Electric vehicles can power homes (and save us 780 euros a year)

Homes and electrical grids can receive energy through electric cars. The key is bidirectional charging.

Electric cars have increasingly powerful batteries that are charged from the power grid or rooftop solar systems.

But when the car is not in use, the battery can serve as storage for homes and the energy grid through a process of bidirectional charging that can reduce energy costs, start by explaining the .

But how does this happen?

Until recently, power flowed in one direction to electric vehicle (EV) batteries from the charging station. This has changed: now, it is possible for energy to circulate in both directions, that is, the electric vehicle can transfer energy to other objects.

Through bidirectional chargers, they can supply entire buildings with electricity using the vehicle-to-home technology (V2H), or supply the public grid with electricity through the vehicle-to-grid technology (V2G).

They can also simply charge car batteries. Still, the bidirectional devices are currently only available at select charging station locations.

But not only is it a good way to save money, it is also not harmful to the vehicle. “If done correctly, controlled loading and unloading can increase battery life by 5 to 10%“, it says Robert Kohrs, expert in intelligent energy networks at the Fraunhofer Institute.

With a two-way charging station, solar energy can flow from the roof of a house to the car battery during the day and return to the car building at night. This means residents can use cheap solar energy both day and night. The result? Savings.

The potential savings from shared use of car batteries in the EU could reachr R$22 billion per yearconcludes a recent study commissioned by the environmental organization Transport & Environment.

In 2050, there may be 1.5 billion electric vehicles around the world, researchers say. With an average of 60 kWh of batteries per vehicle, this global fleet could store a total of 90 billion kWh of electricity.

and according to the Fraunhofer study on EV energy integration, electric car owners can save between 31 and 780 euros per year if they share battery power with their own home or the power grid.

The Fraunhofer study estimated that installing two-way charging stations on a widespread basis would increase initial costs around 100 euros for small charging stations (up to 22 KW) and around 250 euros for a fast charging station.

However, these cadditional costs would be compensated due to the savings made — in just a few months of use.