Bi-directional Charging / Home Power Backup

[drhoden]

One of the biggest things I'm looking at in the total utility delivered from an EV Pickup is its ability to compliment my whole-home security plan; power being the most important.

I really hope this truck has 2 things:

1. Auto Bi-Directional kick-in (with safety checks).
2. On-board generator, either for range extending or destination self-recharging.

I would love to see this vehicle as my own portable powerhouse, and oh yeah, it also seats 6 ( I definitely want seating for 6).

 

[Shinji310]

One of the biggest things I'm looking at in the total utility delivered from an EV Pickup is its ability to compliment my whole-home security plan; power being the most important.

I really hope this truck has 2 things:

1. Auto Bi-Directional kick-in (with safety checks).
2. On-board generator, either for range extending or destination self-recharging.

I would love to see this vehicle as my own portable powerhouse, and oh yeah, it also seats 6 ( I definitely want seating for 6).

I have been baffled by the fact that many EVs are not offering a way to power a house. EVs is a massive power bank. I do not understand why they don't make it available to drive a home. I live in an area where utility service is not as reliable as I want. It would be really really cool to be able to use Scout vehicle as a back up. For me, it will seal the deal.

 

[falcatum]

Offer a 240 30A L14-30R or better yet a 50A 14-50R for the Traveler SUV to allow connection to a home or camper.

 

[San Diego]

Bi-directional charging is a mandatory for me. Direct from Scout (silly not to be front and center on their website): The Scout Terra will indeed support bi-directional charging. This capability is included in the design of all Scout vehicles, which encompasses the Scout Terra model. These vehicles are equipped with an 800-volt architecture and have up to 350 kilowatt charging capability, which facilitates the bi-directional charging feature

 

[Chris27]

Will this bidirectional charger be available via the scout EV charger that we saw on demo? What features can we expect via this charger and the app for bidirectional options?

Speaking on the subject of Harvester, will there be a safety feature built in to NOT run the generator when parked in an enclosed garage? For example, if I park my Scout in the garage and hook it up to run bidirectional to power my house, cannot be locked down to run off only the battery and not kick the generator on to charge the battery? Inversely, if I park outside and hook up, cannot I select to run the harvester at a certain percentage to act as a ‘manual generator’ to power my house?

I’m looking into a home backup battery in place of a full Generac system. I’d like the option to run critical appliances via the battery as a stand alone if we aren’t home. If we are home, we can supplement via a ‘manual generator’ plug in via a gateway or run off the EV. When we are ready, we can add solar to the mix….when all these ideas are paid off lol.

 

[shutthefrontdoor]

Having a bi-directional charger at launch would be a bonus as you wouldn't have to purchase something afterwards and try to sell your existing one. At their 2024 Investor Day, Rivian said they will have one and that all R1T/R1S are capable of up to 24 kW of bidirectional charging using a special wall charger. They've been mum on the topic ever since.

Though I could see where some would want to use it daily, charging their vehicle at night and powering their home during the day and perhaps that gives these companies pause in respect to their battery warranty.

A SSB would definitely help in that regard though. Would be my ideal setup to have both a SSB and Bi-Directional V2H through the vehicles L2 charger. That's a ways off though. With 2 charged BEVs in my garage, I'd probably have weeks of backup and you could even take one to the nearest SC that's powered up and recharge and keep alternating them as necessary, indefinitely. (albeit with no power for a minute when switching over unless you had 2 separate bi-directional chargers connected to your equipment). One can dream...

 

[Mousehunter]

The problem with V2L at the moment is few if any vehicles support it at a power to do much more than run a refrigerator or 2. 24kW would be nice - but having a backup generator on a rental, I am already aware specifically that 24kW can be limiting. Barely limiting, but if both AC's fire at the same time, we better not be cooking too. We have the AC's programed so that only one can run at a time if we are on backup (I personally thing that is a bit conservative, I think the real issue is the startup surge. But the installer apparently warned us, and did not apparently suggest we put in soft starts for the AC's.

If the Scout can put out a reasonable load - sure I would love to wire it in to my future homes backup solution. Honestly, I don't know how much it would actually help - if I have even a moderate amount of house backup battery capacity. Batteries will deplete, and ultimately it is up to a generator to provide the power. Batteries can only help the generators run at better efficiency - and stretch the time between service intervals. Right now our rentals backup generator is down - Beryl took it over its service interval and it has coded. Since the Houston area had 2 major outages this year, and since the code is a warranty issue rather than a simple service one - we are on the back burner of a LOT of service calls.

FWIW, we have had the backup generator for 3 years, I think this will be our 3rd or 4th service interval. Our electrical service is terrible there.

 

[dleepnw]

Its typically not the vehicle thats the limiting factor, its the extra equipment that needs to be installed at home. Ford has their version the Charge Station Pro. No other manufacturer has come up with one that they are selling (afaik). I know Enphase is one company trying to produce their 3rd party version. Rivian has stated for years that all their R1 vehicles have the hardware already in each vehicle to support V2L. They just haven't come up with the equipment for the home.

It'll likely be the same story for Scout. The vehicle will probably have the capability to do V2L (or at least it should if they haven't planned it). They will either need to manufacture the home unit or partner with a 3rd party vendor. Either way, I hope they plan for this as any BEV with giant batteries are a no brainer for home power backup.