Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred: EV owners rescue Aussies during power outages

There’s plenty of hate in Australia for EV drivers. No-one was hating on them after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred was done.

Electric cars saved the day for a handful of drivers affected by Cyclone Alfred blackouts on the weekend.

An increasing number of electric and plug-in hybrid cars have a “vehicle to load” function that allows you to send power from the car’s main battery to external appliances.

It means EV owners can keep their fridge cold during power outages, or use their car to top up smartphones and other devices.

MORE: How ‘The Chargers’ will keep power on during storms

2024 BYD Shark 6. Picture: Supplied

The tech is in several models including the MG4, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and BYD Shark – but not Tesla electric cars.

Facebook groups for BYD and MG owners had several stories of owners who used cars to power home appliances.

One BYD owner said they “used our Atto to power our fridge, lights and home office for three days after storms took out power”.

Another said “I have a power cable running to my neighbours – it’s powering their fridge as well as our two fridges! Love my BYD even more right now.”

MORE: The revolutionary feature in plug-in hybrids

EV owners used 'vehicle to load' tech to keep the lights on during Cyclone Alfred. Picture: Supplied

An MG owner said “we relied on our MG4 51 Excite for power over the last 36 hours”.

“We ran a beast of a fridge, devices, kettle, and my coffee machine (vital),” they said.

“With our consumption we lost about 10 per cent a day, and probably could have lasted a full week.

“Really thankful for this technology, so much better than a generator.”

The technology has the potential to help people find their feet in the wake of a natural disaster.

Vehicle service company MyCar, formerly Kmart Tyre and Auto, has established a network of volunteers called “The Chargers” who can drive to houses without power and use their cars to power appliances for people in need.

A spokeswoman for the service said it is working on a plan to help people affected by this month’s cyclone, and would send cars to affected homes soon.

Originally published as Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred: EV owners rescue Aussies during power outages