Launching NZ’s Largest
Vehicle-To-Grid Trial
ABout the project
The project will trial vehicle-to-grid (V2G) in a selection of homes and businesses and aims to understand how the technology can be used to integrate into the everyday lives of New Zealanders to save them money, provide the energy system with more security, and be a source of backup resilience in the case of emergencies.
The trial is open to multiple vehicle types, homes and businesses. You can register your interest in the project through the form at the bottom of this page.
This trial is being funded by EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) with the support of delivery partner Rewiring Aotearoa and its Queenstown Electrification Accelerator. It will involve co-operation by NGOs, local lines company Aurora, retailers, charging providers, vehicle suppliers and the local community.
About V2G
V2G technology enables your electric car to share its battery power with your home or business, and the electricity grid. This can lower your bills, reduce strain on the network at peak times and provide days or even weeks of backup power in the case of an emergency. V2G allows owners to make or save money by putting their vehicle to use when it's not moving and it can help build a lower cost energy system that is both more resilient and secure.
There are numerous names for sharing energy from your car, like V2L (vehicle-to-load), V2H (vehicle-to-home), V2X (vehicle-to-anything), and V2G. While each of these have slightly different meanings, here we refer to them collectively as V2G.
Queenstown Innovation to benefit all of new Zealand
V2G trials have already proven successful around the world, with early results showing clear savings for Australian households. We’re running a local, Queenstown pilot to better understand how this technology will work, unpack the benefits in a New Zealand context, and create the blueprint for deploying V2G nationwide.
One day the largest power station in the country could be parked in our driveways.
The potential of V2G is immense. In a future where most cars are electric, just half of the vehicles owned by households in New Zealand could together output more capacity than all of the nation's power stations combined. Business fleets, buses, trucks and more can add to this further. Tapping into even a small percentage of this potential could make our electricity system more affordable, efficient and resilient.
Register your interest
Both households and businesses will be eligible to participate. Register your interest and as applications open we will get in contact with you to assess your suitability for the trial.