Cars could soon be powering your house, and your neighbour's too
Barriers to vehicle-to-grid powering solutions are slowly, but surely, being worked through.
Extreme winter cold snaps drove New Zealand's electricity demand to record highs in the first two weeks of August, prompting calls to speed up the ability of consumers to feed energy back into the grid via their electric vehicles (EVs). Retailer Octopus offered cash payments to customers who saved kilowatt-hours during peak demand periods.
A key barrier to widespread EV adoption is carmakers' warranties, which often restrict bidirectional battery usage due to potential wear and third-party risks. However, NordEast, a major EV importer and distributor, is underwriting warranties for EVs in a trial in Queenstown run by the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority (EECA).
NordEast's Bruce Fowler explained that the larger batteries in pure electric vehicles make them better suited for grid balancing compared to hybrids. With the cancellation of a rebate, EV sales were initially hit, but they are recovering due to high fuel prices. The trials aim to monitor battery impacts, including charge cycles and heat, which typically last between 5000 and 10,000 cycles.
Octopus Energy has been running vehicle-to-grid pilots in the UK since 2021 and is partnering with BYD for technology development. To address safety concerns, protocols for vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-home integration still need to be developed. However, Octopus believes that 20,000 to 30,000 EVs could significantly impact peak demand, with current trials showing effectiveness in grid operation.
Written by urgent.news from RNZ Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
