Vehicle to Load question

[ThisInJapanese]

I'm looking at an EV at the moment and I'm not sure how the V2L function works.

We have solar panels and a battery installed at home and I'm wondering if a car with V2L could replace the function of the battery. So could the house draw the power it needs from the car and not the battery?

[TheDeuce]

ThisInJapanese said:

I'm looking at an EV at the moment and I'm not sure how the V2L function works.

We have solar panels and a battery installed at home and I'm wondering if a car with V2L could replace the function of the battery. So could the house draw the power it needs from the car and not the battery?

That's basically the future value of EV uptake - once 'everyone' has one, the shared battery capacity can both help balance the grid and also act as a domestic battery - both things are possible with the right car and charger configuration. I think you're talking about V2H btw, but the differences between V2H. V2L and V2G in the relatively near future will likely be managed by cars and smart charges that can go any of the three ways on demand or most likely automatically dependant on what is cheapest/most useful at the time.

Currently only a handful of EV's have the two way ability (google bi-directional EV's for your choices) and the smart chargers we have are only so smart because there's no established nationwide standards or infrastructure to coordinate it all in the most efficient way.

It won't take long though, all the tech exists and it's just a question of joining the dots and setting up the central control infrastructure to manage it all. Tbh I think that investing in a solution today should be carefully thought through as it could well be the case that the investment isn't worth it if an incentivised mass adoption plan comes along in a few years - you could be left with expensive and non compatible (from a smart pov) kit.

[Merry]

ThisInJapanese said:

I'm looking at an EV at the moment and I'm not sure how the V2L function works.

We have solar panels and a battery installed at home and I'm wondering if a car with V2L could replace the function of the battery. So could the house draw the power it needs from the car and not the battery?

No, not with v2l. You may be able to use it to charge your home storage battery though, I suspect.

Depending on installation obviously.

[ThisInJapanese]

Thanks for the detailed reply. The EV I'm looking at is the MG4 (previous MGs have V2L).

Am I right in thinking the 'brains' of this setup is within the charger and not the car / battery system? So as long as the car has bi-directional charging it *should* support what I'm talking about?

[TheDeuce]

ThisInJapanese said:

Thanks for the detailed reply. The EV I'm looking at is the MG4 (previous MGs have V2L).

Am I right in thinking the 'brains' of this setup is within the charger and not the car / battery system? So as long as the car has bi-directional charging it *should* support what I'm talking about?

It's both. The car has to communicate 'shake hands' with a charger and both have to be designed to reverse the flow.

but you're talking about V2H (home), not V2L (load).

And as to my prior post, I think it's best to avoid cobbling together a solution right now. You already have the home battery, you would have to spend money to swap to using the EV battery with limited benefits and a near future standardised solution could be just a few years away and will likely be subsidised.

You have to factor in the huge value to the nation if all EV's can be used to balance grid loads, it unlocks the full potential of renewable energy generation. That's incredibly valuable and I reckon that as soon as a fully reasoned plan is in place to make it happen, the government will bend over backwards to get everyone on board ASAP.

So, good thinking... but consider holding off if the current setup you have is getting the job done well enough. Even if the current battery is dropping capacity and you feel you're wasting a few quid. Don't jump too soon and waste thousands

[ThisInJapanese]

Thanks for the reply! All good information, it's really interesting as a concept though and one that seems to make great sense

[TheDeuce]

ThisInJapanese said:

Thanks for the reply! All good information, it's really interesting as a concept though and one that seems to make great sense

Indeed. At the core all that matters is a battery exists (in or out of an EV, no real difference) that can help store and move energy around in the most useful manner. To fully exploit that benefit there needs to be unified smart connections and central control and standardisation. It's definitely just a matter of time.

As we wait for that to all come together, it's obviously a benefit that more and more EV's are being bought and many do have the ability for bi-directional power. Even those that don't probably could be adapted and I'm sure the manufacturers mostly are thinking about that potential. Each EV sold increases the national ability to manage grid power input, and the grid basically gets that for free - as and when the powers that be figure out how to make use of all that potential. They will.