Vehicle-to-Gerni: Ioniq 5 EV acts as battery on wheels for flood clean up

A newly delivered Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric car has quickly shown the benefits of its vehicle-to-load technology, acting as a battery on wheels to help locals clean up after the floods in the Brisbane area.

Floods in south east Queensland and northern NSW have devastated many communities, leaving some of them without power, and fearing a shortage of fuel for their petrol and diesel vehicles. The most pressing thing to do for many as flood waters recede has been to clean up the damaged homes.

Paul Guard was affected by floods in Brisbane in 2011, and says he was overwhelmed by the generosity of strangers who had helped with the clean up of their Fairfield house. So, having moved just up the road since then, he was keen to help out the new occupants of the house and others when flooding happened again over the weekend.

“It was not as bad this time, at least not as muddy,” Guard tells The Driven. “We hooked up two Gerni (pressure washers) to the Ioniq 5 and had them running at the same time.” You might be able to run three Gernis, he says, depending on their draw, as long as it is below 3.6kW.

“It’s a nice set up,” Guard says. “It only took a few hours and it was nice not to have to burn petrol for a generator. But there’s not many of those available anyway because they have all been snapped up.”

ioniq 5 flood clean up — Image: Paul Guard

Guard said he had also used the Ioniq 5 to power some Gernis in Chelmer and to charge up some powerbanks that were being used by other flood victims to power appliances.

The Ioniq 5 is the first fully electric vehicle to arrive in Australia with vehicle to load facilities, which means you can use an adaptor in the exterior charging socket to power tools, appliances, or even run a power cord from the home if need be.

Guard took delivery of his Ioniq 5 in December, and had only been using the V2L facility to make some coffee till now, just to test the system. He had planned to go on a camping trip last weekend to test out a new electric BBQ, but the floods put paid to that idea. That will be for another day.

See our review of the Ioniq 5 here: Ioniq 5 review: Mobile power station, home office and camping car all in one

Giles Parkinson

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.

Vehicle-to-Gerni: Ioniq 5 EV acts as battery on wheels for flood clean up

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