Car manufacturers are currently setting course for electric mobility. Experts forecast that by 2025 one third of new cars sold in the EU will already have a battery-powered engine. Along with this, the demand for electricity is increasing. This poses major challenges for energy suppliers, as they must increase the share of renewable energies while ensuring grid stability.
It is therefore undisputed that in the future the automobile and the energy industry will be closely intertwined. Electric vehicles will receive an immense significance in the power grid, in particular due to the volatile generation of renewable energies. Intelligent charging of the batteries allows the network to be utilized more evenly. Even more effective are electric vehicles, when they are used as mobile batteries and fully integrated into the power grid. We are talking about Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), when the vehicle can feed back energy into the grid or Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), when the vehicle powers your own house. This technology is also called bidirectional charging.
Developers often focus too much on the technological aspects and neglect vehicle owners who play a crucial role in their charging behavior. As part of a research collaboration with the BMW Group, Flavio Kälin is researching customer acceptance for V2G and V2H.
How can customers be encouraged to provide their vehicle batteries for the power grid? Which barriers and obstacles exist? Are there different customer segments and does it require segment-specific benefit promises to increase customer acceptance? Are there any differences for the customer whether the electricity from the vehicle battery is used for own use or returned to the overall grid?
Qualitative and quantitative methods are combined to answer these and similar questions. The aim is to be able to offer products and services based on the acquired customer knowledge that best meet customer Needs.