V2L Cars to be in demand?

[kin]

Definitely read a comment elsewhere in the forum the procedure to turn on V2L without the car DRL staying on.
He might even have made a comment about the car being locked??
I’ll try to search for it…

Think I’ve found it. Comment#13

V2L - useful ?

V2L is NOT intended for connection to your home ring main. That's what I was alluding to Michael. For true V2H or V2G you need (amongst other things) circuitry to synchronise the output AC waveform with that of the grid/house supply.

www.mgevs.com

 

[BugEyed]

Sadly that thread petered out without a conclusive answer - it may relate to the exact steps or maybe software version in the ZS.

@MichaelJHunt seemed to be able to get the discharge to continue when locked.

 

[PAULinTHAILAND]

Think I’ve found it. Comment#13

V2L - useful ?

V2L is NOT intended for connection to your home ring main. That's what I was alluding to Michael. For true V2H or V2G you need (amongst other things) circuitry to synchronise the output AC waveform with that of the grid/house supply.

www.mgevs.com

"V2L is NOT intended for connection to your home ring main"

I would agree 100% with this. The point I was making is that most solar inverters can accommodate AC as well as DC inputs. It is quite normal to connect a backup generator to a solar inverter. All I am proposing is to replace the AC from a backup generator with the the AC of V2L. Certainly my Growatt inverters can power my house with a combination of discharging batteries combined with a secondary AC input. I do not see how this would contravene any electrical codes as V2L is not being connected directly to the house electrics. My inverters are hybrid off-grid so never feed back into the grid.

 

[BugEyed]

"V2L is NOT intended for connection to your home ring main"

I would agree 100% with this. The point I was making is that most solar inverters can accommodate AC as well as DC inputs. It is quite normal to connect a backup generator to a solar inverter. All I am proposing is to replace the AC from a backup generator with the the AC of V2L. Certainly my Growatt inverters can power my house with a combination of discharging batteries combined with a secondary AC input. I do not see how this would contravene any electrical codes as V2L is not being connected directly to the house electrics. My inverters are hybrid off-grid so never feed back into the grid.

I think that most comments relate to the UK normal, and clearly Thailand has many advantages. Here it's not normal for inverters (apart from a few Victron) to have a "secondary" AC input, and most people use their inverters grid connected so the regulations are very different.

 

[Tweed98]

If there are rolling blackouts would the power be cut to gas pumping equipment, either for safety or because it is on the grid. Also those green boxes with all the internet cables need power to work would they be on a separated protected supply. That's not even getting into the ISP data centres etc etc.

If you want to power boilers that have a low draw would a couple hundred quid UPS work?

 

[JohnInFrance]

Chaps, do you all sriously think the UK will have rolling blackouts this winter? It's just not going to happen, youre all worrying about nothing.

Here's a summary of why V2L is not the panacea you may think it is/will be from both personal experiance and research:

I've never managed to use the V2L on our ZS without the car being powered on, which means someone has to stay with the vehicle at all times (yes, I know some seem to have had success with being able to lock the car, but that just plain doesn't work for ours), so that alone makes it very unsuitable for much other than charging up things like e-bikes and scooters if we're out and about with those too (because I don't generally travel with a coffee machine, kettle or portable heater).

The lack of earthing (amoungst other things) makes V2L exceptionally unsuitable for powering the majority of appliances one would wish to power in a power-cut anyhow (people have discussed fridges, boilers etc.).

There is no way to properly connect it to your home, and certainly no way to automatically stop your house overloading the car's battery in the event it was drawing too much power. The phase mis-match, if it didn't break some or all of your electrical appliances would probably also be noticed by the power company and bring some unwanted attention to your door.

Buying a car because it has V2L, which is still basically just a gimmick seems somewhat of a strange decision to me, buy the car you want, enjoy it and if you really feel you need protection from power-outs, but a decent battery backup (they are VAT free at the moment in the UK) and charge that on your overnight rate.

 

[PAULinTHAILAND]

I think that most comments relate to the UK normal, and clearly Thailand has many advantages. Here it's not normal for inverters (apart from a few Victron) to have a "secondary" AC input, and most people use their inverters grid connected so the regulations are very different.

You didn't watch the video I posted about V2L above or you would know that Solar inverters do not need a secondary AC input to accommodate V2L.

My inverters are connected to the grid, "hybrid off-grid" means that power can flow into the house but not back into the grid

If you had seen any of the forum podcasts I have presented, you would know I am from the UK.

"the regulations are very different" It has been my experience that the Thai electrical system is very similar to the UK. The voltage is the same here and regulations are modeled on the UK, although they do tend to lag a bit behind.

If any electricians on the forum can post the regulation in the UK that states that a secondary AC source, be it a backup generator or V2L cannot be connected to a solar inverter, please post it here.

