Australia’s UQ to Study Tesla Car Battery for Grid Powering

The University of Queensland in Australia has partnered with analytics company Teslascope to conduct research for a new project to analyze the electric vehicle’s battery capacity for grid powering.

The university will employ a group of Tesla car owners for a first-of-its-kind trial, to analyze battery capacity which could possibly power grid stations and homes. The initial phase of the experiment will take place in the U.S, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Germany and Britain where Tesla owners can apply to be a part of the program. Further down the line, the program may also include other electric vehicle companies.

As the demand for electric vehicles continues to grow, researchers and scientists are searching for battery usage options that can contribute to cleaner energy. The aim of the program is to be able to find other usage for car batteries beyond powering vehicles. According to researchers at the university, electric vehicle owners only use about one eight of the total capacity, leading to unused battery power which could be used for other purposes. Jake Whitehead, research fellow at the university said, “The study will not only help inform EV policy internationally, but importantly assess the feasibility of using EVs as batteries-on-wheels.”

The study will analyze the V2G technology which connects the electric vehicle and the grid, enabling smooth power flow from on to the other. This could shed light on possibilities to use the vehicle to transfer energy to the grid or network. The study will comprise of 500 Tesla owners who will register and collect data through the vehicles software in return for premium subscription to the company.

©Photo: reuters.com