Probably not ideal for BEV owners

[markjay]

I think V2L will become very useful in the future when there are a lot more EVs that can collectively contribute to the grid if need be when they are connected up.

I should also mention that the manufacture lists other possible usages, which are charging another EV (though just to give it a few miles boost in an emergency, because the charge rate is extremely low, and it will take forever to fully charge it), or powering home appliances while camping (kettle. microwave, etc).

What is probably useful about V2L, though, is that there's a UK 3-pin socket inside the car, so you can charge a laptop while driving.

Not that I've ever needed any of the above, mind.

 

[markjay]

...What is probably useful about V2L, though, is that there's a UK 3-pin socket inside the car, so you can charge a laptop while driving...

Though you obviously don't have to buy an EV for that... a simple inverter off eBay or Amazon will add this functionality to any old car.

 

[Petrol Pete]

I have various re chargeable lights , a gas hob and two generators , one bloody noisy 'site generator' and a whisper quiet Honda inverter type.

Both came in useful a while back when all of the wooden poles carrying our power in our area were replaced (plenty of warning and an accurate timetable) . The crew manager knocked on our door when he saw the TV was on (one of his blokes spotted it from atop his ladder) just to make sure I was not back feeding power up the lines.

He was happy when he saw my Heath Robinson collection of extension cables running from the generators to various bits of kit in the house.

That was years ago and I have not used them since ....but I have also not got rid of them either.

 

[grober]

A word to the wise concerning carburettor equiped petrol emergency generators- they don't like E5 or E10 thats been sitting around for months -forms gells with atmospheric moisture which blocks jets and float chamber needle valves if left too long in situ.

 

[grober]

dup

 

[st13phil]

A word to the wise concerning carburettor equiped petrol emergency generators- they don't like E5 or E10 thats been sitting around for months -forms gells with atmospheric moisture which blocks jets and float chamber needle valves if left too long in situ.

There is a tried and trusted solution:

STA-BIL Storage Fuel Stabilizer (4 Sizes)

STA-BIL Storage Fuel Stabilizer is a fuel additive that keeps fuel fresh for up to 24 months and ensures quick, easy starts after periods of storage. This E10 fuel additive can be used in any petrol-powered vehicle or equipment you plan to store for 30-days or longer. STA-BIL is perfect for...

www.sta-bil.co.uk

 

[grober]

There is a tried and trusted solution:

STA-BIL Storage Fuel Stabilizer (4 Sizes)

STA-BIL Storage Fuel Stabilizer is a fuel additive that keeps fuel fresh for up to 24 months and ensures quick, easy starts after periods of storage. This E10 fuel additive can be used in any petrol-powered vehicle or equipment you plan to store for 30-days or longer. STA-BIL is perfect for...

www.sta-bil.co.uk

Despite this a surprising no of people don't bother to use fuel stabilisers till their first non start incident ----for intermittant or seasonal use equipment there's an understandable tendancy to "fuel and forget"

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Despite this a surprising no of people don't bother to use fuel stabilisers till their first non start incident ----for intermittant or seasonal use equipment there's an understandable tendancy to "fuel and forget"

I guess there’s a human tendency to only do (or buy) things which prevent something else when it bites them. Before then it may feel like a waste of time/money to many.

Car servicing, exercise, healthy eating, security, preventative maintenance, fixing that thing which is a bit broken but has been just about OK for ages, etc.

 

[Bellow]

Incidentally, the Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) feature on my EV means I can power my home from the EV battery, though for me it's pretty theoretical because I live in a flat and the vehicle is parked in the street, so I will need a (very) long extension cord.....

It did cross my mind during my outage that if I had a Ford F150 Lightening on the drive I could have drawn power from it - assuming it was charged. If not, I could have been fretting if I'd be able to recharge it in time for it's next drive (and that 'next' drive could have been an unscheduled one to obtain supplies to cope with the outage - or leave the house for a warmer place to stay if necessary). If I'd been intending recharging over Sunday afternoon/night for Monday morning - I'd have been stuffed. Unstable domestic supply will encourage people towards frequent top-ups - just in case.

But setting aside the fact that I can't use this myself, even if you do live in a house with a drive, how long can you power the house from a ~70kWh battery anyway?

