AU EV sales start to pick up

 The Labor government, after it took office, allowed EVs to be bought on a novated lease through your employer without having to pay fringe benefit tax.  Too complicated to explain to non-Australians, but in essence it allows you to have an EV on lease at a substantial discount equal to your marginal tax rate plus the 10% general sales tax.  For people on the lowest marginal tax rate (above zero), this equates to a ~30% tax cut.  The introduction of this incentive caused a huge jump in EV sales, followed by a bit of a slump.  This slump was worsened by Tesla sales declining fast, as Tesla has until recently made up most of the sales of EVs.

But over the last few months, the big jump in the number of models available in Oz has led to a rebound in sales.  BYD has just reduced the price on its entry-level EV to below A$30,000.   The cheapest Toyota Corolla starts at $26,400, but that isn't a hybrid.  The cheapest hybrid Corolla is $31,790.   At some point this year, V2H (vehicle to house) charging will be enabled.  Even at the lowest non-zero marginal tax rate, the cheapest BYD will cost just $20K, but will also be a house battery.  A comparable Tesla Powerwall will set you back ~$25K.  However, the bi-directional chargers are still pricey, though even adding that cost to your car still leaves you with big cost savings, especially when you consider how much cheaper EVs are to run than petrol vehicles.  The point about this is that EV price competition continues, and EVs are now very good value, and will get better.   Expect sales to rise fast.

Recent months showing a pick-up, but still down on the 2023 peak

Year-on-year sales growth is back above +30%, after a low of -27%

EV charging gets a makeover

From SEVR

If you are the owner of an Electric Vehicle (EV), at some point you have probably wondered whether you could use that enormous battery for anything else. Say, powering your home, or even feeding excess power into the energy grid and getting paid for it. This is what’s known as vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology (we will use V2G in this article to refer to both). With the news that Australian regulations have been updated to allow this technology to go live by the end of 2024, we expect 2025 to be the year V2G becomes mainstream.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of what this really means, let’s first cover some EV battery basics:EV owners can already power individual appliances and devices using their EV battery, with most vehicles including plugs/cables to do this. Powering devices is known as vehicle-to-load (V2L), and could mean powering a TV, laptop, or a combination of devices up to the 1.5-3.6kW maximum limited by the EV. Perfect when out camping, or during a blackout.

A typical EV battery in Australia will be around 50kWh and can be as high as 100kWh. For a 50kWh battery, this is enough to power the average 4-person Australian home for nearly 2.5 days (based on 2023 energy data). However, this power can’t be accessed through V2L (i.e. you can’t plug your entire home into a car’s V2L power socket).

For comparison, a home battery system such as Tesla Powerwall has a 13kWh rating. EV batteries are several times larger.

The average Australian driver only travels 35km per day, using a small fraction of an EVs battery capacity.

What’s so exciting about V2G coming online is that it now becomes possible to tap into the full capacity of an EV battery through the same connection used for charging. This means that just like controlling when and how your EV charges (e.g. only at night during off-peak times), you can also control when and how the EV feeds back into the home or grid (e.g. when prices are highest, or only when there is a blackout). The missing piece in this puzzle has been access to special V2G chargers that can manage this two-way load, called bidirectional charging. But with changes to regulations making it possible to buy and install these systems by the end of 2024, manufacturers and suppliers of EV chargers are now racing to gain approvals and bring these to market.

For consumers, tapping into V2G is going to require an upgrade of the charger as the one you currently have is only designed for the one-way flow of energy into the car. V2G charging has required new technologies to be added to chargers to allow two-way electrical flow. It has also required updates to standards, like Australia’s AS/NZS 4777.2 Grid connection of energy systems via inverters—Installation requirements, which is the same standard used for solar inverters. Why? Because most V2G chargers are inverters (or they must be connected to inverters), converting the DC power from the vehicle back to AC for the home. This also means that these new V2G chargers need to be approved and listed on the Clean Energy Council’s database just like a solar inverter system.

V2G is also going to require a software update for most vehicles to unlock this capability and tell the car how to manage the battery. Most of the major car manufacturers have announced they are working through this now. One of the big questions car companies and consumers alike will have is whether using the car battery for V2G will degrade the battery and shorten its lifespan? There is limited data about this right now, but it seems clear that some limits will be implemented, for example limiting the speed and extent of battery discharge through V2G. Some research even suggests that controlled V2G use can extend battery life by optimising the discharge to counteract battery fade. Understanding this will be critical for battery warranties and the appeal of V2G systems to the public.

At the time of writing, only the Nissan Leaf and a couple of Mitsubishi hybrid vehicles have the capacity to work with V2G in Australia, and a very small number of Australians have worked with their local energy providers to be early adopters of V2G systems. The CSIRO has also been running a large trial in Port Macquarie to understand the full impact of V2G systems on households and energy grids. For many, the allure of V2G is that a vehicle could be charging for free through the day using solar, and then feed this back into the home at night. Basically, off-grid living enabled by electric vehicles.

One of the other big selling points that EV manufacturers may hope to leverage is that V2G can be used to offset the cost of buying an EV – if you consider that a home battery system may cost $10-15k to buy and install today, you could put this money towards buying an EV instead and gain a significantly higher capacity battery, that can also drive you around.

