You'll soon be able to plug your EV into the grid and get paid for it. (Source: Getty)
Aussie electric vehicle (EV) owners have just scored a major win and could be making money when their car is sitting at home. The Australian government revealed that Standards Australia has officially approved a new standard for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.
V2G allows you to funnel electricity from your EV battery back into the grid and you could be paid big-time for it. EV expert Toby Hagon told Yahoo Finance this could be a major "game-changer" for the industry.
"Most cars are parked for 23 hours a day... and there's a huge amount of energy being stored in those electric vehicles," he explained.
"Your average EV could power a house for many days."
He described V2G as "free money" if you're able to charge the EV from solar energy because you would just be harnessing the power of the sun to top up the car before feeding it back into the grid.
"So being able to feed that energy back in when the grid is demanding more electricity, and then recharge the car, either during the day from solar or during off-peak times, such as midnight to 6am, there are potentially huge implications with vehicle to grid."
How much can you earn from using V2G technology?
The EV expert said every car will be different and the amount that you're able to feed into the grid will depend on a variety of components.
He explained that if you're able to, for example, plunge 30 kilowatt hours a day into the grid, you could earn upwards of $5 per day.
"The potential is there to earn more than $1,000 a year off feeding electricity back in," he told Yahoo Finance.
"But, you know, there's a lot of a lot of factors at play there. It's not going to happen for everyone."
He said it will depend on how much you use your EV, which will determine how much you can feed back into the grid, as well as the buy-back schemes that energy companies will come up with to pay for your EV juice.
$12,000 payday for fleet operators using V2G technology
There is a way to make much more money than that, but it will require you to have several cars and an understanding of how the energy system works.
The energy market operator uses what's called Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) to ensure the grid is working perfectly.
The FCAS can inject or reduce energy really quickly to manage supply and demand and keep both generation and load in balance for everyone using electricity.
There are 10 FCAS markets in the National Energy Market (NEM) and their response times in addressing issues in power supply range from one second to five minutes.
You can actually make money by feeding your EV battery into the grid. (Source: Getty)·ASSOCIATED PRESS
A study recently found that fleet operators who had a range of EVs sitting around could be earning up to $12,000 per car per year if they tapped into the NSW FCAS Regulation Raise market.
“The data revealed that FCAS prices typically peaked in the late afternoon to early evening for the period observed, which aligned well with commercial vehicle availability,” the report said.
That was the most you could earn in that market, but there were thousands of dollars that could be made if you tapped into the other NSW markets.
“The revenue that can be earned is further limited by the capacity of the charger. For example, if the charger capacity were raised to 15kW, the 60-second raise revenue per vehicle would increase to $5,604," it added.
How does V2G work for the average Aussie EV driver?
If you want to get in on this, you'll have to get a specialised box that connects from your EV to your home that can funnel the electricity back into the grid.
Hagon told Yahoo Finance there was only one box previously available to buy and that cost a whopping $10,000.
He explained that that box is now no longer available for purchase and if that price tag remains when new boxes get introduced then he doesn't expect many EV drivers to jump at the opportunity.
The EV expert said the government has been super slow to implement V2G technology on a national-scale.
"This is something the industry expected many, many years ago," he said.
"It's been stuck in a lot of red tape. So I think it's been a long time coming. Will it be an absolute game-changer? We're not sure yet, but it has the potential to play a pretty significant role in the energy mix."
When can I start using V2G technology?
Energy minister Chris Bowen admitted that while V2G technology will be available soon, it would take several months for the EV and energy industries to collaborate on it.
But he was happy for the EV industry to hit this important milestone.
"Manufacturers that enable vehicle-to-grid charging and those charging companies that enable it can register their products with the Clean Energy Council and get approval for each particular product," he said.
"They'll have to meet the standard that's been ticked off by Standards Australia, but where we've got manufacturers and [original equipment manufacturer] OEMs who are on board for that and it all happens smoothly, we'll be able to have bi-directional charging a reality by Christmas this year.
"I really am encouraging manufacturers both of vehicles and charging infrastructure to get their act together and get their applications into the Clean Energy Council - I'm sure they will, they've been waiting for this - as quickly as possible so we can make it a reality."