Also, the manufacturer suggest that owners could charge the car's battery at night when the tariff is low, then use the battery to power the house during the day, when the tariff is high. Personally, I think this is bonkers. Apart for the fact that all this back-and-forth is far too fiddly (and also, when do you actually get to drive the car, if you use it as a large portable battery during the day...?), I don't see how this can be economical: firstly, there are a lot of losses and overhead when charging a battery from the grid then reversing the process and feeding the grid from the battery, to the extent that the discrepancy in cost between night and day tariff's will have to be - well, night and day - to make any actual savings, and then there's the issue of battery degrading due to the frequent charge/discharge cycles, keeping in mind that rechargeable batteries are consumables, and so if taking into the account the reduction in the remaining service life, I really don't see how this is a viable option.

It seems to me the V2L is a solution in search of a problem...

I suspect the degradation issue will make sharing across the grid hard to implement.

FWIW, I had an electrical inspection conducted at the house last week and quizzed the engineer about EV home charging points as he also installs them. The SIM/internet connection is not as far as he knows (though he admitted it could probably be repurposed to do it) for identifying EV use of electricity with a view to pricing it differently form domestic use. Rather, it is to permit throttling in times of excessive demand.
In installing them, he has encountered difficulty in obtaining sufficient signal and has one customer who's unit will not recharge because of this. The solution for that is to manually over-ride the SIM/internet connection (ie, disabling it) which obviously removes the possibility of throttling being applied. Surely, there will have to be restrictions applied to that to prevent everyone doing it on whim.

 

[markjay]

It did cross my mind during my outage that if I had a Ford F150 Lightening on the drive I could have drawn power from it - assuming it was charged. If not, I could have been fretting if I'd be able to recharge it in time for it's next drive (and that 'next' drive could have been an unscheduled one to obtain supplies to cope with the outage - or leave the house for a warmer place to stay if necessary). If I'd been intending recharging over Sunday afternoon/night for Monday morning - I'd have been stuffed. Unstable domestic supply will encourage people towards frequent top-ups - just in case.


I suspect the degradation issue will make sharing across the grid hard to implement.

FWIW, I had an electrical inspection conducted at the house last week and quizzed the engineer about EV home charging points as he also installs them. The SIM/internet connection is not as far as he knows (though he admitted it could probably be repurposed to do it) for identifying EV use of electricity with a view to pricing it differently form domestic use. Rather, it is to permit throttling in times of excessive demand.
In installing them, he has encountered difficulty in obtaining sufficient signal and has one customer who's unit will not recharge because of this. The solution for that is to manually over-ride the SIM/internet connection (ie, disabling it) which obviously removes the possibility of throttling being applied. Surely, there will have to be restrictions applied to that to prevent everyone doing it on whim.

I agree, and personally I think that the V2L feature is overhyped - even the one application that might be useful for me - the ability to charge a laptop on the go from the 3-pin UK power socket inside the car - is becoming irrelevant because the younger generation all use mobile phones and tablets which can be charged via the USB ports, of which every EV has plenty. As I said in previous posts, I am very much in favour of EVs, but as cars... not as very large portable batteries. Powering the house from the EV main battery? Possibly, for some people, in very specific circumstances, but hardly a mainstream feature.

 

[Bellow]

Used sparingly, an V2L capability could have allowed me to briefly power the house for a few periods in each day to fire up the gas CH and boiler for hot water and facilitate cooking - how much mobility depletion being a choice made at the time - but another resource to draw on.
That advantage largely disappears when there's no longer mains gas available as, like you, I wouldn't be looking to 'run' a house from a battery.

 

[190]

Used sparingly, an V2L capability could have allowed me to briefly power the house for a few periods in each day to fire up the gas CH and boiler for hot water and facilitate cooking - how much mobility depletion being a choice made at the time - but another resource to draw on.
That advantage largely disappears when there's no longer mains gas available

Occasional power failures are a fact of life. We have had a long one already this year and in previous years we had one Christmas day with the turkey still in the oven. It's been a relatively minor inconvenience for the most part thanks to a gas hob and a gas fire both of which will work without electrical power. I don't think I'll be giving up gas in my life time and anyone dependent solely on electricity for a heat pump and everything else should be looking at alternatives like a wood burning stove and camping gas to cook on.

I think the length of time it's taking to restore power in the North East is a disgrace. If that had happened in the South East a national emergency would have been declared by now and the army sent in.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Like others here I do like to have a contingency option and so as well as the usual mix of gas and electricity for heating and cooking we also have a mix of (gas) boiler fed and and electric showers.

We’re a exposed when it comes to fuel for cars though, as we don’t have a diesel or EV. Having several cars helps short-term but in the event of an extended fuel outage or short supply we are scuppered.

