Vehicle to Load (V2L) - Any Information or First Hand Experiences?

You can buy the adapters from Kia, they just fit the standard charge port and the protocol is the same regardless of vehicle, so it will work with the MG but they are shockingly (pardon the pun) expensive :eek:


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That's £350!
 
for me its useful for astronomy. Sure I can use its own battery pack for my scope, or rig some other larger rechargeable battery pack, but being able to plug it directly into the car would be very handy.

I can drive my car to some isolated, dark sky spot and even set up an entire astrophotography rig. I can stay nice and toasty in the car whilst i leave my rig on an exposure. Hell, I could even edit and stack the images on site. Would make the car an awesome astronomer/astrophotography rig.
Aha! I may need you when I get my motor driven telescope!
 
Many Chinese brand EVs have V2L function. The plug is about £50 in china. Basically it is an extension lead which can plug into the EV. I am going to buy one and have a try ( hair dryer, kettle, small induction cooker, microwave oven)
I'd not want to risk trashing more than £30000 of car by connecting a cheap adapter. I would hope the genuine article has sufficient circuit breakers to be safe to use in the rain - when it comes.
 
I'd not want to risk trashing more than £30000 of car by connecting a cheap adapter. I would hope the genuine article has sufficient circuit breakers to be safe to use in the rain - when it comes.
It does not. The Hyundai unit at £300 has a thermal cutout fuse, that’s about the only difference. All the intellect and protection is in the car, not the connector. Would be stupid to rely on the connector to protect the car.
 
I'd not want to risk trashing more than £30000 of car by connecting a cheap adapter. I would hope the genuine article has sufficient circuit breakers to be safe to use in the rain - when it comes.
There is no logic whatsoever in the cable, it's all managed by the car. I have already posted the wiring diagram, photos and a shopping list so you can make your own for around about £85.
 
Could always add a rcd socket for peace of mind?
Now we're going down a rabbit hole!

Where is your reliable path to ground through a car insulated from ground by 4 rubber tyres?

Depending on the appliance your using then the best path is probably you unless it's double insulated (e.g. hairdryer) 😂

I've worked with DC to AC conversion for years in UPS (uninterruptible power supply) systems, nearly every issue I've come across has been down to poor or lack of earthing.

Went to conduct a safety investigation after a contractor got an electric shock from a customers Comms cabinet. UPS was installed by a CCTV company who had no understanding of how DC to AC conversion works and assumed the grounding would carry through from the main plug. The result was that there was ~-60v difference between the earth pin in the plastic socket (which had an earthing point, but not connected) and the Comms cabinet itself sat on a concrete floor (which also hadn't been earthed). Contractor had a nasty shock, a big surprise, and it fried the transformer of the equipment he was fitting.

I'd be interested to do some tests if I ever got my hands on one, especially for those hoping to power appliances in their home during a power cut as the earth potential difference between where their car is parked and inside their house could be significant.
 
A rcd don't need a earth to work it looks at the neutral line to make sure it matches the live line
 
A rcd don't need a earth to work it looks at the neutral line to make sure it matches the live line
I know how RCDs work, I have to work with them every day 😉

Just saying how far do you go? It's meant for occasional use in favourable circumstances I suppose.

Also note that without an earth it won't protect against fire etc. from a dead short and also won't trip if a double insulated appliance becomes faulty (as there is nowhere else for the current to flow other than back through neutral).
 
Suppose with the use of a 3 pole changeover switch you could transfer the house supply to the battery output from the MG ZS to feed a specific appliance. If the appliance you were to connect was Class 1 (eg an oven) and required an earth, should the earth be from :-

The TN-C-S domestic supply or from a separate earth rod? If the latter option was chosen the changeover switch could transfer the earth from the domestic supply to the earth rod. Obviously a suitable rated RCD or RCBO would be used.

The recent video showing a load of 4KW was very interesting. The on-board inverter is clearly capable of 7.2Kw but can it act in reverse and deliver 7.2kw?? Is there a software limit to prevent such a large discharge of power? Could any damage be done to the car (seems unlikely).

