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Powerloop

Our Octopus Vehicle-to-Grid Innovation Project is paving the way for the next wave of domestic electrification.

What is Powerloop (V2G)?

Vehicle-to-grid is a new way of thinking about home energy management with the ability to have a constant energy cycle: allowing energy to flow from the house to the car battery, and from the car battery to the grid.

 

The Powerloop V2G Leasing Bundle

Why V2G?

Enabling the energy network of the future. 

Powerloop supports the decarbonisation of transport by combining a bi-directional charger and the award-winning Nissan LEAF's electric battery by leveraging the stationary, unused batteries parked on our driveways. Powerloop enables you to benefit from your electric vehicle as an integrated energy asset connected to your home and to the grid, supporting grid stability.

Optimising renewables on the grid

By using Powerloop you are helping to unlock the potential of stored renewable energy in your car battery and feed it back to the grid during times of peak demand, between 4-7pm. This is groundbreaking in how we relate to energy at home and make use of excess renewable energy.

Influencing government strategy

This project is funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) with Innovate UK acting as delivery partner. The data collected will be used to directly shape strategies for using V2G as a part of the UK's decarbonisation strategy. That means the way you interact with Powerloop will have a steering influence on the role of V2G in achieving net zero.

Making homes V2G ready

All Powerloop trial participants received a full electrical assessment of their home setup using our engineering expertise. Octopus provided any upgrades and guidance needed to ensure that each customer's home was V2G ready. We also manage the connection process with the Distribution Network Operator (UK Power Network).

 

What was included?

The Nissan LEAF

Built on a legacy of being one of the earliest adopters of electric vehicles, Nissan's latest LEAF is perfect for Powerloop. It is super reliable and our electric vehicle specialists will support you through your journey to owning the Nissan LEAF. Allowing you peace of mind with this exciting new technology.

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The Quasar Charger

Powerloop helps to lower carbon emissions by combining a bidirectional charger with the award-winning Nissan LEAF, making use of unused car batteries parked on driveways. Powerloop enables you to tap into the potential of your Electric Vehicle, not just as a car, but a powerful energy source that when connected to our National Grid, can help support and stabilise it.

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The Tariff/Smart meter

Powerloop comes with a fixed-rate energy tariff from Octopus Energy with a unit rate ranging from around 17-19p per kWh* and a standing charge of around 23p per day* depending on your location. This tariff features 100% renewable electricity and fixes your unit rates and standing charge for 12 months offering simplicity and full visibility over your energy usage.

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How it works?

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Plug in before 6pm, and stay plugged in until at least 5am the next day to complete the cycle.

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Use the Powerloop app​ to tell us when you next need your car. We'll schedule your sessions around you.

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Complete 12 cycles within a month to get £30 cashback** on your Octopus Energy account.​

However, a new time of use tariff will be available exclusively to the customer cohort soon to further encourage smart charging behaviour and provide more control to customers on the trial. 

 

Now sold out

We’ve reached an important milestone - Powerloop has sold out with all 135 places filled! We are pleased and proud to have reached this key milestone and are installing a charger a day at the moment to roll out the bundle to all customers. With the data gathering phase in full swing, we are looking forward to learning about the V2G experience from the cohort and will be reporting our findings in the coming months.

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Who was eligible?

For now Powerloop is only available in areas where the local electricity grid is managed by UK Power Networks***. The pink area in the map below shows ​their working area.

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Powerloop participants are also required to own their own home and have off-street parking.

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The complete solution

The bundle offers leasing, charging and tariff, meaning we always know how one affects the other. Octopus EV helps you in understanding the usefulness of EVs, while supporting you with EV adoption through leasing and showing you how charging works around your life. This allows you to get the most out of your LEAF, while Octopus gathers data to implement V2G around the UK; rethinking the way energy is stored and used.

The journey so far

We have reached our capacity for Powerloop and the trial onboarding period is now closed. We are now in the process of installing the final few chargers for the 135 strong Powerloop cohort! 

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In July this year we launched the Powerloop App, which integrates with the LEAF and the Wallbox Quasar charger. Through the app, customers need to simply tell us when they need their car charged, and by how much - and we handle the rest! In addition, the Powerloop app and the system behind it control the car discharge in accordance with grid needs.

Terms & Conditions

*Prices quoted are subject to change and will be impacted by changes in law, regulation, tax or duty beyond our reasonable control

**£30 cashback is credited in the form of Octopus Energy credit onto your account if 12 full cycles are completed a month (plug in before 6pm, and stay plugged in until at least 5am the next day to complete one cycle) 

***Subject to G99 approval

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Subject to suitability, availability and credit controls. Terms & Conditions apply

Frequently asked questions

How will it work for me?

