Electromobility will initially hardly change one thing: cars will stand still most of the time. However, this creates new, even ecologically attractive possibilities. The batteries could temporarily store excess energy as a mobile power bank. “So far we’ve been giving away this potential,” says Gowrynath Sivaganeshamoorthy, founder of the start-up Elvah.
Sivaganeshamoorthy is therefore using artificial intelligence to develop a platform that will optimally control the charging and discharging of e-cars; and the idea seems to catch on. Elvah has just received a “high single-digit million investment”. The investors include the Thies Group, ex-Mercedes CFO Frank Lindenberg (58), who now heads the supervisory board of the electric attacker Lucid Motors, and the energy supplier Maingau Energie. Its managing director Richard Schmitz justifies the investment as follows: “Flexibly usable batteries in electric cars are a key factor in meeting the requirements of tomorrow’s electricity market.”
Excess energy sounds rather absurd in times of the Ukraine war and the threat of gas shortages, but so far it has been the reality. In 2020, 6,200 gigawatt hours of green electricity could not be used in Germany due to a lack of storage. Sivaganeshamoorthy, who calls himself “Gowry”, sees the solution in electric cars that – controlled via his platform – “charge bidirectionally”. That means: the vehicles store the excess green electricity and feed it back into the grid when needed; “Real-time energy trading” promises Gowry. He wants to earn money from every transaction on the Elvah platform.
Gowry is up against big opponents, and even they haven’t cracked the new technology’s problems yet. VW is currently testing with “Mitnetz Strom” how well 20 ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5 models can be integrated into the network. The project partners want to announce the first results in autumn. “We want to gain a foothold in the energy market,” says a VW spokeswoman. The Dutch city of Utrecht wants to become “the first bidirectional city and region in the world” and is working with Hyundai, among others. BMW is experimenting with some i3 models. Tesla is also active, but for once it seems it has no lead. In all probability, Elvah is planning the first steps with Maingau at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023.
But there are still no more than pilot projects in sight anywhere. “I assume that it will take until 2027 or 2028 before we have the corresponding standards, norms, interfaces and communication processes in Germany,” said Heiko Seitz, Head of Electromobility at PwC. But one thing is clear: “Without bidirectional charging, there will be no successful energy transition. One million electric cars with an average capacity of 40 kilowatt hours have the same storage capacity as our current pumped storage.”
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (52, The Greens) recently promised 80 million euros for corresponding research projects in his “Easter package”, and thanks to a reform of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG), the Federal Network Agency can also create nationwide regulations for the network integration of electric cars. But the technical problems have not been solved either.
Who is running?
If vehicles are to be able to release energy again, the system must also work in the opposite direction – but it usually doesn’t do that yet. “So far, the focus has been on unidirectional solutions when it comes to funding charging infrastructure,” says PwC expert Seitz. Bidirectional technology is expensive, with a corresponding wall box alone often costing around 10,000 euros. “But by 2025, costs and prices will fall,” then the technology could be “scaled very quickly” and then, perhaps with government help, electric car drivers could also get on board.
In any case, founder Sivaganeshamoorthy is not intimidated by the seemingly overwhelming competition and the technical obstacles. The Elvah founder hopes that the competition will be decided on the best software. Traditional car manufacturers have a hard time with this, but Elvah, with its lean structures – currently 44 employees work for the company – can quickly pick up the pace. PwC consultant Heiko Seitz warns, however, that “those who own the batteries will win the race.” That’s why the business models could then be built.
To be on the safe side, Elvah man Gowry has started another business: The start-up already offers charging current itself – and also offers a live evaluation of the approximately 200,000 connected charging points. The founder is pleased that things are going well, and the company is growing much faster than planned. He doesn’t give numbers.