This guest post was written by Alan Shedd, retired director of emerging technologies at Oglethorpe Power Corporation and Georgia resident. In this piece, Alan details his experience using his Kia EV6 for emergency power in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
My wife and I have a home in coastal Georgia on the Sapelo River. Like many in the area, our power was knocked out in the predawn hours of Friday, September 27 as Hurricane Helene barreled through.
The area is remote; there are lots of trees and aging infrastructure. Outages are common. Most are short, but Hurricane Matthew, Hurricane Irma, and even a freak winter snowstorm caused multi-day outages that prompted us to install a modest solar power system with battery backup that can keep the refrigerator, lights, computer, well pump, and other critical loads running.
When grid power failed, the batteries took over until the sun came out after the storm. Unfortunately, the small system can’t handle big loads like central air conditioning and water heating (system upgrades are in my future). The 90-degree heat and humidity of coastal Georgia with days of yard cleanup would have been more than unpleasant.
The V2L hookup on Alan’s Kia EV6.
Alan’s air conditioner.
The solution was parked in the driveway. My 2022 Kia EV6 is equipped with a vehicle-to-load (V2L) adapter that can provide 120-volt AC power to tools and appliances using the energy stored in its large 77 kWh battery. I have used the V2L feature to power fans and a coffee maker at events and to run power tools at a construction site. Using it to provide backup power to my home would be a new challenge.
I had purchased a small, very efficient, quiet window air conditioner last summer with the thought of running it on solar or using a small Honda generator. I mounted the window unit, ran an extension cord from the car to the house, and powered it up. It ran continuously for nearly 3 days using about 438 Watts of power. Even though it was undersized to adequately cool the entire house, it made a big difference keeping the humidity below 50% and the temperature in the 70’s.
When first connected, the car’s battery was at 88% state of charge. When power was restored 68 hours later and I turned off the AC, the car battery was at 42%. In addition to powering the air conditioner, I used the car to recharge a portable power station twice using an additional 2 kWh of the car’s stored juice.
The charge in the battery of Alan’s Kia EV6 before (left) and after (right) powering his air conditioning unit for 68 hours.
The math:
- Car battery stores 77 kWh of electricity.
- During the outage the car battery was discharged from 88% to 42% (35.4 kWh).
- We had over 100 miles in range left.
- The air conditioner ran continuously for 68 hours consuming 29.8 kWh.
- Charging the power station consumed an additional 2 kWh
- There is some energy loss in the car’s DC to AC conversion.
- Recharging the vehicle battery consumed $4.60 in electricity.
- Before connecting to the EV6 V2L output, I used my Honda generator to power the air conditioner. It burned 1 gallon of gas in 9 hours of operation. So, had I used the generator instead of the car, I would have burned 7.6 gallons of ethanol-free gas, at a cost of $30.40 plus the noise and pollution.
- Our solar system consists of 2 kW solar panels, 10 kWh LFP batteries, and a 9 kW grid-interactive inverter with stand-alone capability.
- Air conditioner: Energy Star listed Midea 8,000 Btu/h window unit with U-shape design for reduced indoor noise.
We were pleased with the outcome—not only the comfort it provided but also the cost savings, reduced noise and pollution, and flexible long-duration power supply. Electric vehicle V2L capability is a useful tool and provides a much-welcomed energy source during an extended power outage: just one more example of how an EV can make one’s life better.