Once you plug in at home, you just tell us when you next need your car using the Powerloop app. In the meantime, we’ll optimise the charge and discharge pattern.



Will I be in control?

Absolutely. You can charge at full power at any moment by turning off V2G mode in the Powerloop app. When in V2G mode, we’ll also never discharge your car below 30%. This gives you a minimum of around 40 miles if you need them unexpectedly.



How does the rebate work?

We’ve set a fixed monthly rebate so that you have more certainty when thinking about your leasing cost. You will get £30 credited to your Octopus Energy account by completing 12 V2G sessions per month (like getting stamps on your coffee card!). You complete a V2G session by plugging in before 6pm and remaining plugged in until at least 5am the next day.



How much money will Octopus earn from using my car?

We don’t expect to generate as much as £30 from 12 V2G sessions. However, Powerloop is a V2G trial and so we are improving the results by mimicking the value that we expect the offer to make in the coming years. Part of this future value lies in markets that are being created by the electricity network operators. One such operator is UK Power Networks, who form part of the Powerloop consortium.



How does V2G help the grid?

There's a huge amount of energy locked up in electric cars​ Just ten Nissan LEAFs could power 1000 homes for an hour. ​Our V2G system optimises the use of your car's battery; powering your home - and your neighbours homes - when electricity demand is high, then charging back up at times when demand is low. ​A more flexible grid also means a more renewable grid. The sun isn't always shining, and the wind isn't always blowing. V2G gives us the ability to store and release renewable energy whenever we need it.



What if I don't manage to complete 12 cycles in a month?

You'll only receive the incentive if you complete the full 12 cycles in a month, so unfortunately you wouldn't get the cashback in that month.



Will this damage my battery?

The shortest, and most honest answer is that we don't know. This is one of many reasons we're running this project; to find out what works in Vehicle to Grid, and fix the things that don't. It's important to point out that there’s no risk for Powerloop bundle customers because the cars are leased from Octopus Electric Vehicles, which means we take the risk on any battery degradation. Nissan are also the only manufacturer to include V2G operation as part of their warranty - a major factor in using the Nissan LEAF. However, early signs from V2G "proof of concept" projects have shown good results for battery degradation. The general principle when looking at battery degradation is that a battery likes to be used, but not at the extreme ends of the scale. Ensuring a battery doesn't sit at 0% or at 100%, and keeping it slightly warmed up may help prevent degradation from factors such as dendrite formation. A study by Warwick University even found the battery health improved under optimal conditions.



Can I be a Powerloop customer if I have solar panels at home?

Yes, we don’t have any restrictions on solar PV. However, there are a few things to consider. If you want to take the car and charger bundle we’ll complete a connection request - also known as a G99 - with UK Power Networks. They assess the generation capacity of your home and the surrounding properties before approving the V2G installation. We’ll manage the whole process on your behalf. Sometimes, the combination of solar PV and V2G export may exceed the capacity of the local network and UKPN will deny the connection request. The likelihood of this is very low and UK Power Networks are keen to get as many V2G chargers onto their network as possible. We’ll always ensure the connection checks are complete before asking you to make any financial commitments to your vehicle lease.



How does the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) work with the Powerloop bundle?

A FiT is comprised of Generation and Export components. Ofgem have confirmed (as of August 2020) that your FiT will not be affected by taking part in Powerloop. You can choose to move your Generation payments to Octopus Energy or keep them with your current FiT supplier. So the good news is you can benefit from the £30 cashback you can earn by completing 12 V2G sessions per calendar month without needing to give up your FiT, happy days!



Why don’t you just put me on the Outgoing Octopus tariff?

Outgoing Octopus is a smart export tariff and our successor to the feed-in tariff (FIT). Although we’re using the Outgoing rate to calculate the additional reward for solar PV, we're not able to put you on the Outgoing tariff - yet. Similar to the issue described in the previous question, this is because we would be double-dipping on export value - but all benefit would be going to Octopus instead of you. That doesn't seem fair to us!



About Wallbox (tm)

Wallbox is the smallest, lightest (and prettiest) residential V2G charger available in the UK. It can charge your car when demand is low and export to the grid when demand is high. It’s the next step in making the grid smarter, plus it makes leasing your new Nissan LEAF even cheaper. The first Wallbox chargers in the UK will be going straight to the homes of our Powerloop customers.