UK firm develops AC V-2-G home charger

UK home energy technology manufacturer Myenergi has started development of a vehicle-to-grid (V-2-G) EV charger that it believes could be the country’s “first mass-market” offering in the space. It plans a 2025 launch to coincide with more V2G-enabled EVs coming to market.

Until recently, Myenergi says, V2G technology, which enables customers to discharge power from their EV battery either into their homes or directly back to the grid, could only be achieved via DC bidirectional charging hardware — “significant in both size and cost”, according to the firm.

“Our purpose is to remove the barrier to a greener future and we see the current limitations around V-2-G technology as one of those barriers,” says Lee Sutton, co-founder and chief product officer at Myenergi. “By offering an innovative AC V-2-G solution for the home, we can bring this great technology to a greater number of customers.”

While the pool of vehicles that can effectively deliver V-2G charging “has been limited to date, there is set to be enormous growth in the number of EVs that can offer this functionality to UK households”, the firm predicts.

OEMs as diverse as South Korea's Kia, Sweden's Polestar, the US' GM and Japan's Honda and Mitsubishi have ambitions in the V-2-X space. But there have been concerns over issues such as infrastructure and a lack of standardisation in the technology, leading to predictions that fleets, rather than domestic car owners, might be its initial adopters at scale.

“Our new V-2-G charger will prove the perfect choice for those who want to power their home using the available energy stored in their EV battery, as well as those who want to support the grid through attractive export tariffs,” says Jordan Brompton, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Myenergi . “We know that vehicle manufacturers are pursuing the AC pathway to deliver V-2-G functionality, so we are confident that our new product will fit seamlessly into their development programmes.”