admranger wrote

Unless my feeble memory is failing me more than usual, I seem to recall that the iX3 will be capable of bi-directional charging. Having a car act as a backup battery for the house is a nice feature that I would like. Cost of an iX3 gets you more backup battery capacity than the equivalent $ in Tesla Powerwalls, etc.

Does anyone have any info on this? What additional equipment will be required to pair with the house?

TurtleBoy wrote

It was in the video hb did with the product manager from BMWNA. Will link if I find it.

Edit: I can't find it, maybe it was deleted. Perhaps hb can provide info.

hb wrote

ubercruise wrote

How much is the hardware for V2H and can you use it without solar? I'd love to be able to run my home during on-peak hours from my car but not sure if that's even possible and I wager it wouldn't be economically viable or just more hassle than it's worth.

admranger wrote

Schneider has a smart panel and the needed inverter that'll set you back somewhere around $5k plus install. Pretty cool tech with load management capability.

Not available yet in my state so I suspect prices will come down as availability and competition increases.

Nahlem wrote

V2H is something i am looking for aswell, for example my wife will be getting the ID 7 Tourer soon, good family car for size and boot, it has V2H down the line i do hope the I3 Touring when it comes will also have it, to be able to pull maybe 50-90 kWh combined from two cars will do wonders to power the home cheaply with later add-on of solar witch will be my next investment in to the home. Then after that get rid of central heating cause it is very expensive where i live and the efficiency aint the best compared to geothermal heating that you can get instead. Not needing to rely on the grid to much is nice.

admranger wrote

Thanks TurtleBoy hb ggalanis

There seems to be no downside for me. I have solar providing nearly 100% of my power and having the car as a backup power source should grid problems develop as I age in place seems like a better solution than a Powerwall (or 4 or more to equal an iX3's battery capacity).

I have a long distance travel vehicle, the X7, and the iX3 would be my around town/short distance travel vehicle. Unlikely I'd ever be below 50% SOC in town and even 80% SOC will power the house for quite some time.

ggalanis wrote

From what I have seen in terms of costs, V2H is currently prohibitively expensive for the benefit that most people will ever be able to get out if it. There are going to be exceptions, people who live somewhere where power from the grid is not reliable, or not available, etc. My comments do not apply for people like that.

Basically for most people, V2H would indeed be nice to have. Until you get the estimate for what is necessary to get it to work. Comparatively, V2L is relatively cheap and most people can likely get by with that, in the same way they currently use a gas generator to plug in a couple of items (fridge, freezer, heater, router, sump pump, etc.) when there is an extended outage. Instead of the noisy generator, you can use your car silently and make it through. This is typically not a common occurrence but the people who have their generators are usually happy to have them the once in a blue moon they come in handy and the same would apply to using V2H or V2L. Of course anyone who has no concern for the money can get V2H and use that but then they would likely also have some other more permanent solution like a gas generator plumbed into their home gas line which can kick in automatically and does not rely on leaving your EV plugged in to the home.

Salespunk wrote

Here in Socal we are seeing 7-10 day outages in some areas during Santa Ana winds now. Similar issues in Texas with ice storms as well so it is definitely becoming more common with weather changes.

Salespunk wrote

My understanding is that the vehicles are also significantly less expensive than home battery systems on a per kwHr basis so you basically get a car for free. I know this was true about a year or two ago when I was looking at them.

There is another major advantage of having the vehicle as a battery backup. In an extended outage you can disconnect the vehicle, drive outside the outage area, recharge and then drive home and plug back in. With a Powerwall you don't have that option.

I know this is probably not relevant to you since you have solar as well, but for others this is a major advantage that doesn't get discussed. One other note, if you want maximum capacity the Chevrolet/GMC trucks offer almost twice the capacity for not much more money.

admranger wrote

I think it was Engineering Explained's youtube channel that did a calc on the ford lightning pickup vs. a power wall setup and the pickup was the better value.

I have not thought about the ability to drive the car to a DC fast charger out of the outage area and topping up your backup. Brilliant!

Yeah, the new Cadillac Escalade electric vehicle battery is massive. Vehicle weighs in at 9k lbs. Parking garage failures will occur as these become more popular is my fear.

M3_iX3 wrote

I have been hoping to do V2H for years but with incentives in my area for solar + battery, it made more sense to me to get that done first so I recently proceeded in that direction. (12 kW solar and 2 Powerwall 3's)

The way I view it is that for everyday use, solar + battery is the way to go and for long term outages, V2H would then be able to supplement that if ever necessary.

There will be exceptions to this of course but it's not entirely tied to ROI. That's just one parameter.

More important to me is that my Powerwall 3's are LFP. Perhaps if my vehicle was LFP I would consider that instead but it's certainly nice having an ecosystem that integrates and can be managed well. Other MFG are also starting to roll out very good solutions but in my area, Electrical approvals are very stringent so you can't just put in any solution and expect an easy approval process so I went with what they are familiar with despite not wanting to support the company.

The PW3's spend the first 2 weeks learning your power use and generation and adjust accordingly. That seems to have worked well so far but if you need a higher degree of automation, there are 3rd party apps such as NetZero. You're not going to get any of this with a V2H solution.

For power outages, the V2H route can't be beat for the sheer kW available but I'd rather not be using it daily for a vehicle with an NMC battery.

M3_iX3 wrote

The PW3's spend the first 2 weeks learning your power use and generation and adjust accordingly. That seems to have worked well so far but if you need a higher degree of automation, there are 3rd party apps such as NetZero. You're not going to get any of this with a V2H solution.

Sportstick wrote

Another alternative that we chose instead was solar (19kW) and a Generac natural gas generator (22kW) instead of batteries.