Using Renault5 E-Tech EV as 50kWh cheaap rate overnight storage with V2Grid and V2Home

Do you have a Renault 5 ev ? We’re soon to get one and I noticed it has a fitting to discharge the battery to the home, but only to run a 3 pin plug extension lead for camping or occasional power cuts. What a shame…. ☹️ 

Hi ​@Cloudliner79 

Thank you for starting the discussion however I'm not sure what your question is. OVO don't have a V2G tariff but at least one other supplier (Octopus) does talk about V2G but it’s a very old reference and certainly doesn't mention a Renault 5 as a compatible vehicle and still references the Quasar 1 which is long gone.

Wallbox had announced they were going to produce the Quasar 2 and about two years ago they were estimating a price tag of about £6,000 but all references to the price have been dropped. Last year they said they were open to orders but there appears to be no further information on the subject.

It's quite an appealing thought to have that much battery storage already paid for sitting in your drive doing nothing but after all the talk of it revolutionising the managing of the peak load all talk of that seems to dwindled to almost nothing. Part of this is that there is a lot more BESS feeding into the grid at peak times and part of this is home battery units. BESS has grid scale economy and is guaranteed to be connected to the grid during peak hours.

I had so much difficulty trying to find where you could buy one I gave in and asked Chat.

https://support.wallbox.com/na/knowledge-base/quasar-2-product-overview/

Peter 

 C'est ça ? Mobilize Verso ? https://www.press.renault.co.uk/releases/3114

The Verso is an interesting device. The large cost of the Quasar 2 is in the DC/AC outgoing inverter so the question is, Is the R5 doing the conversion of DC to AC? What is the cost of the Verso? Presumably your export limit will still be limited by the granting of a G98 (3.68kW up to 11kW three phase) or G99 (greater than 3.68kW for single phase etc) licence by the DSO (formerly DNO) depending upon the resilience of your local cabling. 

Chat can’t find any prices for the Verso unit in France but it is suggesting that the cost might be in the region of 2-3,000 euros with installation costs on top. What it’s saying is that in France only V2G is allowed to power your home. V2H isn’t. The cost of the whole installation is tied to the cost of *Grid services * tariffs * contracts (often with Mobilize). So the information I have is woollier than a mamoth so it’s next to useless.

Ah! When I asked for further details in comparing with the Quasar 2 then it spilled the beans!

With the Verso it’s the car that does the inversion so the power must come out of the AC connector. The Verso is just a set of contactors and logic (and therefore cheaper than the Quasar 2) to make sure no one gets killed. The intelligence and inverter is in the car which means that only those cars (currently only the R5?) with the output inverter and logic will work bidirectionally. Following on, nothing in the Renault range prior to the R5 can therefore use the BiDi Verso. Presumably Renault will licence out the patent on this for other manufacturers if they want to follow suit. Being that no one licenced Renault’s Chameleon charger (using the motor field coils as the DC/DC inverter inductors) then what is the prospect of other manufacturers buying the licence for this technology? If not then it seems that a very limited number of vehicles are likely to be connected. Will Ofgem/NESO make the licence changes necessary for a small number of likely connections if that is the case? Obviously, in France, Renault is a national motor manufacturer so presumably they have influence over France’s electricity regulator.

Peter

Update: Quite by coincidence I've just picked up that VW have a V2G option. I wonder if they have adopted a common standard. More research required.