The first participant in the Piha vehicle-to-home (V2H) trial is now plugged in and ready to go.

Auckland energy company Vector has begun its first trial of the new technology, aimed at exploring how electric vehicles and V2H systems can ease peak demand on electricity networks and be used as backup electricity sources for customers during short-term outages.

Tomas Ussher of Piha has been provided with a Nissan Leaf and Smart EV charger, which he will use for at least one month. By plugging the EV into his home appliances, via the V2H unit, he will be able to power his appliances using energy stored in the EV battery.

“We’re really pleased to announce that the trial is now underway,” said Vector’s Cristiano Marantes, GM Product, Technology and Innovation. “This is exciting new technology and we hope that it will give us a better understanding of how we might be able to improve customer experience and improve reliability of supply. With Auckland’s growing demand for electricity, it’s important that we explore how we could leverage emerging technologies for the benefit of our customers.

“Options like V2H are about putting more control back in our customers’ hands. In remote and sparsely populated areas such as Piha, residents are often reliant on a single 11 kilovolt feeder cable into the area. If we can enable the use of technology such as V2H, then residents will be able to rely on their own backup electricity supply until power is restored during short-term outages, as well as saving on power bills by reducing their network usage during peak times.” 

Tomas is the first of several Piha residents who will trial the technology over the next six months. The trial has been co-funded by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority through the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund, which aims to reduce carbon emissions from road transport by encouraging EV innovation, investment and uptake.

ENDS