Nissan and EDF Group have signed a co-operation agreement to accelerate the delivery of electric mobility — particularly through the smart charging of electric vehicles.

This agreement applies to the UK, France, Belgium and Italy; it focuses mainly on developing smart charging solutions — vehicle to grid (V2G) — by bringing together technologies developed by both companies.

As part of the co-operation agreement, Nissan will be responsible for the sale of V2G-compatible electric vehicles, and EDF Group will be in charge of V2G charging solutions and related services.

This follows a previous partnership in the UK between EDF Energy and Nissan, signed last year.

They agreed to collaborate around the development of shared offerings in the areas of electric mobility, smart charging, second-life battery use, energy storage and renewable-energy sources.

Yannick Duport, EDF Group electric-mobility director, said: “The co-operation agreement is fully in line with the Electric Mobility Plan launched last October.

“We are convinced that the development of electric mobility will be supported by partnerships. I am very pleased to count among them the agreement that Nissan and EDF have just signed to develop smart charging solutions.

“EDF is building an ecosystem of innovative players by forming strategic partnerships for the large-scale roll-out of the best technologies to support our customers.”

Smart charging solutions include technologies to control when vehicles charge and how quickly they power up, as well as allow the two-way flow of electricity between vehicle and charger.

Via V2G technologies, the energy accumulated in the batteries of electric vehicles can also be used for businesses’ own energy needs or the grid when required; this capability will become increasingly important as greater numbers of electric vehicles arrive on our roads, as it will help to balance intermittent renewable generation.