Bi-Directional Charging

In this episode - Bi-Directional Charging . . .

Can your electric vehicle (E.V.) power your home? It's a question that people are asking, especially with the rise in E.V. popularity. Technically, most E.V.s have enough energy in the battery to power a home for a few days, but it's not as simple as plugging into your charger.

All E.V.s store energy in their battery, but they lack the proper hardware and software to transfer all that battery power elsewhere. So, for most E.V. owners, the answer is no, you can't power your home from an E.V.

However, new vehicles like the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Chevy Silverado E feature bi-directional charging and can share that battery power.

Here are a few additional details about how this technology works, how you can turn an electric vehicle into a generator, and how long your E.V. could power your house.

First - What is Bi-Directional Charging?
Suppose you do want to use your electric vehicle as a generator and power your home in case of an emergency, power outage, or other situations like we've seen in California and Texas. In that case, you need a newer E.V. that supports bi-directional charging.
Bi-directional charging means your electric car or truck can send battery power in both directions. So instead of only receiving power from the wall charger, it can send it back into your home or the electric grid.

You may see this listed as "V2H" or "V2G" technology, which stands for vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid. Either way, they're all a similar idea: sharing the battery power from electric vehicles with other devices.

GMC and Chevrolet just signed a partnership in California to run a pilot program where its new Silverado E electric pickup can power homes or even help send power back to the grid during peak load times. Some car manufacturers call it vehicle-to-everything. Ford set up a similar partnership with PG&E earlier this year.

How does Bi-directional Charging work?

The first electric truck in the U.S. with bi-directional charging is the Ford F-150 Lightning. This technology is built into the truck, allowing it to use the built-in battery to power tools on a job site or your home in an emergency.

However, you'll need more than just the truck to power your home. Owners will need an upgraded charging system. This power box (inverter) can convert the D.C. current from the truck into usable A.C. power for the wall outlets in the home. And you will be required to hire an electrician to wire everything safely (to code). Granted, it's more expensive than a traditional E.V. charger, but here's the value added.

Since the Ford F-150 Lightning is one of the first vehicles with bi-directional charging, let's use it as an example. Ford sells the 19.2-kW Ford Power Station Pro, which is $1,310 to add to your house. This adder comes standard on the F-150 Lighting extended-range models and costs extra for base models.

Once your home is wired to handle bi-directional charging, you're all set.

For example, the F150 Lighting has a 131-kWh battery, larger than most E.V.s on the market today. According to the EPA and the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average U.S. household consumes around 893 kWh per month, or ~30 kWh daily. You can determine your home's daily usage by logging in to your energy provider and downloading your hourly usage over one year.

Let's do the math, at 30 kWh a day, the F150 Lighting 98-kWh battery could power the average home for about three days. Real-world numbers will differ due to the loss of energy from D.C. to A.C. and other factors.

Also, several other electric cars have far smaller battery capacities, often around 70 kWh, meaning you could get a day or two of power if they support bi-directional charging.

While vehicle-to-home capabilities exist now, expect to wait a while before it starts seeing widespread adoption. It's also worth mentioning older homes may not have wiring capable of handling the high current coming from the vehicles.

Face it, It's still new technology, complicated, and not as easy as simply buying a new E.V. and getting all the required chargers. It is the future, and we expect most new E.V.s to support this feature.

Another thing to keep in mind is the overall power demand. During the hot summer, we've seen power outages in California, Texas, and Nevada. For example, last summer in Las Vegas, there were several days when the city asked residents to avoid using air conditioning to help keep the grid running.

Considering the millions of E.V.s that will hit the road in the coming weeks, months, and years could worsen the situation. As a result, we see a future where cars can use and share power on the fly, as needed, for a home or an entire city grid.

We're still in the early stages of bi-directional charging and electric vehicles. However, as things evolve and improve and battery capacities increase, this technology could be vital for any electric vehicle buyer.

I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. I'll see you in the next episode.

(Article repurposed from ReviewGeek by Cory Gunther.)

If you have a suggestion for a future podcast, email me at pball@sbcglobal.net or click the link https://anchor.fm/patrick-ball/message and leave us a voice message.

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