Use Your EV to Power Your Home Via Bidirectional Charging

4 Significant Benefits of Bidirectional Charging

Electric vehicle drivers find all kinds of perks to hitting the road in their EVs. Not only do these drivers spend less money on their monthly fuel costs, but they also reduce their impact on the environment. Bidirectional charging is another feature that is just now coming to light. While this technology is not widely available yet, this ability is a game changer for homeowners nationwide.

As the leading EV charging station installer and electrician in Santa Clara County, Watson’s Charging Stations & Electric is eager and excited to work with you on your next residential or commercial electric job. If you are searching for an “electrician near me” in the Gilroy area, let Watson’s get to work for you.

Read on to learn more about how bidirectional charging works and can benefit you.

What Is Bidirectional Charging?

For the history of electrical appliances, power typically only goes in a single direction. Electricity flows from your service panel through your home wiring and an electrical outlet to your appliance. This simple concept also charges most electric cars, and power flows from EV charging stations to your vehicle’s battery.

Bidirectional charging is a complete game changer. As the name implies, a bidirectional EV charger turns the one-way street of powering most electric into a two-way road. Not only can power go from your home into your EV, but electricity can come from your electric vehicle to power your house.

Unlike a standard EV charging station, a bidirectional charger allows an EV battery to send and receive power. Of course, the reality of how this works is more nuanced. The bidirectional charger works as a power inverter, changing alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC) and vice versa. In simpler terms, a bidirectional charger allows your EV to act as a whole-house battery backup.

Bidirectional charging is so new that only a few electric vehicles can use them. One of the most highly anticipated vehicles that boast these features is the new Ford Lightning. if you are careful with your power use. The Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and a few other newer EVs also carry this capability.

How Much Power Is Available?

While an electric vehicle battery does not offer the same ability as a home backup battery, solar power battery, or other energy storage systems, they pack quite a punch. Most modern EV batteries can store around 60 kWh, and the Ford F-150 Lightning has one of the most massive batteries on the market at 98 kWh.

The average household in the U.S. consumes roughly 32 kilowatt-house per day. That means a standard EV could power your house for two days, and Ford boasts that the F-150 Lightning can power your home for up to eleven days if you are careful with your power consumption.

Bidirectional chargers can do more than just power your home; they can also help one EV power another EV or even send electricity back to the larger electric grid. Homeowners with solar power can send surplus power back to the utility company.

In reality, we have only scratched the surface of what is possible with a bidirectional charger.

Benefits of Bidirectional Charging

Ford is not the only entity excited about bidirectional charging options. Newlab Technology, a company located in Brooklyn, N.Y., currently has a Volkswagen Lead sitting in the parking lot that helps power the building. When demand inside the building reaches a certain threshold, the system pulls power from the EV to avoid using more expensive energy.

Bidirectional charging offers a host of benefits. Here are the top four:

1. Help the Environment

EV owners are already doing their part to help reduce our dependency on nonrenewable energy sources. Some consumers take it further by using solar power to charge their homes and EVs. The two-way charging options delivered by a bidirectional charger mean less dependence on the larger power grid. When weather, natural disasters, and power grid failures cause power outages, you can use green energy to keep the lights on.

2. Save On Your Utility Bills

Home and business owners can use bidirectional charging to save money on their monthly utility bills. If you live in an area with time-of-use electric pricing, you can use your electric vehicle for energy storage when costs are lower at night. Your house can then be powered by stored energy when rates are higher during the day.

3. Weather the Storm with Confidence

There is a terrific psychological benefit to having a backup to power your home during power outages. When other homes have to stockpile supplies and plan for outages during upcoming storms, you can rest assured that you have a backup plan. Knowing that you can pull power from your EV is a huge relief.

4. Encourage a Better Grid

As more homes switch to bidirectional EV battery chargers, it will help encourage improvements across the entire electrical grid. As the grid evolves, we could see fewer power outages due to grid failures, along with upgraded power plants and fewer issues across the board.

Let Watson’s Charging Stations & Electric Be Your Gilroy Electrician

The popularity of electric vehicles continues to grow as more auto manufacturers invest in EV development. Whether you are preparing to purchase your first electric vehicle, are ready to install a charging station in your home, or are converting your business fleet to EVs, Watson’s Charging Stations & Electric is your trusted partner.

We have been servicing Gilroy, CA, and the greater Santa Clara Valley and leading the electrification movement for years. From making sure you are first in line for the next available bidirectional charger to tackling the upgrades your home needs to meet the demands of electrification, we are here for you.