Renault, EDF plan vehicle-to-grid charging offer for 2027

Renault Group and French energy company EDF have signed an agreement to launch a home charging service in France in summer 2027, combining electric vehicles, bidirectional charging stations and smart charging management. The offer will initially target private customers buying vehicles from Renault Group’s Renault, Alpine and Dacia brands.

Eligible vehicles will be able to feed electricity from their batteries back into the grid while connected to a charging station. EDF will handle charger installation through its IZI by EDF service, while Dreev, a joint venture between EDF and Nuvve, will provide the platform for managing charging and discharging.

The partners said the agreement aims to accelerate electric vehicle adoption by offering customers an integrated package of charging station installation and managed charging.

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is not new. Bidirectional inverters, vehicle-to-charger communication protocols and demonstration projects have been in development for years. The significance of the agreement is the commitment by an automaker and an energy company to bring the technology to market at scale.

The challenge has been less about converting electricity than integrating the full service, including vehicle compatibility, manufacturer battery warranties and bidirectional charging equipment.

As the electric vehicle fleet grows, the charging capacity that can be managed becomes increasingly significant. Properly coordinated, vehicle batteries could provide flexibility to the power system, complementing stationary battery storage and capacity mechanisms. Poorly managed charging, however, could increase evening demand peaks.

The scale of the rollout, along with the tariffs for grid connections and payments for flexibility, will help determine the service’s impact.

From pv magazine France