“At home and on the road, my journey towards a sustainable future”

The ability to power my car and run my life with home-sourced energy – and being able to contribute power back to the grid – has not just saved money, it’s given me a real sense of energy independence and reduced my environmental impact along the way.

Our journey began in 2017 with our first electric vehicle (EV) a first-generation Nissan Leaf. It was an ex-demo vehicle with only 1,000 miles on the clock and a bargain at around half the price of a new one.

From the beginning the financial benefits became clear, the cost of my [50 mile round trip] daily commute dropped significantly – from £115 a month in diesel, to just an additional £20 on my electricity bill. This was an exciting first step towards sustainability, and with the Leaf quietly charging up each night, I quickly recognised powering the car with my own energy was also a possibility.

A friend and colleague, also an early EV adopter, introduced me to the world of (V2G) technology, where EVs can use some of the power stored in their batteries to feed back to buildings, or even the electricity grid. This led me to thinking of our car not just as an A-to-B transport tool, but also as a way of powering our home, the grid – perhaps even making money back on the energy we generated but did not immediately need.

The following year we had a 4.5kW solar system installed on the roof of our home. This meant I was no longer just driving an electric car; I was generating my own ‘fuel’. The obvious next step was to maximise the interaction between the solar panels and EV. This concept of V2G was initially mind-blowing to me – instead of just charging my car from the grid, I could export energy from my EV’s battery back to the grid, creating a two-way flow of power, and a source of revenue.

Living with V2G

I was lucky enough to get accepted on to a two-year trial with a V2G charger thrown in for free and a tariff that paid me 11p more per kWh exported than it cost me from the grid. It was a win-win situation.

Each night, the EV was left to charge up, and each morning I’d head off to work with a full battery. On returning home I typically had 60-70% charge left. I’d plug the car back in and the remaining energy was available to be exported to the grid, with the smart control system knowing I always wanted to leave a buffer of 30% charge in the car in case I needed to go out again in the evening. Like most people, when the pandemic hit my driving habits shifted, I wasn’t commuting at all and the EV became a four-wheeled battery for the house, having a role of exporting energy to the grid while it sat in the driveway.

The impact on energy bills

 During the colder, winter months when there was less sun and I was commuting daily, I still received regular energy bills. But as the seasons changed (especially during lockdown) the tables turned, and I got paid for the energy I was exporting. The V2G system meant we ended up with virtually no energy bills over the course of the two-year trial. That’s right, no bills for running the house or charging the car.

Next steps

 Six years on and with more than 65,000 miles on the clock, the EV battery is holding up well. Despite all the charging cycles over that period, it’s only lost one battery health bar, impressive for a first-generation vehicle of its kind.

 New technology has since allowed us to upgrade to Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) functionality. This means we can use the energy stored in the car to power our home directly and now take advantage of innovative time-of-use tariffs, which offer lower priced electricity at certain times and which are more beneficial for car charging overnight.

There’s no better feeling than filling up your car with sunshine, knowing you’re reducing your environmental impact. Looking ahead, we’re exploring the idea of installing a heat pump to move off gas entirely. It’s incredibly exciting to think about how much further we can go in cutting our carbon footprint — and boosting our energy independence.