Bidirectional charging in everyday life
European uncharted territory
Ford F150Lightning
© press-inform – the press office
More and more electric cars advertise that they can be charged bidirectionally. What is likely to become popular equipment in the USA is largely unknown in Europe – yet.
Americans are a people of sports and recreation enthusiasts. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Fort Lauderdale, 27 Palms or Auburn Hills – at the weekend it’s time to go out into the country, into the woods and onto the sea. Motor boats, stand-up paddle boards, cool bags or the air mattresses for the camping tent scream for an electric boost, which usually had to be provided by a generator that was carried on the loading area of the pick-up or in the luggage compartment of the SUV. And even craftsmen can often not do without electricity from the diesel or petrol unit at the short-term construction site. Many of the new electric cars put an end to the urge to carry a generator because they can charge bi-directionally. This means that the vehicles can not only be recharged at the charging station or at the fast charger, but that these cars are also happy to give up a significant part of their energy when required.
On the one hand, this is possible if an electrical consumer has to be supplied with electricity on the road or if the car becomes a fixed component of everyday electrical life, which also includes the house or apartment as well as the workplace. The bidirectional charging function is most useful in connection with one’s own household. Electric vehicles can feed the electricity they do not need into the home network (vehicle-to-home) and in future also provide it to stabilize the power grid. Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda offer this technology for their electric models with the large 82 kWh battery pack. The technology is installed in the vehicles and can be activated at any time via data transmission (over-the-air update). The power transfer and communication with the technical center takes place via a special DC wall box for bidirectional charging. The only requirement for intelligent charging at home is a home energy management system. It knows what consumers need, so it can intelligently manage their power supply. This makes it easy, for example, for owners of a photovoltaic system to charge with self-generated solar power. The question remains as to whether many would prefer to have their own electric car in their own garage with a fully charged battery pack and ready at all times for long-distance starts.
For these customers, the function should either be completely uninteresting or they enjoy a possible flow of electricity on the go. Anyone who goes camping with a tent or has found an electric car with a trailer hitch for their own caravan should have quickly learned to appreciate the function of bidirectional charging, because the vehicle’s battery pack has no trouble charging coffee machines, electric pumps or other consumers with electricity supply – no matter where you are at the moment.
The two new electric vehicles Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, for example, enable bidirectional charging. The battery installed in the vehicle floor can be used to supply external electrical devices with 110 or 220 volt alternating current or to charge another electric vehicle if necessary. This bidirectionality is made possible by a specially developed charging control unit (Integrated Charging Control Unit), which, as a further development of the on-board charger, enables both charging directions. The ICCU has the new “Vehicle-to-Load” function, with which energy can be drawn from the vehicle battery without additional components. The V2L function, which supplies electricity with an output of up to 3.5 kW, can run a medium-sized air conditioner and a 55-inch TV for up to 24 hours.
In the US, the eagerly awaited Ford F-150 Lightning will be one of the first volume vehicles to feature bi-directional charging technology. In the USA, where there are repeated power cuts due to snowstorms or hurricanes, a full-size pick-up like the Ford F-150 Lightning can supply the household with the energy that is so important. For this purpose, Ford has developed the package of the so-called Intelligent Backup Power, which is used for the first time in the F-150 Lightning. It offers customers the ability to use the bi-directional power technology of their all-electric pickup truck to power their home during a power outage – whether the home’s occupants are sheltering during a storm or wanting to keep cool during a heatwave. So far, most homeowners have had an impressive emergency power generator in the garage or basement for such purposes, which is then used.
The F-150 Lightning’s large battery pack can store up to 131 kilowatt hours of energy and deliver up to 9.6 kilowatts of power – cleaner, quieter and significantly more efficient than diesel or petrol powered generators and with a larger capacity than many wall battery units. With Intelligent Backup Power and the Home Integration System, the F-150 Lightning turns on automatically when the power grid fails. Once power is restored, the system will automatically switch back to mains power. Based on an average US household consuming 30 kilowatt hours per day, the F-150 Lightning with battery provides the large battery pack with a full power supply for up to three days. If you are cautious with the household electricity, you can do more than a week.