For a while now, the fact that electric vehicles can play an important part as energy storage in the future Smart Grid has been a hot topic in both the e-mobility and the energy industry. The reason being the likely business potential to sell excess electricity back to the grid when needed. The leading electric vehicle manufacturer in the world, Nissan, wished to have this business potential further examined.

Insero consults Nissan about the business case
Nissan Europe thus hired Insero to make an analysis of the business potenial for the smart integration of electric vehicles in Denmark, as Nissan has targeted Denmark as a possible future key area for the demonstration of an intelligent collaboration between electric vehicles and the power grid.

Before taking the step further and launching an actual demonstration, however, there was a need to examine the business potential through an analysis of the business case.

Three types of smart integration examined
In relation to the consultancy assignment for Nissan Europe, Insero's department Mobility examined the business case for three types of smart integration of electric vehicles in Denmark: controlled charging (charging the electric vehicle when the electricity prices are at their lowest), vehicle-to-grid (the electricity is delivered straight to the power grid) and vehicle-to-home (the electricity is delivered to the household with the car as battery storage).

All three types of smart integration were analysed based on three identified user profiles: private user, fleet user with a single-shift fleet and fleet user with a two-shift fleet. Thus, varying scenarios of the business potential transpired, where especially the business case for vehicle-to-grid for private users showed attractive earnings potential.