Your Questions Answered: Can I make money selling my EV’s power?

I have a Hyundai EV5 and have heard that there is a way of plugging it in to sell power to the grid at peak times. Is this true? – Jocelyn

Answer: Hi Jocelyn, in short, for your Hyundai the answer is no – for now. Hyundai Australia does not support or permit V2G charging on any Hyundai EVs it sells at the moment.

This is a complex area; while the way the power flows to the grid side appears to have a consistent, approved standard, the way the power flows out of the vehicle is still not ironed out.

Hyundai Australia has criticised V2G roll-outs that comply with a superseded ISO 15118-2 standard, and not the current ISO 15118-20 standard. When we spoke with Hyundai's Senior Manager of Future Mobility and Government Relations, Scott Nargar, he said that the concern is that using protocol workarounds (ie, software hacks) can potentially end up discharging the EV's battery at rates that it was not designed for. He added that most EV traction batteries are designed to flow large amounts of power into them via the charge port, not the other way around. Some workarounds that allow the EV to send power to the grid can also bypass an EV's battery management system. The power being pulled out of the EV is also not constrained in some cases, complicated by uncertainty over whether any active cooling or thermal monitoring of the battery during discharging is occurring – meaning that there is an unknown fire risk.

Hyundai is getting close, testing V2G discharging that complies with the ISO 15118-20 standard, using a Hyundai IONIQ 9 with a StarCharge Halo 7.4kW bidirectional DC charger.

BYD does approve V2G for its EVs using approved hardware, such as the StarCharge Halo.

It's not only the safety risks involved. How much you will make selling to the grid once the cost of installing a bidirectional charger is factored in might mean you're not making the sort of money you'd hope for.

I have seen a few cars around like Havals and Jaecoos that have enormous toothy grilles, while others have a blank panel that looks much nicer. Is this just poor car design or is there some other reason for the difference? – Blake

Answer: Hey Blake, I hear you – but really this is a case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder, and designers trying to make a car – SUV, whatever – somehow look different to the hundreds of other similar cars out there. I'd point out the practical needs of a petrol/diesel or hybrid needing a grille for engine cooling – and that's why some EV models, which have far lower cooling needs, go without a large, obvious grille.

You mentioned some Chinese cars with this 'waterfall' grille design – and there are plenty more. Maybe it's because in Feng Shui and traditional Shan Shui (mountain-water) landscape paintings, water is synonymous with money and Qi (vital life force). A waterfall represents profits pouring in continuously from all sides. So if you subscribe to that theory, buy a Haval Jolion and you will become rich and full of energy. I suspect that is all complete nonsense. That's because it's not as if other countries' brands don't go for a large serving of toothy grille – Mercedes-Benz (via Maybach at first, then with AMG models) and Maserati of late, for example, or even Rolls-Royce, since forever, basically. BMW, while not one for dominant vertical slats on its grilles, has taken the kidneys from a mammoth as inspiration for models such as the 4 Series. Audi slathered its cars' noses with grille from about 2008, it's just that they were a bit more subtle.

Maybe designers are giving the ICE grille a last big send-off as EVs, which can go pretty much grille-less, become more popular.

I really like my Fiat Panda, it has been a reliable, economical car. Even though I like the fabric material and the interior seat and dash colours the factory used, I would like the rest of its interior to feel a bit more luxurious, less plasticky. All the door trims, console and parts of the dash look cheap and nasty and scratch easily. What if I could get it retrimmed in a nice vinyl or even leather? Is this possible? Will it be expensive to do, or not be legal because of airbags or something? I have been told seat covers have to be airbag approved. – Nicholas

Answer: Hi Nicholas, what you are wanting to do can be done at a good motor trimming shop, but be prepared to spend almost what your Panda is worth (which is not much these days) on getting the job done. For a vinyl trimming of the interior bits you mentioned (so not including big parts like the seats), you'd still be spending about $1500, while using leather instead would cost you more like $3000. There is usually no risk of interfering with safety equipment by trimming the hard plastic interior parts with vinyl or leather in a car such as your Panda, but with others (that have a driver's knee airbag, for example) that might be a problem. If I were you, I'd stick with a good plastic trim restorer treatment (from about $20 for silicone-based stuff, or from about $50 for silicone-free quality stuff) and leave it at that.

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