Octopus Electric Vehicles and Wallbox have today (7 June) announced a partnership to bring Wallbox’s latest vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charger to the UK.
The new technology allows Wallbox to reduce the size and weight of the inverter, a component which traditionally meant V2G charge points were much heavier and larger than existing one-way charge points (where energy only flows from the grid to charge the car).
The inverter switches power from DC (used by electric cars) to AC (used in homes and by the grid) at a “much faster” rate than previously possible, Octopus claims.
The charge point will be unveiled by Octopus at the Fully Charged Live 2019 show in Silverstone today.
Customers who take Octopus Electric Vehicles’ V2G bundle will receive a Nissan Leaf, a free Wallbox V2G charger and green energy.
Octopus says its V2G customers can earn up to £30 cash back by plugging in their car overnight at least 12 times per month.
This V2G bundle builds on the existing smart charger bundles that Octopus Electric Vehicles has been offering since 2018.
The Wallbox V2G charger is expected to be installed in homes from August.
The renewable energy will be based on the current 12-month fixed energy tariff provided by Octopus Energy.
Fiona Howarth, chief executive of Octopus Electric Vehicles, said: “Octopus Electric Vehicles is delighted to partner with Wallbox to be the first to offer this market-transforming, beautiful, small vehicle-to-grid charger to customers.
“One of our main goals in the Powerloop project that Innovate UK backed, is to encourage companies like Wallbox to create brilliant V2G chargers, which will enable the UK to cleverly balance the grid enabling us to transition to a renewable economy.”
Enric Asuncion, chief executive of Wallbox, added: “We have been developing this technology for more than two years now and we are very excited to release it in the UK together with Octopus.
“The ‘V2G bundle’ that Octopus offers to its customers is the best way we could imagine to launch this technology.”