Owning an EV gives you access to much more than just a greener lifestyle. With bidirectional EV charging, you can actually make money from your EV, among other exciting benefits.

What is V2H: Vehicle to Home

V2H is when a bidirectional EV charger is used to supply power (electricity) from an EV Car’s battery to a house or, possibly, another kind of building. For instance, by charging up your EV at night when there is less electrical demand and then using that electricity to power your home during the daytime, you could actually contribute to reducing consumption during peak periods when there is more electrical demand and more pressure on the grid. V2H can, therefore, help make sure our homes have enough power when they most need it. As a result, it can also reduce the pressure on the electricity grid as a whole.

V2G: Vehicle to Grid

V2G is when a bidirectional EV charger is used to supply power (electricity) from an EV car’s battery to the grid. It allows EVs to charge during off-peak hours and give back to the grid during peak hours, when there is extra energy demand.

V2G can be used to help balance and settle local, regional or national energy needs via smart charging. In this way, we can think of EVs as big batteries on wheels, helping to make sure that there is always enough energy for everyone at any given time.

What Are the Benefits?

Save Money

V2H can, therefore, help make sure our homes have enough power when they most need it. As a result, it can also reduce the pressure on the electricity grid as a whole.

Some energy companies now offer off-peak or “differential” energy tariffs to EV owners, where you may pay normal prices during the day, but cheaper rates for a certain number of hours during the night. If you then use this electricity, stored in your EV, to power your house during the day, you will be able to use much cheaper energy than you would normally pay during those hours. Over time, this will mean serious cuts to your electricity bill.

Make Money by Giving Energy Back to the Grid

As an EV owner with a bidirectional EV charger, you can actually make money from your car by selling excess energy in your EV’s battery back to the grid.  Any energy collected and stored in your EV’s battery can be sold back to the grid; whether it originates from your own energy source, such as solar panels on your roof, from renewable load following, from your home’s power source or from your local supermarket charger.

Become Energy Self-Sufficient

V2G, V2H help to make balance and settle, at a larger scale, local or even national supply grids.

Both V2G and V2H may become more important as we move towards totally renewable energy systems. This is because different renewable energy sources tend to produce variable amounts of energy depending on the time of day or season. With bidirectional charging, the full potential of EV battery storage can be realized to benefit the entire energy system – and the planet! In other words, EVs can be used for renewable load following: capturing and storing excess solar or wind power when it is generated so that it can be made available for use during times of high demand, or when energy production is unusually low.

Owning an EV gives you access to much more than just a greener lifestyle. Bidirectional Charging is The Next Big Thing for EV Owners