Vehicle to Load (V2L): your EV as a power source
What V2L is, which cars sold in Australia support it, and how to use it for camping, tools and home backup.
Vehicle to Load, or V2L, lets your electric car push power outward through a normal 240V socket, either built into the car or through an adapter on the charge port. Think of it as a large, quiet, mobile power station. A fully charged EV can run a fridge, a television and a laptop together for hours, or drive a kettle, an angle grinder or a compressor in shorter bursts. It needs no special charger and no installation, which is what makes it the most practical bidirectional feature available to Australians today.
What you can actually run
A household fridge draws around 140W continuously, an LED TV around 120W, and a laptop around 60W, so any V2L car runs all three at once. Higher-draw items like a kettle (1,200 to 1,500W) or power tools are fine on cars with more output but worth watching. The car's inverter shuts V2L down if you exceed its rated output or the battery gets too low, which protects the car automatically.
Cars sold in Australia with V2L
Many EVs on sale here support V2L, most at around 3.6kW. They include the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6, Kona and Inster, the Kia EV6, EV9 and Niro, BYD models such as the Atto 3, Dolphin, Seal and Sealion, the MG4 and ZS EV, and Genesis models. GWM Ora and some Deepal models offer higher outputs around 6 to 6.6kW. Tesla added a V2L adapter in Australia in May 2026, starting with the Model Y L. A fuller list is maintained at RACV and EVDB Australia. Check your specific variant before relying on V2L.
V2L for camping
For camping you need only the V2L adapter for your car and an extension lead. A fridge, lighting and phone charging together draw under 200W, which a large EV battery can sustain for a long weekend with charge to spare. Cars with 6kW or more output can even run an induction cooktop. The inverter keeps a reserve so you are never stranded without driving range.
V2L as home backup
In a blackout, the simplest setup is an extension lead from the car to a power board, enough to keep a fridge, lights and phones going. For a cleaner connection to a home circuit, a licensed electrician can fit a changeover switch that isolates that circuit from the grid. Australians used V2L exactly this way during recent floods and outages, including to run essential medical equipment.
Adapters
Hyundai sells an official V2L connector through its dealers. Tesla's adapter is sold through its Australian store. Third-party Type 2 to Australian-socket adapters are also available from local retailers, with quality and output varying, so buy one rated for the load you plan to run.