Transforming electric vehicles

This story first appeared in the July issue of EVTalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE

This June, New Zealand saw the highest increase in EV registrations, up to 3834 from 186 in January 2013. Driving these trends are lower prices, better travel ranges, and more options available with new models and second hand imports.

It’s clear EVs play a big part in New Zealand’s clean energy future. At Vector we see their role being far more than a ride from A to B.

Easy charging on the go

It’s fantastic to see New Zealand’s public charging infrastructure stepping up to meet the demand of a growing number of EV users.

Public chargers are important in providing a boost of energy for EVs when out and about. Since 2015 Vector has been setting up public charging stations in key locations across Auckland. July and August will see our biggest addition of EV charging stations – seven chargers in four new locations at New World Kumeu, BP Warkworth, Auckland Hospital, and Constellation Drive McDonalds.

Easy to use tools like our EV charging app are making charging smarter with station locators and real time status of rapid chargers. For example, people can now “check in” to chargers on our app, stating how long they will be, and whether it’s okay for someone to unplug their vehicle. Earlier this year we expanded Vector’s EV charging app to cover nationwide EV chargers all the way from Paihia up north to Invercargill down south.

We’re adding new stations to the app as they open and it’s proving a popular download on Apple Store and Google Play.

Transforming EVs to power your life
If you think you don’t get that much use out of your car given what it costs, you’re right. Most vehicles today are parked for up to 96% of the time. We believe EVs can do more than just move people from A to B – they provide a great opportunity to power our lives.

The battery storage capacity and range of EVs is progressing in leaps and bounds and that made us think about their potential outside of transport.

Fact: A Nissan Leaf G2 with a 30kWh battery could power the average household for 10 hours.
Last month we introduced a revolutionary two-way electric vehicle charger, the first of its kind outside of Europe. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology not only allows vehicles to be charged, but can also reverse the energy flow allowing EVs to discharge energy. This is a huge milestone for EVs, essentially transforming them into rechargeable power sources.

When hooked up to a V2G charger, energy from an EV can be used as a power boost for the building, as a cheaper power source when electricity prices from the grid are higher, and will eventually be able to power homes during power outages.

We’ve been trialling the technology on our almost 100% EV fleet and will soon be offering the chargers to corporates and households with a residential version. V2G chargers will integrate with other technologies such as solar and batteries to redefine what we mean by a truly smart energy home or business.

Turning change into opportunity

Along with the benefits of EVs come some interesting challenges for the electricity network. That’s because more people using EVs means more people using electricity, and most likely all plugging in at around the same time after work. But V2G chargers turn that into an opportunity both for EV users and the wider network.

It’s likely in the future timing of our energy use from the grid will be more important. To take advantage of rewards you’ll be thinking more seriously about when to set the dishwasher on, when to turn off the hot water heater, and in this case and when to charge your EV. But more importantly, when needed you could actually use your EV to power your home and avoid using power from the network altogether.
We are yet to see the full potential of EVs and at Vector we think that’s pretty exciting!