V2L, V2H, V2G - How does it work with MG EVs?

[Coulomb]

Maybe there is a market for a new gizmo to make this happen. Imagine a special, highly regulated (and therefore expensive) gizmo that you plug your car into, running in V2L.

It occurred to me (after somewhere reading someone else's post suggesting this) that you don't need an expensive specialised gizmo; you might already have one. You can use a solar inverter that has a separate grid and generator inputs. An example would be the SunSynk range. These inverters are already certified to be safe under all conditions, and they handle dropping off the grid connection. They don't drop off your entire grid connection of 60 - 100 A, just the connection for charging the house battery (if present) and running essential loads. So you'd just plug your car into the generator input via the V2L cable. You'd still have to make sure that your loads didn't exceed your vehicle's V2L limit, but solar inverters often have monitoring software that shows you how much you are using and producing from solar.

The most convenient arrangement (also the most expensive, not surprisingly) is if you have a modest house battery installed, which takes over the instant that the grid drops out. For short blackouts, you don't even need the vehicle at all. But once you notice that the house battery is getting low, then you have time to fish out the V2L cable and plug it into the generator input. I think it's possible with some inverters to specify a maximum draw from the generator input, using the battery to supply short term peaks beyond that limit. Some might even be able to use solar power to reduce load on the vehicle, when available. It might even make sense to charge the house battery (at least partially) so you can unplug the vehicle and use it for short trips.

The only problems I can see with this are the V2L limit being too small for some vehicles (including our MGs), and the earthing issue. You could organise proper earthing for when you use V2L, though there might be problems if someone plugged in a petrol generator, some of which have neutral connected to earth internally. But I'm sure that could be worked around, e.g. by ignoring earth from the generator input. You might also need a neutral to earth link, but again these issues are well known and solvable.

 

[Lilboyinblueandgreen]

Just going to revive this one from the dead, wouldnt a potential work around being an inverter like MG has listed on their page, draining the car battery and adding the load to a house battery.

Should just be as simple as having an inverter swap on a current solar setup and it should be able to work like a charm...

 

[Ads]

Just going to revive this one from the dead, wouldnt a potential work around being an inverter like MG has listed on their page, draining the car battery and adding the load to a house battery.

Should just be as simple as having an inverter swap on a current solar setup and it should be able to work like a charm...

If you have an inverter with an additional input for an AC generator as someone mentioned above, then it seems like that should work. The only issue is you would have to manually swap between cables for charging / discharging, so probably more of an emergency / blackout situation than indirect V2G. The ideal use case would be a single cable / connection; maybe there's knowledgeable electrician here who can advise on whether this would be possible.

 

[AlanCurtis]

Hello,
Somewhat late to this party but I was part of the Octopus V2G trial and have a Wallbox Quasar. Must say it works like a dream!
Even though the official trial is over we still have a special tariff where car charges at cheap rate overnight then discharges at peak times, typically between 4-7pm for which we get paid.
This has caused no issues to either our house electrics, and the car battery after 2-years is 100-perfect per Nissan test in April 2023.
Only drawback is that I understand Nissan leaf’s are not being produced after 2025, and they have no alternate under V2G.
Hopefully car manufacturers will step up to the challenge and become part of the future grid balancing solution.

 

[origin]

i am thinking of converting it back from 240v AC to 110v DC. i will connect it to my solar inverter since a solar inverter can handle up to 500v DC.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Used my V2L today to back up the house when the national grid turned off the power to fix a cable. Ran TV, Freeview, internet, fridge/freezer and kettle. Over 3 hours used 3% of the battery. The first time I've used it for real and I'm well impressed.

 

[smokie]

Very good but I'd have just gone down the pub