New EVs

17 February 2023

In 2022, Australians purchased 33,410 pure electric vehicles, nearly 6,000 plug-in-hybrids (up 76.1 per cent over 2021), and 81,786 hybrids were sold. 

If we follow overseas trends, these figures will continue to grow and, if incentivised enough, pure battery electric vehicles will pick up the pace even more.

The single biggest change ahead of us in using pure electric vehicles will be the capacity to upload and download power to the grid (V2G).  

Drivers will also be able to power their home, and auxiliary devices directly from their EV (V2H). 

This technology is called bidirectional charging and it will come through in vehicles shipped to Australia shortly.  

I don’t mean all EVs will have this capability, but many will – and no doubt they all will over time. 

You will need a special bidirectional charger at home, and these are currently not cheap, but prices will fall as more people use them.

So, here’s the irony… 

If you have been to work and fully charged your car on a Monday – courtesy of your generous employer – will you leave the car plugged in to run the house while you jump on the bus, and take the car back in on Thursday for a top-up?

Maybe. This capability suggests that in the future we may view cars as mobile power storage devices, as much as modes of transport.

Who would have thought? 

Before I go – if you want to really sink your teeth into a 2022 vehicle wrap-up, check out VACC Senior Research Analyst Steve Bletsos’ breakdown of the latest automotive statistics from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. It’s available on the VACC website (vacc.com.au) and I also took the crew through it on the January 2023 episode of THE GRILLE podcast. Catch it via thegrillepodcast.com.au or search ‘THE GRILLE’ wherever you listen to your favourite shows.

Words: VACC CEO Geoff Gwilym. As featured in the Herald Sun on 17 February 2023.