Most people think an electric vehicle just gets you from one place to another. But what if it could do more? What if it could power your house during a blackout, charge your tools at a worksite, or even feed power back to the grid?
This is what vehicle-to-grid (or V2G) makes possible.
Until recently, you could not legally use your electric car to power your home in most parts of Australia. That changed when a group of energy experts and companies worked with local energy networks to get V2G approved.
It is now possible to plug in a car like the newly released Ford F-150 Lightning and use its battery to power your home or send electricity to the grid.
At PSC, we keep our ears to the ground for all things renewable energy-related. This new development with V2G is exciting. It’s not just another tech idea that sounds cool but never works in real life. It’s here in Australia.
In this article, you will learn about the following:
- What is Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Bidirectional EV Charging?
- V2G is Now Legal in Parts of Australia
- Real-World Setup: A Ford F-150 Lightning in Action
- Ford F-150 Lightning Battery Life and Warranty
- What Do You Need to Get Started with Bidirectional EV Charging with the Ford F-150 Lightning?
- What Are the Challenges Right Now for Bidirectional Charging in Australia?
- What’s Next for V2G Bidirectional EV Charging in Australia?
By the end of this article, you’ll know what vehicle-to-grid means, how it works, and how this could fit into your life if you already have solar or are thinking about buying an electric vehicle.
Let’s get into it.
What is Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Bidirectional EV Charging?
Let’s start with the basics. You know that electric vehicles (EVs) need to be plugged in to charge. You can charge your car at home, work, or a public charger to drive it around.
What if that charging cable worked both ways?
That’s exactly what vehicle-to-grid (or V2G) technology does. Instead of your car just taking power from your home or the grid, it can give power back. When your home needs electricity, your car’s battery can provide it.
Think of it like this: your EV isn’t just a car anymore. It’s a giant battery on wheels.
There are a few terms you’ll hear that all fall under this idea of using your car’s battery for more than just driving:
- V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid): When your car sends electricity back to the grid to support it during busy times.
- V2H (Vehicle-to-Home): Your car powers your house—this is handy during blackouts or at night when the sun isn’t shining.
- V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle): Your car can charge another electric vehicle, which is excellent if a mate has run out of battery.
- V2L (Vehicle-to-Load): Your car can run your fridge, charge your tools, or power a campsite—anything that plugs into a regular power point.
- V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything): This umbrella term includes all of the above.
To make any of this work, you need a special charger called a bidirectional charger. Unlike regular EV chargers that only send power into your car, this one can send it both in and out.
It talks to your home energy system or the grid and decides when to pull power and when to push it.
Not every car can do this right now. However, some, like the Ford F-150 Lightning, are ready to go if you have the right setup at home. Once you’re connected, the possibilities open up fast.
Imagine driving home from work, plugging in, and not just charging your car but powering your home too. Your vehicle becomes part of the energy system. That’s V2G.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about bidirectional EV charging, you might want to check out the following article titled, Bidirectional EV Charging in Australia Explained: Your Guide to V2G, V2H, and V2L.
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V2G is Now Legal in Parts of Australia
Until recently, using your EV to power your home or send energy back to the grid wasn’t something you could do legally in most parts of Australia. But in April 2025, that changed.
A team of experts ran a full, real-world test of vehicle-to-grid in action, and it worked. This wasn’t just a lab experiment. It was a complete, start-to-finish system proving that your car can power your home and help the grid simultaneously.
Here’s the team that made it happen:
- Essential Energy, an electricity distributor for parts of New South Wales. They helped manage the grid connection side of things.
- Sigenergy, the company behind the bidirectional charger and home battery energy system used in the test.
- AUSEV, the team bringing the Ford F-150 Lightning to Australia and adapting it for local use. They’re an Australian-owned distributor of EVs.
- CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. They made sure everything followed the rules, worked safely, and passed all the technical checks.
The test used a Sigenergy SigenStor home battery system and a 25kW bidirectional charger with a CCS2 plug. This plug is the standard for most EVs here in Australia.
