Car battery to charge house

[Chrisjk]

can you use the car battery, charged cheaply overnight, to supply home in daytime on ZSEV GEN 2

 

[DBedford]

can you use the car battery, charged cheaply overnight, to supply home in daytime on ZSEV GEN 2

Not really, limited to about 2-3 kw . MG’s Guide to Vehicle Load Charging (V2L)

can you use the car battery, charged cheaply overnight, to supply home in daytime on ZSEV GEN 2

 

[Gadget Geek]

I've used it to boil kettles, toast bread, microwave food and use an air fryer (not at the same time of course). Added up, it saves quite a bit with the current prices.

 

[Ruislip Resident]

That is going to be a big thing in the future though. I have the MG discharge cable just for emergencies. I could have a few things running from it if there was a longer power cut and the car had enough juice. I also might use it on holiday on a picnic say to boil a kettle or maybe use a small cooking device like a Remoska. That could heat up eg pies or sausage rolls etc. For places where there is no cafe etc nearby.

 

[Eclectic]

I use mine to power mowing the lawns, washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher - just not at the same time!

I have the latter three on available 13 amp plugs, so my custom V2L cable (capable of over 3 kW) is just popped through the letter box and plugged into an extension cable when needed. Saves a lot of peak time electricity

 

[Gadget Geek]

At the moment (4pm) I've been running the TV, Freeview, internet, fridge freezer and kettle since 2pm when National Grid turned off the power to repair a cable in the street. All good so far.

 

[Lovemyev]

At the moment (4pm) I've been running the TV, Freeview, internet, fridge freezer and kettle since 2pm when National Grid turned off the power to repair a cable in the street. All good so far.

Turn up “Smug Mode” to the Max !.
Can’t do THAT with fossil.

 

[Gadget Geek]

5pm and the power is back on. 3% of the battery used over 3 hours. It's the first time I've used V2L in a real situation and I'm very impressed. What a car!

Big hole outside the house. Having a chat to the engineers, it was a junction which blew up.

 

[TonyP]

What VtoL adapter are you using? Thinking of buying one soon.

 

[Gadget Geek]

What VtoL adapter are you using? Thinking of buying one soon.

I got this one and put a weatherproof socket on it which I had spare.

MG Vehicle to Load V2L Discharge Cable

A Simple Adapter Power Source (MG Only) PLEASE NOTE: We have received reports that the latest deliveries (06/2023) of MG ZS models have had the V2L functionality disabled or removed. Please confirm with your dealer before purchase. Turn your MG ZS (2022), MG 5 (Facelifted 2023), MG4 (2022) and...

evcables.com

 

[RobinH]

What VtoL adapter are you using? Thinking of buying one soon.

A VTOL adaptor? Now that would be an upgrade!

 

[johnb80]

Turn up “Smug Mode” to the Max !.
Can’t do THAT with fossil.

Actually you can. Inverter onto the 12v battery and plug the devices in. Alternatively, a petrol generator both providing power from fossil fuels.

 

[timE]

People report being able to get 7kW from the MG4 - need a 32A cable and change the resistor between PE and PP to 470 ohms. EVCables can supply a cable. Main issue is that AC not synced to grid phasing, so need to disconnect the house from the grid if planning to use it to power the whole house (and using < 7kW or car senses and cuts AC output).

 

[johnb80]

People report being able to get 7kWh from the MG4 - need a 32A cable and change the resistor between PE and PP to 470 ohms. EVCables can supply a cable. Main issue is that AC not synced to grid phasing, so need to disconnect the house from the grid if planning to use it to power the whole house (and using < 7kWh or car senses and cuts AC output).

It needs considerable planning how to safely disconnect the house from the grid and then connect to the car plus how do you deal with earthing?

 

[timE]

The earthing indeed needs a separate earth rod installing. The connect/disconnect can be just a double pole switch changeover to switch between mains and car, typically 100A rated. An ATS that can autosense the power coming from the car could be used to provide the switchover. It may be desirable in some cases to use a small UPS to ensure power to sensitive devices (PC's etc.) to cope during the brief period when the supply source changes over.

 

[johnb80]

The earthing indeed needs a separate earth rod installing.

Not quite that simple with a TN-C-S system which most supplies are, you can actually cause a fire if you add an earthing rod under certain conditions.

The connect/disconnect can be just a double pole switch changeover to switch between mains and car, typically 100A rated. An ATS that can autosense the power coming from the car could be used to provide the switchover.

You would need a triple pole to deal with the earthing and some form of 32 amp plug on the wall with a cable mounted socket.

It may be desirable in some cases to use a small UPS to ensure power to sensitive devices (PC's etc.) to cope during the brief period when the supply source changes over.

I'm not sure about the merits of vehicle to property except in cases of power outage.

 

[timE]

I refer you to the thread where they describe it:

MG4 rocking 7kW V2L Real full home use possible.​

 

[johnb80]

I refer you to the thread where they describe it:

MG4 rocking 7Kw V2L Real full home use possible.​

I couldnt see a thread with that title.

I dont doubt it can supply the 7kW, I dont doubt you can run your house of it, I dont understand why you would want to do that except during a power outage.

 

[Lovemyev]

I couldnt see a thread with that title.

I dont doubt it can supply the 7kW, I dont doubt you can run your house of it, I dont understand why you would want to do that except during a power outage.

If you had a cheap off peak tariff, then you could charge your car battery on the cheaper rate in the early hours, then feed that energy back into the house to run certain items in the peak time when electricity is way more expensive.
I think this is the idea here !.

 

[johnb80]

If you had a cheap off peak tariff, then you could charge your car battery on the cheaper rate in the early hours, then feed that energy back into the house to run certain items in the peak time when electricity is way more expensive.
I think this is the idea here !.

OK, it just seems an odd way to go about it. I have installed batteries at home and run in that way, I dont think I'd want to be swapping plugs over at 05:30 in the morning and 23:30 at night to do the charging and discharging etc. The additional wear on the car battery isnt something Id want to do either for the sake of a couple grand for a system.