Vehicle to Load

macgabhs

Hi all

I’m trying to understand if it is possible to use my EV as a backup battery to power my house during power cuts. My car can do vehicle to load at 3.2kW so I realise it’s limited but if it could help keep the lights and internet going I’d be happy. I presume if it can work it would be a similar connection to the fuse board as a standalone battery storage option. Is that correct. Appreciate any suggestions or hear the experience of others if they have done this.

thanks

steve

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058258637/vehicle-to-load

Can be done. It would work the same as any generator you would connect to your house. It’s done via a changeover switch which isolates the grid and then you fire up your generator to power your house

You would do the same, just that it would be your V2L connector that would be connected to the changeover switch.

I presume it’s the EV6 you have?

macgabhs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119467695#Comment_119467695

Thanks KCross I’ve the Ioniq5. I’ll have a chat with my electrician. I’d have to isolate the switch to only power some circuits. Don’t think I’ll be running the heat pump or oven from the car! Lights and socket circuits would be ideal. We get outages fairly often at least twice a year but I’m anticipating them a bit more frequently and as I have a huge battery on wheels I might as well see if I can prepare.

KCross

You could isolate some circuits but you could also just power the entire consumer unit and just flip off the HP etc when using V2L.

That’s what I do/have.

DC999

I assume you need a special car charger for that to support it coming back into house? Instead of just going one way into car. So a normal Zappi won't do it??

Is vehicle to load same as vehicle to grid VTG? Myenergie didn't do a VTG product last time I checked.

KCross

I assume you need a special car charger for that to support it coming back into house?

No, there is no charge point involved. It’s V2L, not V2G.

V2L is effectively a standard 3 pin socket hanging off the car via a special adaptor. You can then connect that to anything you like, including your house but it is of course limited in its abilities in terms of power so you do need to manage what load you put on it.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119467853#Comment_119467853

Sounds like a pragmatic solution. How did you do this technically?

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119469412#Comment_119469412

Not a RECI, but I would have thought something like; a commando socket mounted on the wall of the house connected to a changeover switch, and then wire up a custom cable with a commando on one end and a standard 13A BS1363 plug on the other. Plug into the car's V2L and away you go.

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119469560#Comment_119469560

Bingo.

External socket wired to the changeover switch. During a power cut I flip the switches for the high load devices, like the oven and HP, and then turn the changeover switch to the generator and the house has power again to drive all the lights, internet, well pump etc.

A few days without power a few years back made me put it in as having no power also means I have no running water (my own well) which in turn means I have no working toilets.... never again was my vow at the time so I wired it up. You don't need much power to keep a house ticking over once you take out the high power devices (HP, electric shower, oven).... after that everything else is relatively low power so easy to run.... running water and toilets was my main motivation though.

The V2L on the Ioniq 5 and EV6 delivers over 3kW, which is loads to drive the basics of a house.

Gerry

this is pretty cool. presumably in this state, with v2l active, the inverter is powered down and not generating?

unkel

@KCross - pity you have to use a fossil fuel powered generator. Any idea what the maximum load of your house without those high load devices is? Would you not consider using your EV?

Even if you would draw all the power through the lead acid 12V, most EVs can provide about 1000W that way (as long as the car is "on"). A simple sine wave inverter hooked up to the 12V with crocodile clips will do the trick. I've done that for years myself, but fortunately we rarely get sustained power cuts in Dublin so I never bothered with a transfer switch, just a 25m cable reel into the house and plug essentials into that (fridge, router, phone chargers)

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119469974#Comment_119469974

The power comes from the high power battery so the inverter would need to be on to give you AC.

KCross

pity you have to use a fossil fuel powered generator. Any idea what the maximum load of your house without those high load devices is? Would you not consider using your EV? 

Even if you would draw all the power through the lead acid 12V, most EVs can provide about 1000W that way (as long as the car is "on"). A simple sine wave inverter hooked up to the 12V with crocodile clips will do the trick.

1kW would cut it tight. I’d have to cut off a few more circuits. I think it would be just a tad too close for comfort. Given no other options I’d do what you do but I don’t mind an occasional litre of petrol when the need arises and I don’t need to plug anything in/out with the changeover switch so it’s a neater solution in the long term

The next car will have V2L and then that litre of petrol becomes a non issue as the wiring I have will work for any generator. It won’t care if it’s a petrol one or V2L from a BEV.

unkel

Hopefully our next EVs will have bi-directional AC charging. From that it's only a small step to have proper V2G with a smart charge point, preferably wireless, with a built in automatic transfer switch

Most people don't like or are afraid of change. For me it's all frustratingly slow, we need to speed things up 😂

macgabhs

Thanks for all the input. I’m definitely going to do this. I’m lucky enough to have off street parking right beside my consumer unit plus a BEV capable of doing it. It would be an excellent use of V2L. Now I have to find an electrician to do it. The one I normally use said he’s too busy so I’m guessing its not a big job. If anybody has a recommendation for an electrician in north Dublin PM me. I’ll post an update when I’ve had the work done.

Duine_Eigin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119469560#Comment_119469560

I was thinking of doing something similar. Just wondering how this setup would manage with a Solis hybrid and some batteries? I'm guessing you'd have to isolate the inverter before flicking the changeover switch to stop it from trying to back feed the car if there is any excess solar.

SD_DRACULA

I wonder if something like this is possible for BEVs without V2L support, via a pure sine inverter?

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119505764#Comment_119505764

Yes, but only by taking a feed off the main DC power - which would require breaking into the DC cable (all sorts of warranty issues) and then you would need a HV DC to AC inverter. You'd be better off looking at 48v batteries and solar inverters, I would think.

SD_DRACULA

That makes sense, looks like those are usually only for 12/24v batteries and yeah the BEV battery pack would be HV 600-800v

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119505764#Comment_119505764

Of course. You can hook up a decent 12V inverter either just to the 12V battery, or even directly to the DC-DC converter output. I did the former with my previous car a few years ago. I powered some essentials in my house that way a few times during power cuts. Rudimentary setup of course as you would have to "plug the car into the house" every time, even if you have a transfer switch.

And if you're brave, you can power some AC stuff directly from the HV battery. That's right. Have a look at this. I've done it and it works 😁

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlmmerXOkuE

macgabhs

Hi all still searching for an electrician to do this. If anybody has a recommendation in Dublin please PM me. Thanks