A unique Canberra-based experiment has revealed how Australia's transport bureaucrats will need to stamp the accelerator on technical and regulatory changes in the next 12 months to take full advantage of electric vehicles as an untapped back-up power supply.
There are currently over 180,000 electric vehicles - essentially big batteries on wheels - now on Australia's roads but only a tiny percentage have the so-called "two-way" capability to "push" power back to support the national grid in the case of a supply emergency.
And without a change to the technical regulations for EV manufacturers to change their onboard software, together with the correct home charging system, the huge benefits possible from bi-directional (vehicle to grid) technology will be wasted, the latest research has revealed.
Vehicle to grid - drawing power from your EV's huge battery when plugged in at home and using it when the grid is under huge demand - is seen as one of the next big potential breakthroughs to benefit all energy consumers.
For EV owners, it offers the additional bonus of a cash-back from energy retailers from their idled, plugged-up vehicle by offering grid frequency control and standby battery storage.
A research program conducted by the ANU proved that bi-directional charging to support the national grid can work efficiently, proven from the data taken from a February incident in Victoria when EVs sitting in Canberra were tapped to help support an interstate supply shortage.
However, without pressure to fast-track the transport regulations and approve the home chargers to build on this knowledge and capability, the benefits of bi-directional charging cannot be unlocked.
One of the big issues is that regulators have dragged their feet on approving the chargers needed to make it happen.
Charger certification slowed the ANU trial two years ago and the issues still persist despite many new Chinese brands capable of bi-directional charging making their way to Australia in the next 12 months.
Uncertainty, too, surrounds whether Tesla, Australia's best-selling EV brand, can become involved.
In March this year, a Tesla executive told an investor day conference in the US that bi-directional charging potentially would not be rolled out until 2025 and there's no indication from the car maker whether the feature can be retro-fitted via a software update.
ANU researcher Dr Bjorn Sturmberg was part of the team which used 51 Nissan Leaf EVs leased to the ACT government to conduct the local bi-directional experiment.
He said the February test revealed how short bursts of power from the vehicles provided modest grid support in the real-time crisis - 107 kilowatts in all - "as they were programmed to do".
"To put that in perspective, 105,000 vehicles responding in this way would fully cover the back-up required for the whole of the ACT and NSW," he said.
Ideally, in a future demand crisis affecting the national grid, those EVs that can't support the grid with battery power will need to be switched off remotely and those that can will be switched on.
"This is not just about getting the necessary regulatory changes introduced as quickly as possible and having the vehicles equipped with the capability, but also EVs that provide the power are plugged into the network," Dr Sturmberg said.
