V2H - UK?

[BotusBuild]

Sort of ....

 

In case anyone was wondering, as I was, the following 5 vehicles support Vehicle to Home (V2H):-

 

Hyundai Ioniq 5

Hyundai Ioniq 6

Kia EV9

Nissan Leaf

Cupra Born

 

You do need a bi-directional charger as well.

 

With most car batteries seeming to have more capacity than your standard home solar batteries, and if you are considering one of the above cars anyway, then a bi-directional should be a no brainer decision IMHO. Except, they do not yet appear to be available in the UK 😞 - see later post.

 

Further investigation required to see if there is an auto cut off feature for when the battery gets down to a preset level, say 20%.

Edited Saturday at 16:22 by BotusBuild

[BotusBuild]

That didn't take long

 

Explore More

What are the minimum battery levels required for V2H operation?

The minimum battery levels required for V2H operation vary by vehicle and charger, but most systems allow you to set a minimum state of charge to prevent draining the battery too low. Typically, you can set this between 20% and 30% to ensure you have enough power for driving. Check your specific EV and charger's manual for exact settings.

[BotusBuild]

Bidirectional Charger Availability in the UK

Bidirectional chargers are expected to become available in the UK during 2026, with the first commercial launches expected in the second half of the year. However, availability will be gradual and limited initially.

 

Nissan's 2026 Launch

Nissan has announced it will launch affordable bidirectional charging on selected electric vehicles starting in 2026, with the UK as the first market. This is significant because Nissan has already achieved G99 Grid code certification with an AC-based solution, which is required to supply electricity to the UK national energy grid. The company aims to price its AC bidirectional charger comparably to a standard mono-directional charger available today, making it more accessible than previous estimates.

 

Other Manufacturers

Enphase Energy has announced its IQ Bidirectional EV Charger will be available globally in the second half of 2026. This DC-based charger delivers up to 11.5 kilowatts of bidirectional power and includes features like "black start" backup capability for powering homes during outages.

 

Current Barriers in the UK

Despite the promising timeline, the UK still faces regulatory and technical challenges. Current smart charging legislation doesn't fully accommodate bidirectional charging yet, and there are complications around:

 

Standardisation of communication

• protocols between chargers and vehicles
• Tax and regulatory implications for selling electricity back to the grid
• Integration with existing electricity grid infrastructure

The bottom line: While chargers are coming to market in 2026, widespread availability will likely take time. Early adopters may see options from Nissan and other manufacturers, but it will be a gradual rollout rather than an immediate, universal availability.

[SteamyTea]

Old Jason explained a bit about costs by comparing a Ford Lightning and a Tesla Powerwall.

 

 

[Onoff]

My Skoda Enyaq 85x does too.

[BotusBuild]

I should have known that as another member who has the same car prompted me to investigate this idea.

 

Update on compatible cars and chargers. I found this article this morning. Far more cars and some info on which chargers

https://www.carwow.co.uk/editorial/going-electric/ev-charging/what-is-bidirectional-charging

 

Edited yesterday at 08:20 by BotusBuild

[Onoff]

My current charger isn't bidirectional. It's an Indra and I see they're working on them. 

[Onoff]

I presume you ideally have to change all your RCBOs to bidirectional? 

 

My new garage board is all RCBO, bidirectional, double pole, SPD bells and whistles. PV will go on the garage. 

 

I'll have to check what I fitted to the slightly older board in the house though I don't think that'll matter as the PV with be the Henley side of the house cu. 

 

 

[BotusBuild]

One of the AI responses stated that an RCD was required. More research required on  that point, and its something that I would require the charger installer to specify.

Edited yesterday at 09:17 by BotusBuild

[markharro]

Can I correct what someone has said about there being no 2 way chargers available atm. There is one - https://www.sigenergy.com/en/products/dc-charger

 

I have been talking with an installer for the last few weeks about this product. The intriguing thing for me is that it appears to work (potentially) with cars that are not supposed to do 2 way charging like our own.

[BotusBuild]

Hi Mark,

That was me, which i corrected with the reference to the Carwow article.

 

But that charger you mention sounds interesting. If it does turn out to work with non-V2H cars that could be a boost to this option.

[Onoff]

3 hours ago, BotusBuild said:

One of the AI responses stated that an RCD was required. More research required on  that point, and its something that I would require the charger installer to specify.

 

It'll be in the charger installation manual.

 

Dedicated to my EV charger I have a 40A, bidirectional, double pole, Type C, 30mA RCBO. 

[Square Feet]

This is part of my plan to be off-grid for electricity.

Instead of a genny in the winter I plan to use my EV to top up the house batteries if/when needed.  Doing it with V2L is the ideal, but is still very tricky at the moment as the above posters have said, but if nothing else I can run a 2000W inverter to the vehicle and power/charge the house battery off that.  It's pretty much how many electric campers work atm.  Youtuber Glyn Hudson for example powers his ENV200 campervan that way - a 1500W inverter off the starter battery, which is kept topped up by the traction battery as long as the ignition is in the partially on position. So it would need to be in a garage or some other secure location obviously.  The other way to do it is just via a DC/DC charger off the starter battery, which is a lot easier to work with (being 12V) than the 400V traction battery.  If needed I can just go to the rapid EV charger down the road to recharge my car and bring back power to add into the house system, which would be no different to going to the petrol station to buy fuel for a genny, just a lot greener.

Edited 22 hours ago by Square Feet

[Dillsue]

If you look on the ENA Connect Direct type test register there's a few grid compliant V2x chargers listed. Octopus and Indra have a few and one or 2 others but not many.....nothing from Sigenergy.

 

If your car has V2L with 240vac outlets for camping/power tools, I beleive you can wire these to the generator inputs of Victron inverters fitted with genny inputs. Could get you up to 3kw out of the car??

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Dillsue

[AliG]

I have an EV9 and looked into this when I got it.

 

At the time, the first announced charger was the Quasar 2 and it is still not available.

 

It is listed at £4000 plus fitting.

 

At that price you'd be as well getting a battery.

 

The Sigenergy one appears to be available at a much more reasonable £2000 and sounds like a good piece of kit. But again, a 10-15kWh battery can be had for not much more.

 

Most car batteries are good for 1-2000 cycles. So 2-400,000 miles. Usually more than the useful life of a car. If you charged and discharged 10kWh a day, then you are using 40-50 cycles a year depending on the size of your battery. In practical terms this is unlikely to impact the useful life of the car. But if you started to do say 20kWh a day every day, if you had an ASHP for example, then I would be worried about the life of the battery. You'd be using 10% of the car's battery life per year for battery storage. Of course you could keep a car for three years doing this and then sell it and no one would ever know. A car with LFP cells would be better for this as they have around 5000 cycle life.

 

If the V2G/H happens using AC I would be worried that the AC charger in the car would go. This is a lot more likely than the battery itself going. The Sigenergy unit appears to be able to do DC charging which would be a big positive, it would also be a lot more efficient.