One of the top electric vehicle manufacturers in Europe, Renault, will be supplying a test fleet of 150 Renault ZOE electric cars to the city of Utrecht (through the year 2017) as part of a new solar smart-charging project, according to recent reports.
A letter of intent for the project was signed recently in Paris by Renault and its Dutch partners — Utrecht City Council, ElaadNL, and LomboXnet — with the intent being to eventually develop a Franco-Dutch “framework of smart solar charging solutions for electric vehicles (EVs).”
Going by the terms of the letter of intent, management of the infrastructure involved and the smart-charge standard will be taken care of by ElaadNL, while the installation of the “unique” EV charging stations (with 44 kilowatt/kW grid connections) will be handled by LomboXnet. The local grid operator Stedin will reportedly be involved in order to balance supply and demand of the local grid.
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Phase one of the project would involve setting up 1,000 smart solar-charge stations, powered by 10,000 photovoltaic panels in the Utrecht region. Infrastructure installation would run side by side with development of a car-share service of electric cars, powered by renewable energy, for Utrecht residents. The Renault ZOE R.Access connectivity and 22 kW charging make it suited for car-share and smart charging applications.
Phase two of the project would proceed with the partners developing a vehicle-to-grid ecosystem, with the network of solar chargers capable of both charging the electric cars and of feeding energy stored in the batteries of parked cars onto the grid to meet demand peaks. This could be the starting point for a new system storing renewably sourced energy.
One of the primary aims of the new “Smart Solar Charging Project” — according to those involved — is to reduce the carbon footprint of the local automotive industry (and other associated sectors).