That setup allowed energy flow in both directions: from the house to the car when charging, and from the car back into the house or out to the grid.
This successful trial proved that V2G could be done safely, cleanly, and legally in a real Aussie home. It wasn’t just a technical win—it was the missing piece needed to make V2G fully legal in that area.
More places are next. Power companies like Endeavour Energy are already working to follow suit, which means it won’t be long before even more households can tap into this tech.
So, if your home isn’t in one of these networks yet, don’t worry, it’s coming. And soon, using your car battery to power your home could be as normal as plugging in your phone.
If you’d like to learn a bit more about the cost of Sigenergy SigenStor, we recommend you check out the following article titled, How Much Does the Sigenergy SigenStor Cost?
Let’s talk solar savings. Click here.
Real-World Setup: A Ford F-150 Lightning in Action
Let’s break it down with a real example so you can picture how this all works.
Take the Ford F-150 Lightning. It’s a big electric truck that packs a seriously massive battery—131 kilowatt-hours. That’s a huge amount of stored energy. To put it in perspective, it’s about 10 times the size of a Tesla Powerwall. So when people say this truck can power your whole house, they’re not exaggerating.
In testing, the truck was paired with a Sigenergy SigenStor. This is a smart home battery system that works alongside a bidirectional charger, which is what lets power flow both in and out of the car.
When the system is set up correctly, here’s what it can do:
- You can charge your truck using solar power during the day.
- You can run your home at night off the energy stored in the truck.
- You can feed extra power back into the grid when energy prices spike.
- You can even plug in appliances, tools, or other electric vehicles straight from the truck.
Here’s a great example: imagine taking an electric dirt bike to the motocross track. That bike has a 6.5kWh battery—not huge, but enough to run low if you’re out all day. Before V2G, you’d have to drag a petrol generator with you to top it up. But now, with a setup like the F-150 Lightning, you can just plug it into the truck and charge it directly on the spot: no noise, no fumes, no hassle.
You’re not just driving a vehicle anymore. You’re carrying your own power station—wherever you go.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about the benefits of solar batteries, you might want to start with the following article titled, 7 Benefits of Adding a Battery to Your Solar System.
Ready to go solar? Click here.
Ford F-150 Lightning Battery Life and Warranty
A lot of people hear about vehicle-to-grid and think, “Won’t that wear out the battery faster?”
It’s a fair question. After all, you’ve spent good money on an EV and want it to last.
The good news is that Ford and their Australian partner have confirmed that using your EV for V2G won’t affect your warranty.
You’re still protected by:
- A 5-year warranty
- Unlimited kilometres
- And no limits or restrictions for using vehicle-to-grid features
Most car manufacturers still have strict rules around using the battery for anything other than driving. Some will reduce your warranty or limit how much energy you can push back to the grid.
Before buying an EV and planning your V2G setup, check the fine print in your vehicle warranty. Make sure the vehicle you choose fully supports bidirectional charging, and that the warranty backs you up if you plan to use it.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about solar batteries, you might want to start with the following article titled, Adding a Battery to a Solar System.
Get started with solar. Click here.
What Do You Need to Get Started with Bidirectional EV Charging with the Ford F-150 Lightning?
Getting started with vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-home isn’t as complex as it might seem. But there are a few key pieces you need in place to make it work properly.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- A car that supports bidirectional charging. Not all EVs can do this yet, so it’s important to double-check. Vehicles like the Ford F-150 Lightning have already been equipped for V2G with the right hardware. Another example in Australia is the Nissan Leaf, which supports bidirectional charging with a different connector.
- A home energy system that can talk to your car. This means your home needs to be ready to accept electricity from your vehicle and use it efficiently. If you already have a home energy system like SigenStor, you’re almost there.
- A bidirectional charger. Something like the Sigenergy 25kW CCS2 charger can send electricity into your car and back out again when your home or the grid needs it. It uses the standard CCS2 plug that’s already common in Australia, so compatibility is improving all the time.
