Hyundai Ioniq 5 customer keeps power on using V2L

A Hyundai Ioniq 5 customer and his family who live south of Auckland were without power from 8pm Sunday to about 11am on Monday, so used their EV’s vehicle-to-load (V2L) technology to power a coffee machine, toaster, fridge/freezer, water pump, and computer during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Hyundai New Zealand posted some of it on Facebook, adding the customer’s Ioniq 5 “saved the day”.

“Using the Ioniq 5’s vehicle-to-load (V2L) technology, he redirected the stored electric power in the car to recharge and power household appliances.”

Comments on the Facebook post show some misunderstanding of V2L technology, some saying that after using V2L the car would have a flat battery and be undriveable.

Hyundai New Zealand explains how V2L tech works on its website.

V2L is also available on the Ioniq 6 and bidirectional charging (including V2L, vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-home) is provided on many new EV models such as the Kia EV6, MG ZS EV and BYD Atto 3, according to ZE Cars.

And yes, the Ioniq can be easily driven and recharged afterwards.