A few nights back I went to a concert of the favorite band of my youth, Crowded House, an internationally well known Australian / New Zealand act most famous in the ‘80’ and ‘90s. This was a night that sure brought back memories, and it reminded me of driving my Mazda MX5 convertible with the “Crowdies” playing on the CD player in Melbourne, Australia.

Ah, memories.

But what has this to do with electric vehicles? As it happens, one of their more popular songs, “Weather with You”, has much to do with EVs.

Take the key line from the chorus:

Everywhere you go,

Always take the weather with you

Change “weather” to “power” and you’ve got a new anthem for what is one of THE most important features on electric vehicles: Vehicle to Load (V2L).

Everywhere you go

Always take the POWER with you

And this, exactly, is what Vehicle to Load technology represents to buyers. The vehicle’s battery pack can store a large amount of electricity to power things other than the vehicle, and take power with you on the go.

Remarkably, there still isn’t a lot of EVs available with this feature, yet there’s already some amazing stories to tell.

The first story is the time that Hyundai Canada invited me to their head office, along with other members of the press, to see the new Hyundai IONIQ 5, which is fitted with a 77kWh SK On battery. I was greeted with some fresh coffee made from a coffee machine powered by the IONIQ 5s V2L facility. Quite impressive, and it also left a lasting impression of what V2L could be capable of.

▲ A Hyundai IONIQ 5 powering a coffee machine at Hyundai Canada’s IONIQ 5 Press Pre-Launching event that James Carter attended. (Photo: James Cater)

Immediately, my mind turned to camping. While my wife only camps 5 star, for those who love to rough it, having power for some lights, basic cooking, inflating air mattresses and to power a cell phone would make the trip that much more enjoyable. Even if it means not being a camping ‘purist’ taking the power with you does make the bugs, heat stroke and rain somewhat more tolerable.

I mean, I don’t go anywhere without my espresso machine! Maybe that’s why the Hyundai demonstration resonated with me.

Seriously though, having power with you would be extremely useful in an emergency. It could keep your phone running in a remote location, enabling communication to emergency services. It could provide heat to prevent or treat people suffering hyperthermia and enable other medical needs that require power.

Another story occurred close to where I live in Toronto, Canada. This was with what is called Vehicle to Home (V2H) – i.e., powering your home with the vehicle. About two hours west of here, a winter storm rolled through, knocking out power from strong winds and heavy snow. The owner’s Ford F-150 Lightning, using its ProPower V2L/V2H facility powered by the vehicle’s 131kWh SK On battery, was able to keep the power on in the house for almost two full days! What’s most remarkable is that only one third of the battery capacity was used.

“We don’t have it wired to our panel, but the two cords with splitters ran our fridges, freezers and our WiFi, select lights and TV for close to two full days.” (Ford F150 Lightning owner)

Indeed, Ford says the F150 Lightning can power a typical house for a week!

The other really important thing, particularly for work pickups like a Ford F-150 Lightning, is having power on site for construction or other similar activities. The F-150 Lightning has an enormous 9.6kW of power available, meaning it can power high draw equipment like welders, as well as typical equipment like saws, drills, nail guns and air compressors.

▲ The U.S. Preproduction computer-generated image of Ford F-150 Lightning Pro Trim (Source: Ford Canada homepage)

For fleets I recently discovered how important this is. A couple weeks back I hosted a panel at the EV and Charging Expo here in Toronto, with a representative from Ford Canada and their customer, Quebec telecommunications company Videotron. Currently, Videotron run more than 200 electric vans, and the technicians are geared up to regularly use their E-Transit’s Pro-Power facility to run tools and equipment as their technicians service their customers with new installations.

▲ A Ford E-Transit electric van used by Videotron, a Quebec-based subsidiary of media conglomerate Quebecor (Photo: Videotron)

Speaking of memories of my youth, from my time growing up on a farm in southern Australia, I could see V2L being very useful as well. Potential uses include pumping water for livestock on a remote bore or dam, attend to sheep with electric shears, run farm machinery through an electric PTO (Power takeoff) drive, or power batteries for a heavy-duty chainsaw.

In other words, taking the power with you is hugely beneficial for many occupations. In fact, it immediately renders the need for a portable generator (or indeed most small stationary motors) redundant, and given that these typically have no or very limited pollution controls, this is a very good thing indeed.

With the dramatic rise in EV sales, another use is to attend to stranded EV drivers that has run out of charge. An F-150 Lightning can charge a vehicle with 240V 30A of power, meaning a car with a flat battery could be on its way with enough juice to get to the nearest charger in maybe 10 to 20 minutes.

Even with this quick rundown of use cases, it is very apparent that V2L has much potential. The appeal to “take the power with you” is wide ranging, almost universal for buyers, especially for SUV and pickup owners.

In fact, I see this technology becoming the perfect platform for many other uses we have not even thought about. It’s like a smartphone for app developers, a launching pad for new on-the-go innovation.

▲ The V2L technologies introduced at SK On’s booth at InterBattery 2023 held in Seoul, South Korea in March 2023.

But perhaps the ultimate would be to power a band. While this idea is not new, indeed Ford CEO Jim Farley shared about how an F-150 Lightning saved the day at a Tora Tora concert in Memphis, Tennessee, what this band would play is important.

I propose Neil Finn and Crowded House play “Power with You” powered by V2L. Somewhere remote and really cool would be perfect; like high up in the Rocky Mountains or at the bottom of the Grand Canyon (though my house is a good substitute).

It would be the perfect way to demonstrate the potential of V2L, and it sure would have been a dream for my younger self. All I need to do now is find an electric convertible to get there, and that new Genesis X Convertible would be just about perfect. My nostalgic dream in complete.

▲ Genesis X Convertible Concept (Photo: Genesis)

🎵🎵 Everywhere you go, always take the power, the Power with You! 🎵🎵