Bidirectional charging is being called one of the biggest revolutions in the energy transition and the use of electric cars in many places. When the electric car can also deliver back, this means in fact that the EV becomes a mobile home battery, which can equalize the major problem of matching the demand for and supply of energy. It all sounds great, but at the moment there is one model that is suitable and it is mainly about developments behind the scenes that can still be implemented. How does this work exactly and is there something that you should already take into account?
Electric cars that can not only be charged, but also deliver
When it comes to electric cars that can also supply power back, it is about bidirectional charging, or a battery pack that can supply a house or other building with power by supplying it back to the 'grid'. So it is not about V2L, where the battery is simply used as a source point by connecting a V2L adapter to the battery where a Schuko plug can then be inserted.
Bidirectional charging is much larger and involves battery packs that can not only be charged, but can also supply power to a certain infrastructure. This must be done via a charging station, because the current must of course be regulated. It is not the case that the battery can be connected directly to the meter cupboard, that is of course not how it works.
A technology for the future or is it already possible?
The technology behind bidirectional charging is already present in the Kia EV9 and there are even charging stations that are suitable for bidirectional charging, but all possibilities and options are still very expensive. There is also still quite a bit to do in various countries in the field of regulation, because bidirectional charging (just like all revolutions in the field of electric driving) has quite a bit of work to do, especially in the field of safety (which is mainly due to ignorance).
However, bidirectional charging is without a doubt a technique that will be widely used in the future. It is one of the better solutions for the major problems within the energy transition.
Bidirectional charging as a solution for major challenges
We all want green, sustainable energy that takes the environment into account as much as possible. There is a big problem with that. That green energy is generated en masse, but cannot be stored (long-term). The result is that we need a situation in which the demand for electricity is equal to the yield of the windmills and solar panels, but that is impossible.
The biggest challenge in the energy market for years has been the discrepancy between supply and demand. When the supply of energy is high, the demand is low. When the demand is at its maximum (around 6 p.m.), the supply is low. However, storing green energy does not work unless there is an option to let people store electricity.
With the electric car, that is a possibility, because with bidirectional charging you can in fact turn your battery into a home battery. If you also have solar panels, you can take full advantage, because you can store your own green, sustainable energy. Even without solar panels, there are many advantages. For example, you can store electricity at low rates in your EV to use it when you need electricity (and the rates are probably higher with the dynamic energy prices within certain contracts).
Another big advantage that is often missed is that this can be a great solution for areas that often have to deal with power failures or outages, such as large areas of America and northern Scandinavia. If there is a fully charged battery near a modern electric car, then multiple homes can easily be supplied with power. In fact, one charged battery can supply an above-average household with power for more than a week.
What do you need besides an electric car that can deliver energy back?
Many major car manufacturers are busy developing models that are equipped with the latest features, including support for bidirectional charging. It is expected that at least Volkswagen, Audi and Volvo will come up with models that can be used for this. However, it is not enough to just have a car that is capable of this, because the car must be able to communicate with the grid in order to be able to supply power back (and store it from the grid at times when rates are at their lowest).
At the very least, you need a suitable charging station and a smart meter. Nowadays, the smart meter is more often the rule than the exception, but in the area of charging stations, things are getting a lot more difficult. The current must be able to be converted in two directions, plus the required protocols (mainly communication) must be present. At the moment, charging stations that are suitable for bidirectional charging are considerably more expensive, but these prices will gradually drop because the technology can be implemented more cheaply in the future.
So bidirectional charging is still a thing of the future at the moment, but until then we can already benefit from handy features like V2L, which gives us power wherever we go, even when we go wild camping in Sweden. Furthermore, the countdown is on until we can use our electric car as one of the largest and strongest home batteries to significantly reduce electricity costs.
