Many newer electric cars come with what's called a V2L function – but what is it and what can it be used for?
The Electric Vehicle Association's Member Service receives a steady stream of inquiries from both new and more experienced EV drivers with questions about all things EV.
Many of the questions we receive revolve around charging – whether that's about home charging and charging box issues as well as questions about express charging and street charging.
In this column, our charging expert, Lars Godbolt, answers many people's questions about electric vehicle charging and related topics.
Ladd Lars AnswersElectric Vehicle Association charging column:
Do you need to maintain the 12 volt battery in your electric car?
Question of the day:
One car I'm thinking of buying says it has V2L. What does it mean and is there any benefit in having it?
Ladd Lars AnswersElectric Vehicle Association charging column:
Does the battery get damaged during intermittent charging?
Ladd Lars answers:
V2L is an abbreviation for “Vehicle to Load”, which we at the Electric Vehicle Association like to translate simply to “using the vehicle as a battery bank”.
The ability to use the car as a battery bank is one of the unique features of some electric cars. This means that you can not only charge the battery, but you can also draw power from it when you need it.
Kia, Hyundai, MG and Xping in particular have many models that offer this technology. For a list of many cars equipped with the battery bank function, you can take a look at the bottom of this issue:
videoThe car as a source of energy – you must be careful of this:
It can get “battery banked” if you use the wrong adapter
The way you get power from the battery is either by plugging in an adapter that plugs into the charging port, or from a separate power outlet inside the car.
How useful they are will vary based on the individual's needs.
Some may see benefit in being able to make coffee on a flight or run a circular saw when you're in the cabin, while others use it to keep the freezer alive when the power goes out.
videoTips for an Electric Vehicle Vacation – Are you ready to test the V2L?
Frying pancakes and preparing coffee using electricity from an electric car
Without further ado, you don't have to worry about your car running out of power. Most car brands that use V2L technology also have the option to put a limit on the amount of battery you can drain.
Output ranges from 2.2 to 3.6 kW per port, which is more than enough for most things you can find to connect.
videoWinter test 2024 – Kia EV9 as a battery bank for a caravan in the mountains in the middle of winter:
Mission: Impossible? Polar warming overnight at -29
In a theoretical example, a Hyundai Ioniq 5 with a net 74 kW battery will last more than 20 hours on a fully charged battery, if it can achieve maximum power all the time.
It cannot completely run out of power, as most cars have a minimum threshold (twenty percent on Kia and Hyundai) before they cut power to V2L.
Other ways to use a car as a battery bank are V2H (vehicle-to-home) – which specifically aims to deliver electricity from the car to the home – and V2G (vehicle-to-grid) which is about using the car to mitigate power peaks. Electricity network:
Starting a new project with Polestar as a battery bank:
It will become part of the electricity grid
More of this?
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