Overview my inverter Growatt SPF 5000:

​

Here is a link to buy the Growatt SPF 5000 inverter on Amazon UK

Amazon product ASIN B0BD75RMYZ

 

[wandle MG4 trophy]

If you are worried about rolling power cuts it would be cheaper to buy a Campinggaz stove (£30) and charge your phone and tablet from inside the car than buying a V2L adapter.

 

[werner ostby]

Tror jeg har funnet den. Kommentar #13

V2L - useful ?

V2L is NOT intended for connection to your home ring main. That's what I was alluding to Michael. For true V2H or V2G you need (amongst other things) circuitry to synchronise the output AC waveform with that of the grid/house supply.

www.mgevs.com

Jeg har bestilt en MG 4 EV med tilhengerkobling. Jeg har en Poletta campingvogn (500 kg totalvekt). Gleder meg til å prøve V2L.,?

Google translation:
I have ordered an MG 4 EV with trailer hitch. I have a Poletta caravan (500 kg total weight). Can't wait to try V2L.,

 

[BugEyed]

Are you going to use V2L to power your campingvogn? I wasn't aware that there were ones that light.

 

[Stuart Fray]

It’s great to see your replies and comments, most are beyond me, especially paulinThailand who’s video is astonishing !!!
As mentioned previously, the V2L feature will be useful to me in the event of a power cut as a temporary measure running limited appliances.
of course it has limitations, it’s not designed to power a household but it means having a coffee and something hot from my microwave, il be happy?

I agree. As they say "Keep it simple stupid". Like you, if necessary I'd just run a decent extension lead into the house and run a few essential items from it to tide us over. Nothing complicated.

 

[JimB]

I used to have a decent sized petrol generator beside the garage door which I plugged into the house supply using a lead with a 3 pin plug on both ends.

I know?

Always tripped the main house breaker when in use as suspected restored mains power whacking back up the wire wouldn't have done the generator a lot of good.

How would that work with v2l?

 

[Deleted member 9196]

I used to have a decent sized petrol generator beside the garage door which I plugged into the house supply using a lead with a 3 pin plug on both ends.

I know?

Always tripped the main house breaker when in use as suspected restored mains power whacking back up the wire wouldn't have done the generator a lot of good.

How would that work with v2l?

It wouldn't. Not at all safe or recommended.

 

[john andersen]

I used to have a decent sized petrol generator beside the garage door which I plugged into the house supply using a lead with a 3 pin plug on both ends.

I know?

Always tripped the main house breaker when in use as suspected restored mains power whacking back up the wire wouldn't have done the generator a lot of good.

How would that work with v2l?

If you want to see someone doing something close to that, hop on to speakev look for stageshoot and see what he has been doing with his ev6.

 

[JohnInFrance]

How would that work with v2l?

Badly ....

 

[BruceT]

I used to have a decent sized petrol generator beside the garage door which I plugged into the house supply using a lead with a 3 pin plug on both ends.

I know?

Always tripped the main house breaker when in use as suspected restored mains power whacking back up the wire wouldn't have done the generator a lot of good.

How would that work with v2l?

Please...... Please don't do that, any of it, just.......... NO.

 

[JimB]

Please...... Please don't do that, any of it, just.......... NO.

Ok. ?

 

[BugEyed]

I plugged into the house supply using a lead with a 3 pin plug on both ends.

Next time call The Samaritans first on 116 123

suspected restored mains power whacking back up the wire wouldn't have done the generator a lot of good.

I could afford my cheap Genny to die, but having the life of an electricity worker or just another innocent person's life on my conscience would be hard.

How would that work with v2l?

Possibly fatally for you or a family member, and very possibly for your car.

 

[JimB]

Never had a problem with the generator provided any high load items were switched off first.

As the house was effectively isolated from the public supply I fail to see how external parties would be endangered.

No intention whatsoever re plugging an MG 4 into the house but asked tongue in cheek following earlier posts on the subject.

I doubt if it could even power the oil filled radiator in my workshop, which is a pity as charging the car on Octopus 7.5p overnight then heating my workshop during the day holds some appeal.

 

[john andersen]

Never had a problem with the generator provided any high load items were switched off first.

As the house was effectively isolated from the public supply I fail to see how external parties would be endangered.

No intention whatsoever re plugging an MG 4 into the house but asked tongue in cheek following earlier posts on the subject.

I doubt if it could even power the oil filled radiator in my workshop, which is a pity as charging the car on Octopus 7.5p overnight then heating my workshop during the day holds some appeal.

well it can deliver 2.2kw as teslabjørn showed on a video yesterday, had he brought the right cable he could have used the marvel instead of the 2 ecoflow batteries he used to help the stranded lady

thinking back the powercut they have in scotland early this year, you can keep the lights on and heat a room with 2.2kw

the ev6 and huyndai puts out 3.3kw and it is enough for stageshoot to power his house using his ev6