Several articles have summarised the first V2G chargers likely to hit Australian markets. Other than the Sigenergy system, which is already available due to existing certifications of their stand-alone inverter, most companies are suggesting V2G charger releases in Q1/Q2 2025. However, some of the most exciting developments that will start to drive prices down are likely to come from the mainstream EV charging brands, like Myenergi (manufacturer of Zappi), and Zaptec (one of the largest European EV charger manufacturers), who have announced they are finalising their own V2G chargers. While this new generation of chargers is going to be more expensive than standard chargers for the foreseeable future, there will be a numbers and convenience factor that encourages many to either upgrade their existing charger, or buy into the EV market for the first time.

Follow SEVR to be the first to see our shift into the V2G market in 2025. Big things are coming!

Virtual power plant via Tesla's Powerwall

 From Tesmanian

Tesla is expanding [Australia's] largest virtual power plant to New South Wales, South East Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory as part of its Tesla Energy Plan. This will contribute to the stability of the electric grid and reduce the cost of electricity.

Tesla posted an announcement to expand its virtual power plant to new regions in Australia via LinkedIn. Although it was posted in a modest manner and did not contain many details, the announcement is big and important news, as the changes will bring great benefits to the region's power grid and its users.

“Australia's largest Virtual Power Plant has expanded to New South Wales, South-East Queensland & the Australian Capital Territory with the Tesla Energy Plan.

Connect your Powerwall with the Tesla Energy Plan today.”

Tesla began offering access to the Tesla Energy Plan in South Australia to Powerwall 2 owners in 2019 as Australians were in dire need of a dramatic reduction in electricity rates. To this end, the price of Powerwall 2 was quickly reduced, and existing subsidies for its purchase in South Australia provided a very favorable opportunity to install Tesla Powerwall in many homes. Thus, a powerful energy network was formed, Virtual Power Plant (VPP), which began to support the entire energy market of the region.

VPP showed its clear advantage later that year with an unexpected coal power outage in Queensland. South Australian Powerwall owners signed up for the Tesla Energy Plan came to the rescue and helped keep the grid stable.

The new expansion in New South Wales, South East Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory will further expand the VPP, and therefore bring much more benefits to both the entire energy grid and individual households.

“Our world leading technology optimises the use of your Powerwall based on your energy needs, market conditions, weather and anticipated grid events to ensure it benefits your home, while also supporting the community with clean renewable energy,” Tesla says on its website. “In return, you receive competitive energy rates, Grid Support Credits and Powerwall Credits to reward your participation.”

Participation in the Tesla VPP provides customers with energy savings through flexible rates for the duration of use. This helps reduce energy bills while providing greater access to renewable energy throughout the local community. Customers are guaranteed a minimum 20 percent back-up reserve during a grid outage, and the Tesla Energy plan limits Powerwall discharge cycles to the grid to 50 per year.

Hawaiian Electric to pay customers to install batteries

 

From Energy Storage News

Hawaiian Electric has launched a new programme that will pay customers to add battery storage to an existing or new rooftop solar system.

The ‘Battery Bonus’ scheme is a one-time cash incentive paid to residential and commercial customers on the island of O‘ahu, which Hawaiian Electric hopes will move the state toward its goal of 100% clean energy by 2045.

Capped by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) at a total 50MW supplied from storage among all participants, the programme has three levels of incentive.

The first is US$850/kW for those accepted for the first 15MW. Hawaiian Electric will confirm the yield by checking battery data.

Second, US$750/kW for those accepted for the next 15MW and, third, US$500/kW for those accepted for the last 20MW.

“The Public Utilities Commission sees the value that solar and batteries can bring to our grid, and have unveiled a new program to accelerate adoption here in Hawaii,” said Robert Harris, Sunrun’s director of public policy for Hawaii.

Applications will be accepted until June 20, 2023, or until the cap is reached, with customers required to use a contractor. Taxable payments will be made to the solar-plus-storage system owner.

Customers who take part must use or export stored electricity at the contracted amount on a two-hour schedule specified by Hawaiian Electric between 6pm-8pm every day (including weekends and holidays) until December 31, 2023.

After this, they will be given the option to move onto the scheme’s next phase – a ten-year programme to be defined by the PUC.

“The Hawaii Commission is encouraging customers to install batteries so as to keep their own lights on, as well as prevent system-wide blackouts,” said Harris. “This is just one more instance proving that clean, distributed energy resources can and should replace fossil fuel power across the United States.”

Last year, Hawaiian Electric submitted eight contracts representing nearly 300MW of solar energy generation and about 2,000MWh of energy storage to be built on the islands of O'ahu and Maui.

This report isn't completely clear.   Battery storage is measured in kWh (kilowatt-hours).  So a battery with, say, a 10 kWh capacity could deliver 1 kW of output over 10 hours or 10 kW over one hour or any combination in between.  (Though in practice, maximum output over a short period is bad for the battery.)  According to this report, it looks as if users will be paid for the power output during the two-hour window in the evening, which makes more sense.  Assuming 5 kW of output over 2 hours, the subsidy would be 5*$850 = $4250, or about half the cost of 14 kWh Tesla Powerwall.   That's substantial―a 14 kWh Tesla Powerwall battery cost roughly $8500 installed, so a 50% subsidy.  Nice.  But it works to offset the evening demand peak, so presumably makes sense for the utility too.

The State of Victoria has a similar battery rebate program, with the rebate last fiscal year of A$4174 (± US$3000) falling this FY to A$3500 (± US$2500).  However, Victoria's rebate is untaxed.