In a big week for Swedish truck maker Scania it has announced that it has successfully demonstrated one of the world’s first vehicle-to-grid (V2G) implementations for heavy commercial vehicles using a Megawatt Charging System (MCS), which it says marks an important step towards integrating heavy electric transport into the wider energy system.
Scania said that it was an ‘innovative’ demonstration that showed how battery-electric trucks can do more than just transport goods.
It says that, trucks can also support the power grid by providing flexibility services such as peak shaving, grid balancing, and energy storage through bi-directional charging
The company claims that as the electrification of heavy transport accelerates, there is the increasing need for flexibility in energy systems.
It said that large-scale charging of heavy vehicles places new demands on local grids and electricity infrastructure and at the same time, electric trucks represent significant mobile battery capacity that can be used when vehicles are parked.
Scania points out that using bi-directional power transfer within depot operations can also improve the utilisation of local renewable energy generation such as solar power, while creating greater flexibility around grid connection and energy management.
Scania’s global manager for transformation and new business, Tobias Ejderhamn said that electric trucks will not only consume electricity, they can also become an active resource in the energy system.
“This shift transforms the fleet operator’s role from solely providing transport services to also offering energy flexibility.” said Ejderhamn.
Scania claims the demonstration was carried out using MCS, the new generation of ultra-fast charging technology that is now being introduced for heavy electric trucks.
It said that MCS is expected to play a key role in enabling long-distance electric transport and future energy services such as vehicle-to-grid.
It added that the system enables secure real-time communication between the truck, the charger, and energy management systems, which allows charging and discharging to be dynamically controlled, based on transport needs and conditions in the power grid.
“What makes this significant is not only the bi-directional energy flow itself, but the ability to combine megawatt charging with intelligent energy management,” said the product manager for charging with Scania’s parent company, Traton, Yorben Muller.
“To our knowledge, this is one of the world’s first demonstrations of vehicle-to-grid functionality using MCS for heavy commercial vehicles.
“The truck, charger and energy system can communicate with each other in real time, creating the foundation for heavy electric vehicles to become active and controllable assets in the energy system,” said Muller.
“The ability to combine high-power charging with intelligent and secure energy management could also strengthen the business case for battery electric trucks by creating new ways for fleet operators to optimise energy usage and lower their operational costs,” Ejderhamn added.
Scania claims that the technology also creates opportunities for charge point operators and energy providers by improving utilisation of charging infrastructure and local grid capacity.
By creating additional value streams around electric trucks and charging infrastructure, vehicle-to-grid technology also has the potential to support faster adoption of battery electric transport.
Scania says the technology is initially expected to be most relevant in depot charging environments where vehicles are parked for longer periods and charging can be coordinated with energy demand and grid conditions.
