With many electric cars achieving price parity with equivalent petrol cars and being much cheaper to charge up at home compared to filling up a petrol car, the cost argument is already strongly in the EVs favour. Now, the rise of bidirectional charging is offering EV owners another benefit – turning your EV into a home battery, a backup power supply, and even a source of income. Here’s what vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) actually mean, and which EVs in the UK support it right now.
What’s the difference between V2G and V2H?
Both V2G and V2H use the same underlying bidirectional charging compatibility, with energy delivered out of your EV’s battery rather than just into it. However, they serve significantly different purposes. V2H, or vehicle-to-home, routes that energy directly into your house, letting you run your home off the car during peak-price evening hours or keep the lights on during a power cut. V2H works in conjunction with a V2H-compatible home charger
V2G, or vehicle-to-grid, goes a step further: instead of powering your own home, your car exports electricity back to the electricity grid, and your energy supplier pays you for it. Think of V2H as cutting your bills, and V2G as actively earning from your battery. However, for V2G to work, you’ll need a bidirectional home charger and an energy tariff that supports V2G. So far in the UK, that’s limited to just one V2G tariff offered by Octopus Energy, called Octopus Power Pack.
What about V2L?
V2L (vehicle-to-load) is another bidirectional charging term you’ll hear when looking for an EV, and is supported by a growing number of EVs – including those which don’t support V2H and V2G. Put simply, this technology allows you to draw power from the EVs battery to power small external appliances, coming in super handy for activities such as camping. EVs that support V2L will either come included with a V2L cable as standard, or it’ll be something you need to buy as an extra from the manufacturer.
Which EVs support V2H?
With more and more manufacturers supporting bidirectional charging on their EVs out of the box, there’s a growing list of electric cars on sale that support vehicle-to-home – as long as you ensure they’re paired with a V2H-compatible wallbox.
This is a list of some of the most popular EVs which support vehicle-to-home in the UK (compatibility may vary, depending on model year and battery size, so always double check – this list is not exhaustive):
- Audi Q4 e-tron
- BYD Dolphin
- Hyundai Ioniq 5
- Hyundai Ioniq 6
- Kia EV6
- Kia EV9
- Mercedes-Benz GLC Electric
- Nissan Leaf
- Renault 5
- Volkswagen ID. family (with 77 kWh battery option only)
A notable exception from this list, despite their popularity, is Tesla. Their cars do not support V2G or V2H through third-party chargers, though Tesla will sell you a Powerwall to boost your home energy independence – but this pulls power directly from the grid and stores it in a standalone battery, rather than utilising your EV.
Which EVs support V2G?
When it comes to the list of EVs in the UK support vehicle-to-grid, however, it’s pretty limited for now. The only new EV supported on Octopus’ V2G plan is the BYD Dolphin, which needs to be paired with a V2G-enabled Zaptec Pro. Their plan also supports some older EV models, such as the Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200, and Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid.
