Volkswagen electric vehicles are to set to become even more useful next year. The company is planning to make all models it produces to be bi-directional charging capable (BDC).
From next year, every electric vehicle based on the MEB platform will have the functionality. It simply means the vehicle will be capable of giving out some of the energy stored in its battery. Currently, not all electric vehicles have this capability enabled.
This tech opens the door to lots of possibilities. One of the most touted is vehicle-to-grid, which means the vehicle is capable of sending power back to the power grid. This means there is a conduit for renewable energy generated by individuals to be added to the power grid. This could be a source of revenue that could be used to recover the costs of going green.
Another possible application is electric vehicles serving as backup power sources. It has been estimated that most electric cars carry around battery energy that they never need nor use. For example, many owners of electric vehicles with more than 150 miles of range typically do not drive more than 20 miles a day. The extra energy may be used to power the home, for example, when the vehicle is BDC enabled. A similar concept is being explored in South Korea, where a battery power vessel will serve as a backup for a city’s power in case of a disaster.
Volkswagen has done a lot of work on this already, with a member of the conglomerate’s development board stating that they are in the last stage of preparation to release thusly equipped cars. The company wants to sell 300,000 of BDC models across all the brands it controls. If everything goes well, BDC will become just another thing to take for granted few years from now.