The rise in electric vehicles in recent years has gone hand in hand with major advances in EV technology, which has come on leaps and bounds. There are now far more electric vehicles on the market in Ireland, and charging has become much cheaper and more accessible for EV owners.

The popularity of electric vehicles is expected to continue on its upward path, with technological advances giving road users more reasons to opt for electric over fuel powered vehicles. 

One of these recent advances, which is currently in its infancy but could become widespread in the coming years, is bidirectional (two-way) EV charging.

Bi-Directional EV Chargers

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What is Bi-Directional charging?

Most electric car chargers are unidirectional, meaning that energy flows in one direction – from the power source into the EV battery via the car charger. 

With bidirectional charging, energy from the battery inside an electric car can be used outside the vehicle to power other appliances, your home during a blackout, or directed back to the grid.

A small but growing number of manufacturers are adding this two-way charging feature, which could prove to be popular among some Irish EV owners in the future.

How does bidirectional charging work?

The EV charger is actually located inside the vehicle, converting AC electricity to DC electricity. This DC power is what is stored in the EV battery, and this is then converted back into AC electricity to power the car – to move the wheels, essentially. 

Instead of sending this AC electricity back to the motor, bidirectional charging allows for the electricity to be transferred back out of the charging port, meaning the power can flow in two directions as opposed to just one. This electricity could then be used for a variety of purposes.

Types of Bi-directional Charging

There are three main types of bidirectional electric vehicle charging: vehicle to load, vehicle to home and vehicle to grid.

  • Vehicle to Load Bidirectional Charging
  • Vehicle to Grid EV Charging
  • Vehicle to Home Bidirectional Charging

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Vehicle to Load Bidirectional Charging

Currently, the most common uses of bidirectional charging is to power appliances and tools, and could be useful while camping or on a road trip. It is also the most basic of the different two-way charging types. 

With an adapter, V2L gives EV owners the ability to simply plug in their camping equipment or other standalone devices.

Vehicle to Load Bidirectional Charging

Vehicle to Grid EV Charging

Vehicle to grid (V2G) is one of the most popular applications of bidirectional charging and is something to look out for over the coming years. With V2G charging, power is transferred from the battery to a local grid via the electric car’s DC to AC converter system. 

This would technically allow for off-peak charging of the EV, with the power then being transferred back to the grid during peak hours when energy demands are greater.

Vehicle to Grid EV Charging

Vehicle to Home Bidirectional Charging

Vehicle to Home EV charging allows EV owners to send electricity back from their electric car battery into their home, serving as a backup power source. 

This type of bidirectional charging is currently not supported by the vast majority of electric vehicles, but this could change as we move towards an all-round sustainable future in the years to come, as a typical EV battery has the capacity to potentially power a home for a day or two.

Vehicle to Home Bidirectional Charging

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Which EVs offer bidirectional charging?

All Tesla models will facilitate bidirectional charging by 2025, and there are a number of electric vehicles which currently have the feature, despite it remaining uncommon.

Electric vehicles which have bidirectional charging capabilities include the Hyundai Ioniq 5 (V2L), Hyundai Ioniq 6 (V2L), Nissan Leaf (V2H and V2G), and Volkswagen ID4 (V2H).

FAQs

Bidirectional charging is a relatively recent development in the EV world, with only a limited number of electric vehicles and charging manufacturers offering two-way charging in 2024, but this could change over the next few years as the technology becomes more advanced and affordable.

Not all cars support bidirectional charging, with only a limited number of EV models being able to facilitate the function. Among the cars which do allow for two-way (bidirectional) charging are the new Nissan Leafs, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6, and the KIA EV6.

There are many benefits to home EV charging over public charging and bidirectional chargers are the latest technological development – however they can be pricey for what they offer compared to traditional chargers. Most EV owners will therefore install a high quality unidirectional home EV charger for around €1,000.

One of the most popular bidirectional EV chargers on the market at the minute is Wallbox’s Quasar 2. Wallbox says the next generation Quasar 2 EV charger could power your home for 3 days during an emergency or blackout.

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