MG ZS EV Vehicle to Load and Extension Cables

[Lovemyev]

House is full LED lights and essentials are Fridge/freezer, broadband and microwave.

Thank you for this, so you are happy running the limited essential above items via V2L from your car, which I think is brilliant !.
Not satisfying all of the other high demands of the entire house of course .

 

[Vince31]

Thank you for this, so you are happy running the limited essential above items via V2L from your car, which I think is brilliant !.
Not satisfying all of the other high demands of the entire house of course .

Sure, but like I said its primary role for me is for Grid outage, so essentials id fine.

 

[Tim Green]

I have a 3kW petrol generator for the same purpose, seems to work fine under test trials.
It runs wifi, tv's, boiler, fridges, 3x freezers and the odd lights.
Rather annoyed I haven't had to use it!

 

[Les burrows]

Hi there has been reading this with interest and several other threads that have run on this very subject, and I have to agree with what as been said from Lovemyev I too have seen some reports of owners of vehicles capable of V2L going way over the recommended discharge limits and my view they are taking very unnecessary risks in doing so.
V2L it is most definitely not V2H or V2G and should be attempted to be used as such.
I agree that concerns about tumble driers in particular especially the none heat pump versions and the fire risk, plus as pointed out they will and do switch on and off constantly therefore connecting and disconnecting the load many times in the cycle, they won’t peak above there rated KWs which can be 2/3kws as any the motors in them operate via a capacitor which provides the extra surge of power each time the drum stops and restarts,
But the constant on off switching of the cars discharge circuits would IMHO,not be good for the car and in turn might create more issues over time than drawing a continuous load even around the maximum recommended output, example of that would be using V2L to feed a granny’s unit to help out some one with an EV and a flat battery that would draw a constant 2.2 KWs for a long period of time but MG and other manufacturers advertise often this is a feature of V2L, but constant switching is another story.
I stop using my Zappi charger at home in the Eco+ setting because when the sun pops behind a cloud and the solar output drops below 1.4 kw the cars was also switching on and off many times so I now use Evo which constantly delivers a minimum of 1.4 kw plus any surplus from my solar PV.

What vinice31 as done at #20 sounds very interesting and the right way to go lighting to day TVs router etc use very little power also fridges/ freezers very little most microwave peak at around 1300w for a short time so fine with all that stuff, upwards of 40-50 LEDs in my home and if they where all on at once ( which sometimes when I arrive home many times ) they are not pulling above 250-300w so that’s fine.
So trick is stay close to the recommended levels and no damage will occur.
Les

 

[Jonoffun]

I haven't found any restrictions on using V2L in the MG handbook or anywhere else. I am pretty confident that there would be "cover our asses" warnings if the on board V2L electronics were susceptible to damage in any way.

On another forum, a member has been running his entire house from an MG4 (using an islanding switch) and while I wouldn't use V2L for that personally, it has worked for him, and no problems with the car.

I've checked the car while running the washing machine and tumble dryer, and get no warning messages, it just tells me the estimated time until my pre-set battery SoC will be reached (this varies as the heating elements switch on and off). Hopefully we will get a bit more information on the V2L as time goes on, but it has been tested quite a way past the nominal 2.2kW without problems so far, so seems pretty robust.

MG’s Guide to Vehicle Load Charging (V2L)

Vehicle load charging allows you to power electrical devices using your electric car battery. Learn more about this innovative technology and how it works here.

www.mg.co.uk

I am ready to go with the same technique. If we have a power cut I will disconnect from the mains, at the consumer unit, plug the car into the garage socket, then discharge the car - that will look like the mains to the solar PV and house battery, that will then work as normal and discharge the house battery and run the house or charge up the battery if the sun is out. So I will use the car as a ghost mains. When the power is back on in the street, I will shut off the car, unplug, switch back on the mains, and then back to normal. I think that works. The car cannot be damaged (I don't think) bearing in mind driving it puts a huge stress on the battery anyhow!

 

[Les burrows]

I am ready to go with the same technique. If we have a power cut I will disconnect from the mains, at the consumer unit, plug the car into the garage socket, then discharge the car - that will look like the mains to the solar PV and house battery, that will then work as normal and discharge the house battery and run the house or charge up the battery if the sun is out. So I will use the car as a ghost mains. When the power is back on in the street, I will shut off the car, unplug, switch back on the mains, and then back to normal. I think that works. The car cannot be damaged (I don't think) bearing in mind driving it puts a huge stress on the battery anyhow!

I would well agree that should work quite well as the house and your solar inverter would be running from the home battery for as long as that’s got charge in it and would only be drawing a small amount of current from the car to power up the battery and solar system which in daylight would put charge back into the battery I’m no expert but it sounds very feasible to me anyhow.
Les

 

[Robf]

Taking it to the next step. Could you not do away with the batteries and just get a (cheapish) second hand EV with V2L? It gives you the flexibility of having an extra car that you can use and sell as the market (and battery technology) moves on? Better to have 60kw+ for £20,000 that you can sell on and use as a car than £10,000 for 10 kw battery that cannot be exchanged so easily?