Lots of questions! Thanks for any replies.
 
I’ve read through some of the comments on the V2L being used to supplement the household electricity consumption and would like to share that at least one person is doing this using a Kia EV6 albeit they manual switch between the car supplying the house and the grid supplying the house each day. They have a Kia EV 6 and use the V2L adapter that comes with the car. If I understand it correctly the have a supply switch between the main supply and the consumer unit that takes 2 inputs- one from the grid and one from an external supply. It’s this external supply that they plug the cars V2L into.

When they want to run the house from the car they switch on the cars V2L and switch the main supply switch to external supply. There’s a momentary disruption to the house supply as it switches, but that’s acceptable. Should they need to go for a drive or charge the car, they switch back the supply switch to the grid and disconnect the car.

It’s manual, but works, and takes advantage of the 77kwh battery in their car and will run the house l ad for a few day. It’s has its downsides, supply gets disrupted so oven clock might need reset, and can only supply 3.2 kw - anything above this trips the cars breaker which then needs reset. But it might be an option for some.
 
Hello,

For my installation, i have a 3 pole changeover switch to backup grid with my MG in V2L mode.
3 pole for Live+Neutral+Earth.

In grid (normal) mode, i use L+N from electricity provider and Earth from a ground wire (in fact, N).
In V2L (backup) mode, i use L+N+E from vehicule socket.
With this setup, i use earth from vehicule (should be N internally), to activate as many protections as possible.

My use case is only in case of grid shortage (2 to 3 times a year, for some hours).
When using V2L i manually switch off not used circuits in my house (heavy loads, in fact), then switch the 3p changeover switch. I have some lights to indicate power source (grid or vehicle), and also indicates me than grid power is up again.

In my last test, MG ZS furnished as much à 2kW, not tested more.
in one of test case, V2L switched off with one circuit : too much power ? current fault ? don't remember well.
Véhicule switched off V2L by himself, then it automagically restart some tens of seconds later.

Must have occasions to test it, but pretty sure than V2L is really much more capable than 2kW.
I will then take care about cable section if more than 3kW was used.

For my use case, i voluntary limit power use to about 1 to 1.5kW (freezers, lights, adsl, tv, cellphones charger, ...) to keep vehicule battery capacity for up to a 2 days shortage.
No more using a loudly fuel generator !

V2L is very great out of cities.
 
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Does anyone know how to get hold of a Vehicle 2 Load (V2L) lead to use with the 2022 MG ZS EV Long Range? I am waiting on a response from MG UK but there doesn't seem to be much information available other than the fact the specification states the car has a Vehicle to Load capability at a maximum load of 2200 watts. The V2L capability is of little benefit unless you have a V2L cable to use it!
There are several threads running already on this very subject also on YouTube there are quite a few videos as well but in this one below the guy tells you where you can buy a cable from for a very good price so have a watch link below hope this helps you out
Les
 
In V2L (backup) mode, i use L+N+E from vehicule socket.
If I understand you correctly that's not safe and doesn't meet the wiring regulations. Ignoring the legality for your own safety you should be using a local Earth connection such as an Earth rod.

Nag over.

The basic idea is a good one as such outages are going to become much more frequent going forwards as we descend towards having a third world infrastructure.
 
If I understand you correctly that's not safe and doesn't meet the wiring regulations. Ignoring the legality for your own safety you should be using a local Earth connection such as an Earth rod.

THis is using grid earth (earth rod) that is not safe (not connected to vehicle).

Using vehicle earth (L+N+E on vehicule socket outlet) is the only good way to wire, because vehicule earth is internally vehicle neutral (i hope so, coz' off no data yet) and home RCDs can so detect earth failures in home circuits.

In any case, all of those these schematics are out of any wiring regulation, for now. So you must always take care about high voltage.
 
