Zaptec teases on Polestar V-2-G initiative

Norwegian home charger manufacturer Zaptec has signed a pan-European commercial and technological partnership with BEV start-up Polestar which will see its Zaptec Go product highlighted as the recommended home charger on Polestar’s website and in its dealerships. But the firm says a vehicle-to-grid (V-2-G) aspect to the alliance is also coming down the pipe.

“The technological part of the partnership involves an incredibly cool next-gen vehicle-to-grid tech project,” Zaptec says, promising more detail to come. “Entering into this partnership, we are embarking on an incredibly exciting journey in Europe, particularly with our vehicle-to-grid technology," the firm’s CEO Kurt Ostrem continues.

“Together with Zaptec we will also continue developments on innovative charging tech to deliver features like smart charging, bidirectional charging and vehicle-to-grid to our customers in the future,” adds Polestar CTO Lutz Steigler.

ISO 15118 — the standard for V-2-G communication interface that defines how extended communication between vehicle and charging station should take place — hardware is built into every Zaptec Pro charger, but, according to the firm’s website, Zaptec Go does not currently support ISO 15118. However, the firm did, in June last year, enter into a partnership with software firm Enode, which allows energy apps to connect to EVs, as well as solar panels, batteries, and other smart energy hardware, through an API.

“Connecting the Zaptec account to the Enode platform enables a range of energy management features, such as energy usage insights and smart charging of EVs,” Enode says. “It also enables more advanced features like participating in flexibility markets to help stabilise the grid.” This again suggests Zaptec sees a future where its home chargers are involved in V-2-G activity.

Zaptec Go chargers will now be offered to all existing and new Polestar customers in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, including installation and local customer support. Germany and Austria will be added to the offer “in just a few weeks”, says Zaptac’s Germany head Daniel Gwercher.