REVS project completion

This week marked the completion of the REVS project – the largest demonstration of vehilce-to-grid technology in Australia and foundational research on the integration of electric vehicles into the grid and people’s lives.

Some of the media stories from the wrap up event below:

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8140475/powering-the-future-with-your-next-ev-takes-a-step-forward/

A provocation – Who will drive Vehicle-to-Grid?

A “provocation” is my new favorite form of publication!

This article in Utility Magazine was a real pleasure to write and condenses many recent discussions.

Our main takeaway is this: “Our experience to date suggests that V2G may stand to be of greatest attraction “for the grid” and that there is much to be done “by the grid” to accelerate this innovation becoming a seamless part of the electric vehicle experience.”

Continue reading

Examining the vehicle-to-grid niche in Australia through the lens of a trial project

We have a new paper in the journal Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions.

Highlights

  • Vehicle-to-grid is viewed as a sub-niche of electric vehicles and distributed energy.
  • Vehicle-to-grid is in an embryonic stage of development in Australia.
  • Proponents hold strong long-term visions, but are unsure how to get there.
  • Learning has focused on problem solving; other types of learning are lacking.
  • More experimentation, involvement of new actors and embedding are required.
Continue reading

EV chargers for V2G and V2H to arrive in Australia within weeks

From James Purtill in the ABC

A new kind of charger that allows an electric vehicle (EV) to be used as a giant home battery is close to going on sale in Australia, with the first commercial shipment to arrive within weeks.

Unlike standard one-way EV chargers, bidirectional chargers can also discharge energy from an EV, which means they can be used to power a home (known as vehicle-to-home or V2H) and its appliances, or to export energy to the grid (vehicle-to-grid or V2G).

This may sound simple, but bringing them to Australia has proven difficult.

For years, a mix of regulatory and engineering hurdles have repeatedly pushed back the technology’s rollout date.

Continue reading

Feature on ABC TV Catalyst program – a childhood dream

ABC TV’s Catalyst program was one of my favorite TV shows growing up, so it was a bit of a dream to get to be a part of the recent episode about the transformation of the electricity system.

The episode did a fantastic job, covering a huge range of the interesting developments underway across the system and the country, explaining the crucial facts and trends, and presenting everything in interesting, engaging and understandable ways.

So, I’d highly recommend giving watching here https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/the-grid-powering-the-future/13491654

Continue reading

Energy stored in electric car batteries could power your home or stabilise the grid — and save you money

A very well researched piece by James Purtill for Catalyst in ABC Online https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-08-10/v2g-vehicle-to-grid-pays-ev-owners-for-electricity/100353072

Until recently, Gary Hogben did not expect he would ever be paid to simply plug his car into the wall every night.

And yet, over the past year, that’s exactly what’s happened. He and his wife have earned more than $1,000 while their car sits in the driveway.

The service is called V2G, or “vehicle to grid”, and it could be an important component of Australia’s electricity grid in coming years, plus a way for car owners to make a little extra income.

The concept is fairly straightforward: electric vehicles (EVs) are essentially very large batteries on wheels. Most of the time they sit idle.

Continue reading