Japanese car maker Mitsubishi Motors says it has been given approval by the company that operates South Australia’s local electricity network to export power back into the grid from its electric vehicles.
The green light from SA Power Networks means that Mitsubishi plug in hybrid cars such as the Outlander and the Eclipse Cross will be able to earn money by using their vehicle-to-grid technology.
A number of trials of V2G have been held around Australia, but Mitsubishi says this is the first time a car maker has won approval for widespread deployment of its V2G bi-directional technology.
What it means is that it is the first car maker to do that in Australia from its local HQ. There have been about 50 different electric vehicles involved in trials around Australia, mostly with Nissan Leafs.
Mitsubishi has been working on the technology with Australian EV charging company Jet Charge, whose CEO Tim Washington says bi-directional charging will change the nature of transport and energy.
“It will make our vehicles an even bigger part of our everyday lives, powering how we move and how we live,” Washington says.
“That’s why we’re so excited to partner with Mitsubishi Motors to further this cause. It takes different parts of the industry, all working together, to deliver this value for Australians, and I feel like we have made a significant step with this project”.
Tim Clarke, the eMobility manager at Mitsubishi Australia, says the technology is rapidly emerging, and the two companies have had to adapt quickly to ensure that SAPN’s grid export requirements are met.
In one recent demonstration in Adelaide, a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV was connected to one of the two Wallbox Quasar 1 bi-directional chargers. Through its CHAdeMO port, the Outlander was able to safely export electrical energy stored in its 20kWh lithium-ion on-board drive battery into the state’s power grid.
“Under the approval, MMAL is now unconditionally able to export power from its PHEVs into the grid. This achievement further underscores the wide range of ability our Outlander and Eclipse Cross PHEVs offer,” said Clarke.
He said Mitsubishi cars currently have a fixed 5kW export limit, but could be modified to have a “dynamic” export limit given that the Quasar 1 charger’s ultimate capacity is 7kW.
“With flexible charging options ranging from the simple domestic socket through to DC fast-charging, owners can choose to charge when and where it suits, to minimise cost and maximise convenience,” Clarke said.
“As Australia’s V2G landscape continues to mature and access to bi-directional hardware increases, Mitsubishi PHEV owners are well positioned to benefit.
“They will be able to export from their PHEV to the grid or home, reinforcing PHEV’s versatility, while enhancing renewable energy deployment and reducing CO2 emissions across transport and in the grid.”
Currently, the only charging technology allowed to do V2G in trials in Australia is CHAdeMO, but Washington is hopeful that it will be available through the CCS2 technology that now dominates the EV market, and accounts for nearly all of full battery electric vehicle sales.
The Electric Vehicle Council says there is huge pent up demand for V2G technology, although there is great debate about exactly how much income can be earned from a car exporting to the grid. Some of put it at up to $2,000 a year, others say it will be a fraction of that.
A bi-directional charger works similarly to a conventional DC charger, converting AC electricity from the grid to the DC electricity required by EV batteries, but it is also capable of converting this electricity back from DC to AC. As a result, the stored energy can be drawn from the vehicle’s battery and supplied externally.
Mitsubishi Outlander and Eclipse Cross PHEVs are bi-directional capable via the CHAdeMO DC charging system, however, to utilise this capability an approved bi-directional charger is required which is sold separately to the vehicle.
V2G has the potential to assist with grid stability during supply and demand fluctuations and with congestion management (store during low demand and supply during high demand). It can also be used for price arbitrage (buy low/sell high).
V2G is already being used in SA and will start in earnest from late 2024. There are ahandful of V2G inverters already connected in SA outside of trials11 and about 50 connectedas part of trials around the country. The reasons there are so few in the country todayinclude;• There was only one V2G inverter product in market, priced at about $10,000, whichhas since been withdrawn from sale,• Only one state (SA) permitted the use of the product (through an exemptionprovided by the DNSP, SAPN). This state accounts for about 6% of new vehiclesales.• The product only worked with Chademo compatible vehicles, which is about 3% ofthe EV fleet.This speaks to a huge pent-up demand for the technology that will certainly make itspresence felt when CCS2 compatible V2G vehicles arrive in Australia later this year,
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.