POWER ON WHEELS!
Your car can be charged even away from the grid
COMPILED BY Dyan Seneviratne
The latest iteration of Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 can act as a generator when parked, thanks to vehicle to load (V2L) tech. Need to power your camping equipment in the wilderness? Or play video games while basking on a white sandy beach? Well, you can – if you own an electric car fitted with V2L capability such as in the Hyundai IONIQ 5.
Indeed, the Hyundai Motor Group has emerged as a highly admired electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer with its Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) platform, which is also used by the carmaker’s subsidiary Kia in its EV6 and the top of the range Genesis GV60.
Many more E-GMP cars are on the way…
V2L means that an electric vehicle can become a source of power on wheels by dint of a simple adaptor that plugs directly into the charge socket. So instead of power going in to ramp up the battery, the charge is sent outwards through the adaptor to whatever you have plugged in.
Yes, it’s innovative and so cool!
The adapter looks like a charger plug but a cap opens on one end to reveal a domestic electrical socket. Plug your device into the adapter first; then plug the latter into the car’s charging socket. There’s a power switch on the adapter to cut power if needed; and significantly, you don’t need to have the car switched on for the V2L system to work. That’s all you need to do!
Your car is a moving power provider now; and it can supply electricity for whatever outdoor activities you fancy – perhaps while camping in the jungle, hosting a midnight beach party or providing electricity while there’s a pesky power cut!
You can even plug your electric lawn mower into the car to trim the front lawn without trailing an extension cord through the house. Or you can use your vehicle to boil a kettle of water and enjoy a cup of exquisite Ceylon Tea, or pump up an inflatable dinghy.
The potential for this innovative V2L system is simply mind-boggling!
And there’s more! You can charge a stranded EV – perhaps slowly – using the three pin charger. The obvious worry is that you’ll empty the car’s battery; but Hyundai has thought of that too.
The IONIQ 5’s instrument display panel shows when the V2L is active, how much charge is left and the rate of power it’s displacing up to 3.6 kW. Then as a precaution, the V2L is automatically disabled if your vehicle has a less than 15 percent charge.
Experts who carried out independent practical tests on the IONIQ 5’s brilliant V2L system confirm that it works as claimed. They say that it’s a “simple bit of technology – but useful.” Hyundai’s E-GMP platform comes loaded with this technology. All you need is the proprietary adapter to get it working.
The experts add: “It really is ‘plug and play’; easy to set up and handy when power isn’t near.” Wheeled power has come to stay with the intrepid South Koreans enjoying a head start.