In September 2024, I had the opportunity to participate in the Accenture Engineering Student Project (ESP) Program, an initiative by Accenture X. As part of the program, our team developed this project to address real-world challenges.
Challenge
The program involved 10 teams, each tasked with addressing a use case from specific sectors such as automotive, rail, defense and more. My team was handed a use case from the energy sector, where we were asked to step into the shoes of an energy provider to find out how to modernize processes and break into new business areas.
The task was intentionally open-ended, enabling us to develop creative solutions as long as they aligned with the energy sector. After several brainstorming sessions, our team decided to implement a Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) solution.
What is V2G?
Energy prices are anything but static—they rise and fall throughout the day based on factors like weather and demand. When the sun is shining or the wind is strong, sustainable energy is abundant, and prices drop. But when it’s rainy or demand surges—like when everyone charges their devices or EVs—prices spike.
This is where Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology comes into play. V2G allows electric vehicles to not only draw energy from the grid but also send unused energy back when demand (and prices) are high. Think of it as turning your EV into a mobile power bank that stabilizes the grid while saving money—or even earning you a profit.
A Practical Example: Cologne to Hannover
Let’s take a truck driver heading from Cologne to Hannover. Along the way, here’s how V2G transforms the journey:
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Start in Cologne
The truck departs fully charged.
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Break in Bielefeld at 15:00
During this break, the energy price is low, so the truck charges its battery to store cheap energy.
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Break at 17:30
Later in the journey, the truck makes another short stop. By now, energy prices have risen due to peak demand. Instead of just sitting idle, the truck discharges its stored energy back into the grid, taking advantage of the higher price and earning a profit.
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Final Destination: Hannover
After completing the journey, the truck arrives in Hannover, ready to recharge overnight when energy prices are low again.
Our solution is designed for large delivery companies managing fleets of e-trucks. By integrating V2G technology into their operations, these companies can optimize energy use, reduce costs, and even generate additional revenue—all while contributing to a more sustainable energy grid.
How we built it
Our team is composed of four individuals with a diverse set of skills: one designer, one engineer and two developers. Adrian and I (the developers) focused on building the solution, while the others managed the business aspects of the challenge.
For the frontend, we leveraged Next.js, Shadcn, and TailwindCSS to craft an attractive and responsive user interface.
On the backend, we used Pocketbase to store user-generated trip data.
We created two main views: one for the admin, providing a dashboard with key financial KPIs, as well as an overview of the car fleet, drivers, and trips.
The other view is designed for the driver to easily find their optimized route. Drivers can input their destination and the application will calculate the distance and suggest where they should take breaks, among other helpful details.
Additionally, we integrated the Google Maps API to display a card with the destination. Once the driver selects their trip, the data is saved in Pocketbase and can be accessed under the "My Trips" tab.
The application
Learnings
This was an incredibly rewarding experience. It was my first time working with Shadcn and TailwindCSS. I really appreciate Shadcn’s style and the unique approach of “copying” components into your codebase instead of importing an entire npm package. This method feels more self-managed and offers a great deal of customization. As for TailwindCSS, it felt a bit unfamiliar at first, but I quickly adapted and ended up enjoying it much more than I expected.
A big thank you to my team for the fantastic collaboration. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work together and look forward to our paths crossing again soon!
Closing Event
Techstack
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- Shadcn + Tailwind
- Pocketbase
- Google Maps API