There are several threads running already on this very subject also on YouTube there are quite a few videos as well but in this one below the guy tells you where you can buy a cable from for a very good price so have a watch link below hope this helps you out
Les


Or you can make an adapter yourself for cheap (< £20).
I made a post about it.

IMHO, all of these are ok for less than 3kW.
For upper power (6kW seems possible, because unit state 7.2kW at a minimum), you should take great attention about cable gauge.

In fact, an adapter is good for true for real V2L use : have some main power with car, anywhere you are (bbq ... lol).
For more powerful setup, like home grid backup, go to a custom cablery with strong components.

Like someone said : with a multi thousands $ car, don't go too cheap !
Of course, MG is really too pricey for their accessories.
 
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THis is using grid earth (earth rod) that is not safe (not connected to vehicle).

Using vehicle earth (L+N+E on vehicule socket outlet) is the only good way to wire, because vehicule earth is internally vehicle neutral (i hope so, coz' off no data yet) and home RCDs can so detect earth failures in home circuits.

In any case, all of those these schematics are out of any wiring regulation, for now. So you must always take care about high voltage.
This is the relevant section of BS7430 (with my comments in brackets):

7.1.3 Unearthed generators (rating below 10kW) supplying a fixed installation
Where an unearthed generator is to supply a fixed installation it is recommended that ADS is adopted as follows:

a) One pole of a single phase generator should be connected to the installation MET (main Earth terminal)
b) The MET should be connected to an earth electrode (i.e. a local one, not the PME supplied by the Grid to most properties as this can fault)
c) The installation should conform to BS7671 with all exposed conductive parts and all extraneous conductive parts connected to the MET
d) The installation should be protected by RCD's

The earth electrode should have a resistance to earth not exceeding 200Ω (not alway easy to achieve)

The RCD will not provide protection for faults on the car side of the RCD, and consequently precautions should be taken.

This is all necessary as the "earth" from the V2L will float but items around the house are likely earth bonded to a proper Earth.

Please take this as friendly advice, and have your installation checked by a "competent" person (if you can find one, it's a bit left field).
 
This is the relevant section of BS7430 (with my comments in brackets):

7.1.3 Unearthed generators (rating below 10kW) supplying a fixed installation
Where an unearthed generator is to supply a fixed installation it is recommended that ADS is adopted as follows:

a) One pole of a single phase generator should be connected to the installation MET (main Earth terminal)
b) The MET should be connected to an earth electrode (i.e. a local one, not the PME supplied by the Grid to most properties as this can fault)
c) The installation should conform to BS7671 with all exposed conductive parts and all extraneous conductive parts connected to the MET
d) The installation should be protected by RCD's

The earth electrode should have a resistance to earth not exceeding 200Ω (not alway easy to achieve)

The RCD will not provide protection for faults on the car side of the RCD, and consequently precautions should be taken.

This is all necessary as the "earth" from the V2L will float but items around the house are likely earth bonded to a proper Earth.

Please take this as friendly advice, and have your installation checked by a "competent" person (if you can find one, it's a bit left field).

Hello, thanks for all these informations !

Was wondering about earth is such scheme, and electricians i kown here in France advice me to use only the generator earth, in a L+N+E only config (question was the same for my previous fuel generator backup).

So, if i understand what you explain, from only véhicule L+N (can leave E), I should connect N to MET of my installation ? (earth electrode is less than 40 ohms here, french norm is less than 100 ohms).

I wonder if NF C 15-100 (home electrical norms in France) explains this peculiar case.

PS: no problem, i already take all advices as friendly. I was just sure that advices i get from various electricians here were goods; seems it's really out of their knowledge ! I admit i must check more documentation.

Edit : after further investigations, question is not as simple as it seems. Neutral modes documentation go from TT to IT, but without much precision.
Many had tried with fuel generator, and were never able to make home RCD "shut" on current leakage.
One configuration seems to offer some security : put a 30 mA RCD at generator ouput, and connect neutral of generator (one of the outputs) to earth ground. Current leakage at home will not shut home RCD, but the global generator one.
We really need some specialized electricians on this subject !
 
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