BYD New Zealand seeks Atto 3 owners for Queenstown vehicle-to-grid trial

BYD New Zealand is calling for up to 10 Atto 3 owners to volunteer for the country’s first major vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial in Queenstown.

The EECA-funded trial, run by the Queenstown Electrification Accelerator (QEA) in partnership with Rewiring Aotearoa, will test how EVs can send stored energy back to the grid through bidirectional chargers, potentially lowering power bills, easing peak demand and providing backup power in emergencies.

BYD NZ general manager Warren Willmot says participating vehicles will need to visit a BYD dealership to have special software installed that monitors the battery and manages vehicle-to-grid load. From there, owners can plug into the government-supported bidirectional chargers that have been installed in Queenstown.

BYD is granting battery warranty exemptions to participants, having already secured exemptions for earlier volunteers in the trial. Willmot says owners with their own bidirectional home chargers are also welcome to take part, though he notes the hardware typically costs between $5,000 and $8,000 before installation, so few owners have that setup at this stage.

Willmot has previously said BYD plans to include V2G as a standard, warranty-covered feature across all its models by 2027.

Queenstown was chosen partly because of its vulnerability to a major Alpine Fault earthquake. The region has a single power line running through the Kawarau Gorge, and a new EV can store three to four days’ worth of household electricity in its battery, making V2G a potential lifeline in a prolonged outage.

The 18-month trial aims to install 30 to 40 chargers across homes and businesses, gathering data on how the technology performs in real-world New Zealand conditions. EECA plans to publish findings progressively, with a final report due in late 2027.

Atto 3 owners interested in joining the trial can email bydfleet@ateco.nz with their vehicle registration number and proof of ownership.