Kötschach-Mauthen tests electric cars as power storage

Kötschach-Mauthen will test whether electric cars can store energy for later use, ORF reports. The municipality is among the first in Austria to try the approach, in a second pilot project run by the Carnic Climate and Energy Model Region.

The car will be charged at a municipal photovoltaic installation, then used for a shopping trip and returned to the charging station. If it still has energy left, a bidirectional charger can feed it to a municipal building or street lighting. For example, the car might return with 70 percent charge.

A trial due to begin in February will assess whether the system is economically viable. Nina Fabian of the model region said researchers will examine when the car is most often booked, when it is best to charge and how much electricity remains at the end of the day to feed back into a building’s power network.

The project follows a months-long trial of a shared neighbourhood car in Gailtal. The vehicle was made available to residents who did not have a car but needed to make journeys that were difficult without one. The model region said it was well received.

If the new trial succeeds, private energy communities could also share electricity from electric cars, Fabian said.