Energy bills are rocketing and no relief is in sight. One technology that could alleviate the issue is bi-directional chargers.
Our energy is about to get a lot more expensive.
Ofgem increased the price cap from April, and another increase will happen in October. The anticipated year-on-year increase in energy bills after the October price cap increase is over 70%, with 54% from April’s increase.
One technology that could alleviate the issue is bi-directional chargers, which are not currently available to consumers but make perfect sense for the future.
Power your house with your car
A bi-directional charger plugs into an electric car with bi-directional charging (e.g., Kia EV6, Hyundai IONIQ 5), and can power a house with vehicle-to-home.
The maths is simple – UK households consume on average between 8kWh and 10kWh per day, a paltry amount compared to the capacity of most electric car batteries.
For instance, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 has a 58kWh battery. If your house uses 10kWh per day, the IONIQ 5 will give you just over five days of power.
The concept is simple to save money on your energy bills – charge for free at supermarkets or for a reduced rate with an EV tariff, then power your house when you are home during the day. Alternatively, charge an energy storage system in your house and use the energy even when your car isn’t at home.
Simples!
The technology isn’t ready (yet)
Unfortunately, while bi-directional chargers can slash energy bills with V2H by reducing demand on the grid, the technology isn’t widely available to consumers yet.
There are only a handful of cars today with bi-directional charging. Volkswagen is adding V2H to its 77kWh models this year, and the MG ZS EV, Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 offer V2L, although V2H capabilities are not present at this time.
Consumers also need a bi-directional charger. The Wallbox Quasar 2 is one option, but it costs thousands of pounds and there are no affordable chargers that deliver V2H capabilities.
In the future, we expect vehicle-to-home to become commonplace as a way to make the energy in electric vehicles more accessible. The ability to power your home and charge a Tesla Powerwall with your EV is very tempting indeed.
Let’s wait and see what happens over the next year. V2H holds a lot of promise and is sure to grab the attention of charging companies.
