Australia’s Biggest V2G Trial Just Shifted Up a Gear

Australia’s vehicle-to-grid rollout has been significantly expanded, with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) committing an additional $13.6 million to scale Amber Electric’s V2G trial from 50 households to 1,000 EV-enabled homes.

The project is the largest real-world test in Australia of whether electric vehicles can operate as both transport and energy storage — charging when electricity is cheap and exporting power back into the grid during peak demand.

The expansion also forms part of ARENA’s Driving the Nation program, which is focused on accelerating technologies that integrate electric vehicles into Australia’s energy system.

What’s Been Holding Back V2G?

ARENA says the expansion is aimed at addressing barriers that have kept V2G stuck in early-stage trials, including coordination between vehicle manufacturers, energy networks, customers, and charging technology providers.

“To unlock V2G at scale, we need to bring together customers, car makers, networks and technology providers,” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said.

A major hurdle remains manufacturer support for bidirectional charging, including concerns around battery cycling, performance and warranty coverage.

The expanded project will initially work with BYD, with ARENA hoping the trial will generate the real-world data needed to encourage broader participation from vehicle manufacturers.

“A big part of that is giving manufacturers the confidence their vehicles will perform as expected, including through validated approaches to battery use and warranties,” Miller said.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said V2G reflects a broader shift in how electric vehicles are used within the energy system.

“Vehicle-to-grid technology means your car does not just get you from A to B, it can help power your home and support the grid,” Bowen said.

He said EVs will increasingly be able to store excess renewable energy and discharge it when needed, helping reduce costs and improve grid stability.

Can EVs Cut Electricity Bills And Even Generate Income?

Vehicle-to-grid technology is being tested using wholesale electricity pricing, where electricity costs change throughout the day depending on supply and demand.

Prices fluctuate throughout the day, often becoming very cheap during periods of high renewable generation and significantly higher when the grid is under stress.

The trial uses automated systems to manage when EVs charge and export energy based on real-time market signals. Decisions are fully automated.

V2G builds on this by turning EVs into flexible energy storage, shifting when they charge and discharge in response to wholesale price movements.

For most households, the primary benefit is reducing exposure to peak electricity pricing by shifting energy use into cheaper periods.

In some cases, the same mechanism can also produce direct financial returns.

During a South Australian heatwave in January, when wholesale prices surged to the market cap of $21/kWh, Amber advised SolarQuotes that one participant earned more than $1,000 in a single day by exporting energy from a large EV as well as a home battery system.

These outcomes reflect exceptional market conditions rather than typical daily performance, but they illustrate how EV batteries can respond to extreme price volatility.

One Amber customer earned over $1000 in a single day in January, with half the profits from V2G exports from a Ford Mustang Mach E and the other half from a 40kWh Sigenergy battery.

How V2G Fits Into Australia’s Energy Transition

The focus of Australia’s energy transition is increasingly shifting from building more renewable generation to managing when and how that energy is used across the grid.

Vehicle-to-grid is being explored alongside home batteries as part of that shift, helping manage when excess solar energy is stored and released across the grid.

The expansion comes as other major energy companies, including Origin (the owner of SolarQuotes) and AGL, continue to explore how EVs could interact with the electricity network as EV uptake grows.

What Happens Next For V2G?

The expanded program will scale to 1,000 homes in a staged rollout, providing one of the largest real-world datasets in Australia on how EVs perform as grid-connected energy assets.

The key test will be whether V2G can deliver consistent value for households beyond rare price spikes, and whether manufacturers fully support bidirectional charging at scale.

It will also determine how effectively automated systems can remove the need for user involvement in energy trading decisions, making participation simple enough for mainstream households.

If successful, the trial could help shift V2G from early demonstration projects into commercially available household energy offerings.

For readers wanting to understand how V2G (vehicle-to-grid), V2H (vehicle-to-home) and V2L (vehicle-to-load) systems actually differ in practice, we’ve broken it down in our explainer article on bi-directional charging.