Two-way charging: BC to look into how battery vehicles can power buildings

TransLink's first new Nova LFSEe+ electric-battery bus being charged at the bus loop at SkyTrain 22nd Street Station. (TransLink)

Could battery-electric vehicles not only be used for transportation but also double as generators to power equipment or even entire buildings during emergencies?

A new pilot project by BC Hydro will explore how to enable the electricity stored in medium-duty and heavy-duty battery-electric vehicles to be pushed back to the grid. The electric utility says this is Canada’s first vehicle-to-grid pilot project for such vehicles.

With such added capabilities, this could be used to provide electricity to schools, community centres, hospitals, and police and fire departments during power outages from natural disasters and other emergencies. It is also cleaner and potentially more flexible compared to the use of diesel generators.

Examples of such larger vehicles — not light-duty passenger cars — for two-way charging include buses and cargo trucks. BC Hydro states it has already successfully tested a 60 kW charger connecting a Lion Electric school bus from Lynch Bus Lines, with the typical bus battery holding 66 kW of electricity, which is enough to power 24 single-family, electrically-heated houses for about two hours.

According to BC Hydro, if 1,000 battery-electric buses are used for two-way charging, they could power 24,000 homes for two hours. Over the coming years, TransLink, BC Transit, and private bus operators are expected to grow their battery-electric bus fleets significantly.

Chris O’Riley, the president and CEO of BC Hydro, states that two-way charging capabilities could eventually be expanded to cars, which are parked 95% of the time on average. Moreover, over the coming years, the proportion of battery-electric vehicles in BC’s overall vehicle population is expected to grow drastically.

BC Hydro’s pilot project is in partnership with Powertech and Coast to Coast Experiences, with the provincial government offering funding to support the initiative.

“This technology offers a host of new opportunities for British Columbians – everything from feeding electricity from your personal vehicle back to your home during a power outage to powering homes off-grid in times of need,” said Pierre Poulain, president and CEO of Powertech Labs, in a statement.

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