Chinese auto giant BYD has agreed to warranty the batteries for its electric vehicles as part of a landmark trial of vehicle-connection technology.
It comes as energy retailer Amber revealed that the number of customers seeking to convert their electric vehicles to batteries on wheels has jumped to nearly 4,000.
V2G technology is relatively new but has huge potential given the size of electric car batteries – serving as a form of energy storage on wheels or even as a commercial asset with the grid – but one major hurdle has been the lack of battery warranty offerings from major automakers.
BYD, which is now challenging Tesla for leadership in the growing Australian electric vehicle market, has confirmed it will secure 50 electric vehicles for Amber customers as part of a V2G trial hosted by Amber, and supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Amber is one of a number of retailers looking closely at V2G, with AGL and Origin also running their own trials with various suppliers, although BYD appears to be playing a role in all of them.
“Electric vehicles are the largest and most flexible battery pack most households will ever own. With this trial, we are showing what is possible when you combine Australia’s love of solar energy with the advent of electric vehicles,” Dan Adams, co-CEO and co-founder of Amber, said in a statement.
“Unlike other V2G experiments that restrict customers to strict charging hours or minimum delivery times, our approach incentivizes customers to plug in power, power their homes, or profit from the grid while giving households complete flexibility – they retain value, and Amber’s automation does that work.
“Unlocking this potential creates real financial gains for customers while supporting the transition to renewables across the energy and transportation sectors.”
Amber says preliminary results show one household in New South Wales earns $300 a night using V2G technology, while a household in Victoria earns $257 a day.
She says the trial will also show that V2G with Amber does not impact the health of an electric vehicle’s battery beyond normal driving use. Electric car experts said that rapid acceleration will wear down an electric car’s battery more than using it to circulate with the grid.
Sajid Hassan, chief product officer at BYD, said he was happy to help EV owners use their car batteries to power their homes and/or harness excess solar energy and send it back to the grid, “when the grid needs it.”
Amber plans to roll out a full commercial V2G product in 2026 and says it has nearly 4,000 Australians on its V2G waiting list.
The first 50 chargers for the trial will be supplied by StarCharge, but Amber will continue to test chargers from all brands available in Australia, and has already done so with SigEnergy, which offers V2G capabilities as part of its now best-selling home battery pack.
To join the Amber V2G waitlist, click here.
Giles Parkinson is the founder and editor of The Driven, and also editor and founder of the websites Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former businessman and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.
