New Technology Allows Electric Cars to Power Homes, ‘Energy Storage on Wheels’
Bidirectional charging is a new, cutting-edge technology that allows you to power your home with the energy stored in the batteries of your electric vehicle. Typically, electrical currents pass from an electric vehicle (EV) charger to power an EV battery, and this process ends there. Bidirectional charging allows you to use the power stored in your car battery to pass back to your home, making your EV a power source for your home's electric needs.
Bidirectional Charging for Home Power Needs
There are several ways that bidirectional charging can be useful. The primary method is for your car battery to power your home. This is called “vehicle to home” (V2H), and it is estimated that an average EV battery could power a home for two full days, which could be a great backup energy generator in an emergency situation.
You could also use your EV battery to save on electricity costs. CNet suggested that homeowners could charge their vehicles during off-peak hours and then use that energy to power their homes during peak hours to avoid high electricity costs.
This process seems complicated, but if you are serious about saving money, this could be a game-changer to save on high electricity costs.
A Power Source for Camping and Road Trips
Another genius use for bidirectional charging is “vehicle to load” (V2L). This type of charging could come in handy when camping or traveling because you could use your electric car battery to power appliances while camping. You could also power home appliances and power tools or charge any electronic device while on the road. V2L charging could revolutionize camping experiences and make vacationing and road-tripping more enjoyable.
This type of charging technology is new to the market, and only two cars currently possess this: the Ford F150 Lightning and the Nissan Leaf. But car manufacturers estimate that by 2026, bidirectional charging will be standard in all EVs.
Research journalist, Freelance writer, Managing Editor
- Expertise: automotive content, trending topics.
- Education: LeTourneau University, Bachelors of Science in Business Administration.
- Over 400 articles and short news pieces published across the web.
Experience: Madison Cates is a journalist located in the great state of Texas. She began writing over eight years ago. Her first major research piece was published by the Journal of Business and Economics in 2018. After growing up in a household of eight brothers and a dad who was always restoring old Camaros, she naturally pivoted her freelance career into the automotive industry. There, she found her passion.
Her experience paved the way for her to work with multiple large corporations in automotive news and trending topics. Now, she now finds her home at Wealth of Geeks where she proudly serves as Managing Editor of Autos. Madison is always down to geek out over the latest beautiful cars on the market, and she enjoys providing her readers with tips to make car ownership easier and more enjoyable.