Australian EV owners wanted! 300 volunteers sought for charging trial

Fancy a free home charging wallbox for your electric car? Energy company AGL and the government are seeking 300 customers to take part in a trial to test the impact of EV charging on the electricity grid.

Best of all, you could do so for free. AGL and the Australian Government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) have announced an $8.25 million three-year trial, where AGL-managed smart chargers ($2500 RRP) will be given free to 200 customers for remote monitoring.

Fifty bi-directional chargers will be provided at a reduced price to Nissan Leaf customers – although the exact cost wasn’t confirmed by AGL when asked. Sadly, 2017 and later Mitsubishi Outlander PHEVs with bi-directional charging ability aren’t eligible.

These bi-directional chargers will allow customers to power their homes and export electricity to the grid from their vehicles.

AGL also wants to manage 50 internet-connected Tesla vehicles owned by customers who already have their own chargers.

The trial’s aim is to better understand when and how customers charge their EVs, their impact on the grid, and the potential to essentially use EV batteries to benefit the wider electricity system – with bi-directional charging there’s the potential for owners to generate revenue by selling back to the grid.

How to sign up to EV charging deal

Interested parties are asked to register at agl.com.au/smart-charging-trial to be considered. A spokesman for AGL said after initial public interest is gathered an early 2021 start date is expected.

To be eligible you need to own a battery electric vehicle (not a plug-in hybrid or hybrid) register at the above link, own your own house with off-street parking and be or become an AGL electricity customer.

The Australian Government is coughing up $2.9 million for AGL to undertake the trial; AGL itself is contributing the remaining $5.3 million and is involving project partners JET Charge, Chargefox and FlexCharging as well as a cohort of distribution networks. Quite the collaboration.

The 200 smart chargers installed at EV owners’ homes will be remotely monitored and controlled to avoid congestion on the grid and help move charging to off-peak times when cheap renewable energy is available.

This is key to addressing the growing concern that as EV ownership increases, the demands on our grid will be unsustainable.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said: “As more Australians switch to EVs, it will be important to manage and orchestrate EV charging to avoid potentially costly impacts on peak demand, associated network charges and grid security issues.

“EVs also provide economic opportunities for consumers through the potential of reduced electricity costs through higher network utilisation and the potential to generate revenues that would reduce the cost of car ownership. We hope trials like this will provide valuable insights into how EVs can provide value for money for consumers, but also help to transition our electricity network going forward.”

Tesla and Nissan Leafs needed

For the 50 software-based smart charging volunteers (that’s you, Tesla folk), AGL will test “the ability of EV charging to be controlled by communicating directly with the car without the need for separate smart charging hardware.

“It will also be the first time smart charging has been deployed in Australia via software, potentially removing the need for additional smart charging hardware in the future,” it said.

The 50 EVs in the vehicle-to-grid trial (Leaf owners), AGL will assess the ability and commerciality of EVs to become a source of energy storage and provide energy back to the grid when required.

ARENA said this vehicle-to-grid (V2G) project will be the first time EVs will be deployed in a residential context in Australia.

Nissan Australia praise move

Stephen Lester, Managing Director Nissan Australia, said the upcoming trial was welcome and ideal to make best use of the Leaf’s technology.

“As the Nissan LEAF is the only V2G-capable full EV direct from factory on the Australian market today, it is encouraging to see this project announcement,” he told EVCentral. “Substantial investment in trials such as this underpins the incredible potential of V2G technology, while helping to accelerate its adoption in Australia. 

“The Nissan LEAF not only offers an exciting EV driving experience, it goes so much further by integrating into the energy system. Nissan has been a global leader in this space, with several successful trials conducted in overseas markets, realising it in Australia is an important milestone.”

The trial also hopes to inform energy retailers, customers and Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSPs) of the potential for EV charge management and the benefits.

A spokesman for AGL said those taking part in the trial would keep their smart wallboxes after the three-year period, and would have complete control of their vehicle charging through an app.

We were told: “Customers who participate in the trial will receive regular bills credits, offsets for their household emissions through AGL’s new Carbon Neutral product, and access to an app which would allow them to set their charging preferences and be notified of charging ‘events’.”

AGL has its own Electric Vehicle Plan which all volunteers would need to be signed up to in order to take part.