 

[Les burrows]

Taking it to the next step. Could you not do away with the batteries and just get a (cheapish) second hand EV with V2L? It gives you the flexibility of having an extra car that you can use and sell as the market (and battery technology) moves on? Better to have 60kw+ for £20,000 that you can sell on and use as a car than £10,000 for 10 kw battery that cannot be exchanged so easily?

If you care to do a search on here you will find another thread with shed loads on this subject just search, in taking the next step it as already been taken part of the way.

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

Your quite right in what you have said about buying a cheap S/H car with V2L and using that’s instead of a home battery, trouble is there is not a lot of them about as yet might be in a number of years into the future perhaps, but for now there is to ways forward
You can do as I have done my wife as the MG4 and I have the MG5 Trophy face lifted model both of which have V2L fitted, please don’t get me wrong this way is not cheap but a decent sized home battery will be bolted to wall of your property and do it’s job but that is all it can do and they are not cheap neither.
My set up is such while we are driving in one of the cars the other is plugged in at home being charged via my Zappi from my solar PV for free on a reasonable weather day and then if I want too that free energy can be used to power items in the home within in limits of course, on free power, so that’s the way I have gone more expensive yes at first but over all not that much more and we can use them and sell them on in a few years if we want too but we need to cars so why not EVs
But I have read In several forums including the thread above here, that some have been buying up cheap old EVs Nissan leafs for one converting them to be used as a home battery great if you have the space it could just sit there being charged and discharged daily and a few of these have been crash damaged cars or MOT failures and have been purchased for 3-10 grand which might sound a lot but you would have at least a 24kw home battery system.( plus if you purchase a few chickens free eggs LOL).
Yeh as I said there now loads of stuff out about this now and there will be much more yet to come for sure.
Les

 

[Robf]

I have a 2017 1st edition 30kw leaf, bought it 3 years ago for £13,000. it doesnt have V2L so not sure if I could use.

 

[Tim Green]

First edition leaf is about 24kW I think?

 

[N2STY]

I have a 2017 1st edition 30kw leaf, bought it 3 years ago for £13,000. it doesnt have V2L so not sure if I could use.

I don't know what year the leaf started using CHAdeMO I am sure I have seen somewhere that CHAdeMO is V2H compatible thinks this depends on the charger not the car?

 

[Les burrows]

I have a 2017 1st edition 30kw leaf, bought it 3 years ago for £13,000. it doesnt have V2L so not sure if I could use.

Hi again your right the leaf does not have V2L as standard I didn’t say that, but some have had them converted so they can be used as home battery but don’t ask how that I don’t know how to do, but someone will in fact has but this is not like the MG set up at all the old car when converted becomes a home battery only can not driven but it’s a cheap battery if you can buy one cheap enough.
Les

And N2STY I don’t think any leads in the UK have that feature.
Les

This is what V2L is really designed to be used for
Les

 

[N2STY]

And N2STY I don’t think any leads in the UK have that feature.
Les

 

[Gadget Geek]

Hi again your right the leaf does not have V2L as standard I didn’t say that, but some have had them converted so they can be used as home battery but don’t ask how that I don’t know how to do, but someone will in fact has but this is not like the MG set up at all the old car when converted becomes a home battery only can not driven but it’s a cheap battery if you can buy one cheap enough.
Les

And N2STY I don’t think any leads in the UK have that feature.
Les

CHAdeMO is the Japan standard connector and has been on the LEAF from its inception, and was always designed to be bi-directional.

There are a couple of Fully Charged videos about the LEAF being used for V2G.

 

[Robf]

That is interesting, it does have CHAdeMOconnection, currently with Octopus, but shall give OVO a call when back in the UK.

 

[N2STY]

That is interesting, it does have CHAdeMOconnection, currently with Octopus, but shall give OVO a call when back in the UK.

Apparently all you need is a Indra V2G 170911A202

 

[Gadget Geek]

 

[Les burrows]

View attachment 16437View attachment 16438

Well my apologies N2STY Robf and gadget Greek I had not seen this so I stand corrected I heard talk of it when at the fully charge show over the last couple of years but had not seen the above document but interesting thank you
Les

 

[Robf]

CHAdeMO is the Japan standard connector and has been on the LEAF from its inception, and was always designed to be bi-directional.

There are a couple of Fully Charged videos about the LEAF being used for V2G.

I wonder... As a 10 kw home battery costs around £10,000, and my 30kw leaf (still 100% battery) cost me £13,000 a few years ago... Would it be possible to remove the battery and stick it on the garage wall (adjacant to house input electrical cables) and use it as a home battery? Could all you electrical guru`s advise what extra kit would be needed. Picture of battery below (30kw beside a 24kw with connections shown, as I would still have the car I have all the connectors).

 

[N2STY]

I wonder... As a 10 kw home battery costs around £10,000, and my 30kw leaf (still 100% battery) cost me £13,000 a few years ago... Would it be possible to remove the battery and stick it on the garage wall (adjacant to house input electrical cables) and use it as a home battery? Could all you electrical guru`s advise what extra kit would be needed. Picture of battery below (30kw beside a 24kw with connections shown, as I would still have the car I have all the connectors).

Ok quite a few people are doing this have a search on YouTube the most common way is to use the cells in series of six so 6,12,24 so on and use 48v solar inverter some people use series of three 3,6,9,12 so on and use a 24v inverter


Like I said search Nissan leaf Powerwall or something like that