Terna and FCA join forces for electric mobility. Trial of innovative services for V2G gets underway

A new technology lab is to be built in Turin: a demonstration fleet will test Vehicle-to-Grid to support the sustainability, safety and flexibility of Italy's national grid

Turin, 19 September 2019 - Today in Turin, the CEO and General Manager of Terna, Luigi Ferraris, and the Chief Operating Officer of FCA in EMEA, Pietro Gorlier, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the joint trialling of sustainability mobility services and technologies, such as Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), which enables electric vehicles to interact with the grid via 'smart' charging infrastructure.

The #partnership between the companies will involve the realisation at the Terna location in Turin of the E-mobility Lab, an innovative technology laboratory which will allow trials on the performances and capacities of electric cars for the provision of services to support the flexibility and stabilisation of the electricity grid, and their one-way and two-way interaction with the grid via a dedicated charging infrastructure. Feasibility studies will also be launched for an experimental demonstration fleet of electric cars connected to the grid via a #v2g infrastructure, to be built in an area inside the FCA Mirafiori industrial complex.

When vehicles are connected to charging infrastructures, this will create a surge in power demand from the grid at some times of day. Smart management of charging via the #v2g charging points will enable electric cars to support the management of the grid, supplying services intended to meet the needs for system flexibility. The capacity supplied by electric cars will help to stabilise the grid and, at the same time, to reduce the total cost of ownership of the car itself, thanks to the economic benefit deriving from the provision of these services to the grid.

"With this agreement, Terna confirms the central role of innovation and research into new technologies at the service of the energy transition in progress. Cooperation with a partner of excellence like FCA enables us to share the specific competences we have acquired, to develop solutions and new flexibility resources required to guarantee a more sustainable, efficient, reliable and safe electric system" declared Luigi Ferraris, Terna CEO and General Manager.

"The agreement with Terna forms part of a series of projects launched by FCA to support electric mobility. Vehicle-to-Grid technologies are an opportunity for optimising car operating costs to the benefit of motorists, and a genuine means of boosting the sustainability and further improving the performances of the electricity grid," commentedPietro Gorlier, FCA Chief Operating Officer in EMEA.