- Support from your local DNSP. That’s short for Distributed Network Service Provider. This is your local power company. Not every DNSP allows V2G just yet, but more are following. You’ll need to be in a region where they’ve approved this kind of setup or wait until they catch up.
Retailers like Amber offer flexible energy plans that let you trade electricity at real-time market rates. If demand spikes and the grid needs extra power, you could earn as much as $19 per kilowatt-hour by feeding your car’s energy back.
That’s not just pocket change. This could be a real income stream depending on how much energy you have stored and when you send it. It’s like turning your vehicle into a side hustle.
While the tech might sound futuristic, the tools you need are already here, and the financial benefits are starting to look just as exciting as the environmental ones.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about Amber, you might want to check out the following article titled, Amber Energy Australia Explained: A Smart Way to Save (and Earn) with Solar Panels and Battery.
Let’s go solar today. Click here.
What Are the Challenges Right Now for Bidirectional Charging in Australia?
As exciting as vehicle-to-grid technology is, it’s still new. That means there are a few things to be aware of before you jump in.
Not every EV is ready for V2G just yet. If V2G is something you want to use, make sure the car you’re looking at can actually handle it.
Bidirectional chargers are still pricey. These chargers do a lot more than your regular home EV charger, so they cost more.
The good news is that prices are starting to come down as more options enter the market. Like all new tech, early adopters tend to pay more, but that won’t be the case forever.
Not every home is plug-and-play. Some houses may need an upgrade to their electrical systems before V2G can be safely installed. You might need a new switchboard, or a smart energy system like the SigenStor that can manage power flows in and out of the home. It’s not always a huge job, but it’s something to plan for.
The fact that a full V2G setup was just approved in New South Wales is a big deal. It shows that regulators, energy companies, and tech providers are all starting to move in the same direction. And as more people try it, it will become easier and cheaper for everyone else.
If you’d like to learn a bit more about what solar batteries are on the market, you might want to check out the following article titled, 6 Best Solar Batteries on the Market.
What’s Next for V2G Bidirectional EV Charging in Australia?
Vehicle-to-grid technology is no longer just an idea. It is working now in real-world trials. But this is only the beginning.
The CSIRO and Essential Energy have already started the next phase of development. They are working to expand their testing lab and add new tools to study how V2G works in more real-life situations. They want to test things like:
- Smarter automation systems
- Better communication between the car, charger, and grid
- A wider range of car and charger types
- Real-world grid export under different weather and seasonal conditions
These upgrades will help the energy sector understand how V2G works when many people use it simultaneously. It will also help developers make chargers and systems easier for households.
As more people buy EVs and install rooftop solar, this technology will let homes use their cars as flexible batteries. You can store solar energy during the day and use it at night. You can also send power back to the grid when it’s needed most. That will stabilise the grid and help everyone use more renewable energy.
Dr Sam Behrens from CSIRO says this is a big moment for Australia. He believes EVs can add power, flexibility, and energy storage in ways we have never seen before.
If you are thinking about solar, energy storage, or buying an electric vehicle, it is worth keeping an eye on this space. With the right tools, your car could become one of the most powerful energy devices in your life and your neighbourhood.
If you’re interested in learning a bit more about the battery market, you might want to check out the following article titled, Best Home Solar Batteries for 2025.
Should You Try Vehicle-to-Grid Now?
If you already have solar and are thinking about buying an EV, now is a great time to look into V2G. It can cut your power bills, give you backup during blackouts, and even pay you when the grid needs help.
If your local DNSP isn’t quite ready yet, it’s worth checking every few weeks. More areas are getting approved soon.
The idea is simple: your car holds a giant battery. That battery can do more than move your wheels. It can run your home. It can charge your tools. It can power your life.
If you’re interested in learning more about solar systems, you might want to check out our introductory article titled, New to Solar: Start Here.
