There’s no denying the current petrol crisis has compounded the cost-of-living pressures felt by most Australians.
And while authorities have implemented temporary travel relief, including free or reduced public transport and a halving of the fuel excise tax, some drivers are switching to fully electric cars to reduce their ownership costs.
Though electricity is undoubtedly cheaper than petrol at the moment, a new study has revealed that EVs have the potential to reduce a household’s electric bill due to an electric car’s vehicle-to-home (V2H) feature.
In a nutshell, V2H refers to an EV’s bidirectional charging capability, where the vehicle can redistribute excess stored electricity back into a household to power electronic devices.
A joint study from Flinders, Adelaide and Murdoch universities – which analysed three different residential energy setups – found that a 7kW solar system, coupled with a 9kWh home battery and a V2H-capable EV, delivered the lowest estimated annual cost of $2451.
“When V2H capability was removed, the home required a larger 13kWh battery to achieve a similar performance, resulting in a 10.8 per cent increase in annual electricity costs,” an Adelaide University April 2026 media statement read.
According to the data, utilising a combination of solar energy, a home battery and an EV led to a rate reduction of 27c per kilowatt-hour (kWh), while power grid imports fell by 78 per cent "compared to a house with no solar or battery".
Flinders University researcher Golsa Azarbakhsh said the study confirmed the integral role of V2H technology in the future of household energy.
“Our work shows that enabling electric vehicles with V2H technology can play an important role in supporting renewable energy use in homes,” Azarbakhsh said in a media statement.
“Vehicle-to-home capability can reduce the need for dedicated home battery storage while lowering household electricity costs by about 6.8 per cent."
While South Australia is currently the only state that has legalised bi-directional charging, some energy companies are starting to trial it in select states.
As reported by Drive in September 2025, AGL and Origin Energy – two of Australia’s largest energy providers – will trial vehicle-to-grid (V2G) in select states.
The trial allows some drivers who own a range of EVs from brands such as Kia, Zeekr and BYD to reduce their electricity bills by charging their cars during low-demand periods – when the power grid isn’t in demand – and using some of the collected energy to power their homes during peak periods.
Crucially, AGL said some homeowners can receive energy credits by sending the energy stored in the EV’s battery back to the power grid during peak hours.
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
