Teslas being used as the battery storage ???

[JimShaw]

For a while I have been considering installing a solar battery storge/back up battery for the solar system on my home.

A couple days ago, I watched a video of a battery installation company installing a system to use the homeowners new Ford Lighting as the storage battery for the home's electrical system if the power company were to have a black out.

Storage batteries are expensive. I bet the F150 EV homeowner saved anywhere between $11,000 to $21,000 just by not having to buy batteries.

The odds are Tesla would never allow that because they make their own storage batteries, the Powerwall.

BUT has anyone heard any rumors that possibly could be coming? The use of one's Tesla as the home's battery back up?

 

[Tam]

For a while I have been considering installing a solar battery storge/back up battery for the solar system on my home.

A couple days ago, I watched a video of a battery installation company installing a system to use the homeowners new Ford Lighting as the storage battery for the home's electrical system if the power company were to have a black out.

Storage batteries are expensive. I bet the F150 EV homeowner saved anywhere between $11,000 to $21,000 just by not having to buy batteries.

The odds are Tesla would never allow that because they make their own storage batteries, the Powerwall.

BUT has anyone heard any rumors that possibly could be coming? The use of one's Tesla as the home's battery back up?

2025

Tesla Plans To Adopt Bi-Directional Charging By 2025 - CleanTechnica

Tesla acknowledged recently that bi-directional charging will be available in its vehicles by 2025, even though Elon thinks it's a bad idea.

cleantechnica.com

 

[JimShaw]

2025

Tesla Plans To Adopt Bi-Directional Charging By 2025 - CleanTechnica

Tesla acknowledged recently that bi-directional charging will be available in its vehicles by 2025, even though Elon thinks it's a bad idea.

cleantechnica.com

A really BIG thank you

 

[Tam]

A really BIG thank you

I think Tesla has been dragging their feet as long as competitors don't take its customers away.

Now, it sees some threats from the competition so it starts to say it will jump on the band wagon too.

 

[kavyboy]

There's also the issue of free unlimited supercharging still out there. I doubt Tesla wants people "filling up" at the charger and then running their house/cabin/campsite off of the car. You know somebody would abuse the hell out of it and ruin it for everyone.

 

[gearchruncher]

The other issue is warranty. Tesla has an 8 year/120K mile warranty on the battery.
That works when the battery is used to drive. It's not a good metric when you might just leave the car plugged in to your solar system and do a 25% battery cycle every day, which would be like driving 36,000 miles a year. Expecting that to be warranted for 8 years doesn't work. So Tesla will need to figure this out when they do support V2G or V2H.

 

[jjrandorin]

BUT has anyone heard any rumors that possibly could be coming? The use of one's Tesla as the home's battery back up

No, there has been no rumors of that. Even the post about bi directional charging does not necessarily imply that Tesla will do this. People have been posting about it for years, trying to "speak it into existence" and it is extremely unlikely to happen for a Tesla, for anyone who doesnt already have A tesla powerwall, Gateway, and all the other permitted stuff that is required.

 

[mjwojtukiewicz]

It WILL happen. During my last 10 day hurricane power outage due to the awfull PSEGLI I found an article on Google where they show you how to hook up a Prius to the house (which I had). Downside is you have to keep the car running.
Also look at Ford F150 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6.

 

[Richard__G]

Very intriguing article in CNET: What If Your EV Could Power Your Home During a Blackout?

That would be terrific if it ever came to pass. As the article suggests, it would likely require a different charger, and I assume some other modifications to ones home electrical system.

Just out of curiosity, are there any knowledgeable electrical systems folks out there who know what might actually be involved to implement? This is way out of MY league.

 

[Cosmacelf]

The Ford F150 Lightning can do this. As you say, requires a special EVSE of theirs, and installation of a few other electrical boxes. Also requires bidirectional electricity from the car, which no current Tesla can do. It may or may not be a good idea since your car is now stuck powering the home and can’t be used for transport during a blackout. If blackouts are a worry, I’d get a dedicated generator or solar plus powerwalls (generators are cheaper).

 

[gearchruncher]

The hardware required to allow a Lightning to power a home costs over $5000, plus similar installation costs.

 

[Unclepaul]

Most all the EV companies are working on this. Tesla will probably not be the first to implement that capability, as they also own businesses that sell Battery Backups.

Tesla also has software that allows their Solar/Powerwall owners to combine and become a virtural Power Company. They can purchase electricity when it is cheap and plentiful (at lower rates), then sell it back to the utility when it is in short supply (at higher rates). Provide an valuable service by absorbing excess utility power when abundant, and providing it back to avoid brown outs and blackouts. Believe this has been effective in Australia.

 

[JimShaw]

The hardware required to allow a Lightning to power a home costs over $5000, plus similar installation costs.

Probably so but if batteries were also needed, the cost would have jumped $11,000-$21,000 more

 

[BWJ.]

As long as there are still MS models running that have free charging, it will probably not be an option on Teslas for the time being.
Maybe it will be different when BP takes over the Tesla SC network from January. 2024, who knows.

 

[gearchruncher]

As long as there are still MS models running that have free charging, it will probably not be an option on Teslas for the time being.

It would be trivial for Tesla to block those cars from doing power transfers like this. They're not avoiding V2L or V2H on 2M+ cars because of 50K cars that have free supercharging. They have other reasons.

Maybe it will be different when BP takes over the Tesla SC network from January. 2024, who knows.

This is not happening. BP bought supercharger hardware from Tesla to use for their own charging network. They did not buy all of Tesla's superchargers and take them over. They only paid $100M- there are 50,000 superchargers out there so that would only be $2,000 per supercharger, which would have been an insane deal.