EV charging trial targets Aussie households

The impact electric vehicles have on the electricity grid when recharging from home during peak times will be studied in a new three-year trial run across four Australian states.

Jointly funded by the federal government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and energy supplier AGL, the $8 million trial will monitor the charging behaviour of 300 private EV owners across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

This type of trial is the first to be conducted in Australian households and, according to the government, should lead to a better understanding of the impact of EVs when plugged in at a private domestic setting, including how they can be used to store energy and provide it back to the grid.

This vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging is already being studied in a separate trial underway in Canberra involving the ACT government’s fleet of Nissan LEAF EVs, which have V2G capability.

The new trial announced today goes further in that it aims to accelerate the commercialisation of various charging technologies – V2G being just one of them – by better understanding how consumers use them at home.

It will also look at shifting EV charging to off-peak periods to reduce pressure on the grid, while at the same time lowering costs for consumers and maximising the use of renewable energy which makes up only a small percentage of Australia’s electricity supply.

The federal minister for energy and emissions reduction, Angus Taylor, said that as EV uptake continues in Australia – sales have risen 14.1 per cent this year to just over 1400 units, though EVs still only represent 0.2 per cent of the total market – the government would invest “in the technology and infrastructure required to ensure motorists can access what is best for them”.

This does not extend to subsidising EVs to stimulate sales, but the new study does attract $2.9 million in taxpayer funding on top of the $2.4m allocated to the Canberra V2G trial.

“By trialling new charging technologies within the home, we will better understand the impact EVs could have on our networks and how to save consumers money as they charge,” the minister said.

“The government is backing a range of technologies, not picking one winner. This follows our ‘technology not taxes’ approach to reducing emissions.”

The 300 participants in the trial will be EV owners who sign up to the relevant AGL contract. The company said it will provide 200 smart chargers free of charge, 50 bi-directional charges at a “reduced price” for Nissan LEAF owners, and that it will also manage the charging of 50 internet-connected Tesla vehicles whose owners already have their own chargers.

These three groups essentially define how the trial will be split.

The smart chargers will be remotely monitored and controlled to help move charging to off-peak times when cheap renewable energy is available or to respond to constraints on the grid.

The Nissan LEAF cohort will be used to assess the viability of V2G in a residential context, while the Tesla EVs will test the ability of charging that is controlled by communicating directly with the car without the need for separate smart charging hardware.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said that “as the penetration of EVs increases, it will be important to manage and orchestrate the charging of vehicles, 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,” he said.

Anger over EV road user tax

This cost of ownership has come under scrutiny in the past week as the South Australian and NSW state governments have both moved towards introducing a road user tax for owners of EVs.

This is seen by governments and some motoring organisations such as the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) – the peak body representing more than eight million motorists who are members of state and territory motoring clubs such as the NRMA and RACV – as an important reform because the higher take-up of EVs has the negative effect of reducing fuel excise revenue used to fund roads and other land transport infrastructure projects.

However, the car industry and green motoring lobby groups have slammed the proposals.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) described the moves towards a user-pays road system, starting with EVs, as “simply beyond belief”.

FCAI chief Tony Weber said the SA government was “discouraging the uptake of environmentally friendly motoring” while NSW’s proposal demonstrated “just how out of step parts of Australia are when it comes to climate change”.

“All around the world, global automotive companies have invested billions of dollars to develop environmentally friendly vehicles,” Weber said. “And all around the world, progressive governments have supported the introduction of these vehicles.

“But here in Australia, we inhibit their introduction by levying extra charges on them. It simply beggars belief at this early stage of electric vehicle introduction.”

Electric Vehicle Council head Behyad Jafari, whose organisation is supported by the car-makers, said SA was in danger of becoming “the world’s first jurisdiction to create a net financial disincentive for electric vehicles”.

“At a time when EVs make up less than one per cent of sales in SA and pay more in tax than comparable internal combustion engines, this is a misjudged and mistimed move,” he said.

Earlier this week, Jafari said: “It shows how poorly thought through South Australia’s tax on electric vehicles is that when asked in parliament the treasurer admitted he doesn’t know how the scheme will work, doesn’t know who it’ll apply to, doesn’t know how it’ll impact EVs, doesn’t know how fuel excise works.

“Meanwhile, the EV sector is being damaged by uncertainty. Time to put this destructive thought bubble back in the box.”