Genesis V2G trial runs an Auckland home on a BYD Atto 3 at peak times

Genesis Energy has run a BYD Atto 3 as a home battery in an Auckland vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial, with the car powering the house through morning and evening peaks.

The three-month trial, from June to August, ran at an employee’s home with a family of four. It used an Atto 3 Standard Range and a StarCharge Halo 7.4kW bidirectional DC charger, controlled through StarCharge’s app. The car was still used for work travel during the trial.

On a number of occasions the car’s battery powered the house through early morning or evening peaks with little or no power drawn from the grid. The best results came in the evenings. During one three-hour period, the home used more than 16kWh, with less than 1kWh of that coming from the grid and the rest from the car.

Homeowner Carolyn Ryan says the system was easy to use, and the family didn’t notice any difference in supply while the house was running on the car.

“EV owners can charge up the car overnight when electricity rates are half-price on Genesis’ EVHome plan, and draw off the car’s battery when they’re busy each morning and evening,” she says. “It was good to know we were accessing cheaper power and taking pressure off the national system.”

Genesis chief revenue officer Stephen England-Hall says the trial was a proof of concept for two-way charging in a home. With only one car in one household, average savings can’t yet be measured, and the trial turned up technical issues that still need to be solved before V2G is reliable in a range of settings.

“It’s helpful to discover what still needs to be done to bring V2G to a wide range of customers,” he says. “It’s early days for this technology, but we’re committed to remaining at the forefront of its development.”

A second phase has started, again using StarCharge’s Halo charger, with NordEast joining to add Zeekr, Geely and Polestar models.

“We know EVs lower a customer’s energy cost through eliminating the need for petrol or diesel,” England-Hall says. “By helping to fine tune V2G technology we intend to find out how much EV owners can also save by using their vehicle’s battery to help power their home, while relieving pressure on the grid at peak times.”

Genesis’ trial follows EECA’s first V2G report, which found only a handful of EVs sold here are supported by their makers for sending power back to the grid, and Meridian’s plans for a V2G trial with up to 100 chargers.