That's the question being investigated by energy regulators, suppliers and experts as they seek to tap into what's been described as "the single biggest flexible - and as yet untapped - resource in Australia's energy transition," the Central Western Daily reports.
The technology, dubbed vehicle-to-X, could see the powerful batteries inside electric cars used to store cheap or renewable electricity and feed it back into homes, buildings, appliances or the grid during peak demand.
A report from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) says the technology could become the nation's biggest electricity storage opportunity in the next decade and has the potential to save consumers more than $6000 on the lifetime cost of charging an electric car.
But Australia's growing electric fleet will have to overcome a series of speed bumps before reaching this potential, including introducing standards, approving hardware, and encouraging more automakers to support technology.
Sometimes referred to as bi-directional charging, the prospect of using cars for energy storage is an idea gaining attention around the world.
The technology falls into three categories: vehicle-to-grid in which cars export power back into the energy network, vehicle-to-home in which cars power a house or building, and vehicle-to-load where a car's battery is used to run an appliance.
Smart Energy Council transport lead Audrey Quicke says enabling this technology in Australia could have enormous benefits for consumers and the power grid.
Electric cars could store huge amounts of power from solar energy, for example, and use vehicle-to-grid technology to put it to use.
"Electric vehicles offer massive, untapped storage potential," she says.
"In 10 years, Australia's electric car fleet is likely to have more battery capacity than Snowy 2.0 - that's a whole lot of storage on wheels that is parked about 95 per cent of the time."
FULL STORY
Why electric car tech could drive down power prices (Central Western Daily)
PHOTO
Energy experts say electric car batteries will be a big energy storage opportunity in Australia. (PR HANDOUT IMAGE PHOTO)
