Invers equips MyWheels’ new bidirectional charged cars for carsharing

Dutch carsharing operator MyWheels is deploying carsharing solution CloudBoxx from Invers to make their new fleet of bidirectional chargeable cars sharing ready. The company is partnering with We Drive Solar for bidrectional charging technology and is now integrating more than 200 We Drive Solar vehicles into the MyWheels fleet by Invers technology. MyWheels is thus enabling a novel solution that uses cars as a neighbourhood energy storage facility for its customers in Utrecht. 

Siegen, November 28th, 2023 – Dutch carsharing operator MyWheels is partnering with We Drive Solar, a provider of bidirectional charging technology, and will integrate the We Drive Solar fleet into the MyWheels carsharing fleet using sharing technology from Invers. The cooperation allows shared electric cars from the MyWheels fleet that are capable of bidirectional charging to serve as an energy storage facility for the neighborhood.

With bidirectional charging technology, electric cars can get power from a charging station and also return power to the grid when needed. That means that electric cars can help to supply electricity when there is a shortage, and thereby keep the grid stable. For users, this is beneficial because they can save money by using their cars to sell power back. For the grid, this is beneficial as it helps to increase the stability. “Bidirectional charging is an innovative approach to balance a city’s electricity demand while carsharing answers a city’s mobility demand,” explains Alexander Kirn, CEO of Invers. “We are always keen to combine our sharing expertise with other innovative approaches to mobility. Bidirectional charging in a sharing fleet is a great example of how innovative technology enables sustainability in mobility as well as energy supply.” Available solar and wind energy is used to charge the shared cars and it can be supplied back when there is more demand for sustainable electricity. Shared cars as mobile neighborhood batteries can play an important role in combating grid congestion and thus accelerate the energy transition. In 2021, when project studies were underway, the University of Utrecht estimated that around 10,000 EVs with bidirectional charging would be enough to balance the city’s entire electricity demand. That’s less than 10 percent of the current number of cars in the city.

MyWheels started its carsharing operations more than ten years ago as a private initiative to share cars between neighbors. It has grown into the largest car-sharing platform in the Netherlands and by the end of 2022 MyWheels has connected more than 200,000 users with shared cars. The company has been relying on Invers sharing technology since 2019. “It was a very obvious decision to install the CloudBoxx from Invers into the cars from We Drive Solar as well to maintain consistency in our fleet,” says Michiel Nicolai, Head of Operations at MyWheels. “We are used to working with CloudBoxx and our platform is fully integrated with Invers technology.”