When the time comes to replace the Smart ForFour then that may be the right time to get an EV. We’re probably in the perfect scenario for an EV to be genuinely useful without any real constraints.

We’ve also avoided solar panels as they wouldn’t be in keeping with the house, but I do wonder whether we should change our views on that, both in terms of sustainability and being self-sufficient.

Food for thought.

 

[Bellow]

Occasional power failures are a fact of life. We have had a long one already this year and in previous years we had one Christmas day with the turkey still in the oven. It's been a relatively minor inconvenience for the most part thanks to a gas hob and a gas fire both of which will work without electrical power. I don't think I'll be giving up gas in my life time and anyone dependent solely on electricity for a heat pump and everything else should be looking at alternatives like a wood burning stove and camping gas to cook on.

My understanding is that as the shift to heat pumps progresses gas will be withdrawn and the pipe network left to wither - unless repurposed for low pressure hydrogen. A tank of propane may be an option but only if you have the rights to the land to site it on.
Solid fuel stoves aren't appropriate for all properties I can see coal being withdrawn so that would only leave wood to burn and those that supply it will charge accordingly.

I think the length of time it's taking to restore power in the North East is a disgrace. If that had happened in the South East a national emergency would have been declared by now and the army sent in.

The time it is taking is a disgrace and goes beyond mere personal inconvenience. Freezers will be thawing and if local shops cannot open nothing is available to replace spoiled food (which in many cases cannot be cooked to be used) or other things deployed (candles, gas bottles, etc, etc) Then there's the risk of frozen/burst pipes in unheated properties. All of this because the wind blew a bit harder than usual.

 

[BTB 500]

We’ve also avoided solar panels as they wouldn’t be in keeping with the house, but I do wonder whether we should change our views on that, both in terms of sustainability and being self-sufficient.

Food for thought.

We have solar water heating and PV panels for electricity, but both require mains power. I'm sure there are newer/better installations where that's not the case though e.g. ones with battery storage.

 

[Dryce]

All of this because the wind blew a bit harder than usual.

I travelled from Elgin to Aberdeen and then south on Sunday - and the number of trees that come down along the A96 east of Huntly that had been cut to clear the road - was surprising. And a noticeable number down in the vicinity of the route.

 

[Dickster]

Occasional power failures are a fact of life. We have had a long one already this year and in previous years we had one Christmas day with the turkey still in the oven. It's been a relatively minor inconvenience for the most part thanks to a gas hob and a gas fire both of which will work without electrical power. I don't think I'll be giving up gas in my life time and anyone dependent solely on electricity for a heat pump and everything else should be looking at alternatives like a wood burning stove and camping gas to cook on.

I think the length of time it's taking to restore power in the North East is a disgrace. If that had happened in the South East a national emergency would have been declared by now and the army sent in.

I totally agree and i live in the south east.

 

[Dickster]

We have a wood burner (which was already going on Friday night), and a gas hob that can be lit with matches if necessary. Various rechargeable lanterns/work lights, and a Camping Gaz lamp that I did light (after managing to find the spare mantles). I even have an old Tilley Storm Lamp in the garage, along with the paraffin and meths it needs.

However if things got too bad we'd just move into the caravan, which is totally self-sufficient on 12V (with solar panels) and bottled propane. That's pretty comfortable ... central heating with radiators, hob/grill/oven, decent sized fridge/freezer, shower, TV, stereo, etc.

We’ve got a log burner too. I do wonder how much longer we’ll be able to legally use them.

 

[BTB 500]

We’ve got a log burner too. I do wonder how much longer we’ll be able to legally use them.

Or have bonfires? We burn tree branches etc. from our property on the wood burner, and smaller stuff goes on a bonfire (in theory anyway - not easy at this time of year!). Got to get rid of this stuff somehow, and our nearest council tip is a 40 mile round trip.

 

[Bellow]

I travelled from Elgin to Aberdeen and then south on Sunday - and the number of trees that come down along the A96 east of Huntly that had been cut to clear the road - was surprising. And a noticeable number down in the vicinity of the route.

The A96 just west of Keith was closed on Friday evening because of a tree coming down on power lines.
Nearer Aberdeen had it worse as far as I can make out. There was a fatality at Hatton of Fintray (near Blackburn) when a tree landed on a Nissan Navarro and the police when they attended had one fall on their van - unoccupied fortunately.