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'Behind the motor': Can electric vehicles sustain not drain the grid?

By Administrator | 19 November 2018

Some two million Australian households with rooftop solar panels have done much to transform their involvement in the electricity sector and what they park in their garages may one day be just as disruptive.

The first electric vehicles equipped to both charge from and discharge into the grid will soon be an option when the new Nissan Leaf goes on sale in Australia by mid next year.

Other models will likely follow with the same bi-directional charging capability, and with Bloomberg New Energy Finance tipping electric cars to be cheaper upfront than diesel or petrol ones by 2024, numbers of these mobile power plants could accelerate.

Iain Macgill, director of the Centre for Energy & Environmental Markets at the University of NSW, said rapid improvements in battery technology meant "there's potentially a very substantial load in terms of energy and power" in the coming wave of electric cars.

Just as these vehicles could provide a huge drain on the grid if owners plugged in to recharge at the same time, they may also supply a major new source of electricity to support the grid, especially during peaks. Read more

Peter Hannam - Brisbane Times - 16 Nov 2018

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