Load-shedding is at an all-time high in South Africa and isn’t expected to stop anytime soon.
People who can afford to do so are finding alternate means of powering their homes, such as solar panels or an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) that can hold a charge long enough to bridge the gap until the power comes back.
While the instability of the national grid may seem to paint a pessimistic future for electric vehicles (EVs) in South Africa, battery-powered cars actually present another way in which citizens can keep the lights on in these dark times.
Powering a home
Electric cars are fitted with high-capacity batteries that provide the energy needed for the vehicle to get from place to place.
Since driving is a very energy-intensive action, the majority of battery-electric cars have a lower range than an equivalent petrol or diesel-powered model – usually in the ballpark of 400km.
The key distinction to make here is that, while driving uses a lot of energy, most household appliances do not, especially if you are using modern devices with a high-efficiency rating.
As a result, there have been instances where EV owners have been able to power their homes for well over a day using the electricity stored in their cars. However, it is important to note that not all EVs are capable of powering other devices, as they require bi-directional charging to be able to do so.
Bi-directional charging does what it says on the tin – it allows for two-way charging with energy flowing from one device or vice versa – and EVs that do not have this feature are unable to return the juice stored in their batteries to another device.
Unfortunately, the number of EVs that support bi-directional charging is rather limited, as the concept is still relatively new, but it is a selling point that has seen growing interest in the past few years as EV adoption has slowly become more widespread.
A few notable examples of dual-charging EVs include the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Nissan Leaf, Ford F-150 Lightning, and VW’s ID. models, but none of these units are sold in South Africa.
There are in fact currently no EVs capable of powering a home in South Africa, but that could soon change.
The Porsche Taycan, for example, does not have the special charging feature by default, but the company has been running tests on a handful of models to assess the feasibility of vehicle-to-grid applications.
Volvo’s XC40 does not support bi-directional charging, nor does the soon-to-be-released C40, but the recently announced EX30 and EX90 do.
The EX90 has been confirmed for South Africa, and the smaller EX30 shares the same architecture, so there’s a good chance the EX30 will be brought here as well if its larger sibling has been approved.
Finally, there’s BYD, the electric Chinese automaker which recently announced it would be setting up shop locally in the next two months.
BYD’s first entry will be the Atto 3 crossover, and it’s very likely that this will end up being the very first car in South Africa capable of powering portions of a home during load-shedding as it offers VTOL (vehicle-to-load) charging up to 3.3kW for devices and appliances when there is an electricity outage.
Keyword: Electric cars that can power your home during load-shedding