them the cooperation agreement that Nissan and EDF have just signed to develop smart charging solutions,” said Duport.

“So, EDF is building an ecosystem of innovative players by forming strategic partnerships for the large-scale roll-out of the best technologies to support our customers.”

“Our customers are looking to us to help them transition to electric vehicles, and smart charging technologies are crucial to this journey,” added Béatrice Bigois, managing director for customers at EDF Energy.

“By combining our expertise with Nissan, we are able to work together to make low-carbon transport a reality for businesses today and for wider society in the near future.

“Our ability to offer our customers solutions that will help them to invest in electric vehicles and start to realise the financial and environmental benefits they bring is achievable through partnerships such as this.”