Friends with Benefits: The unexpected perks of being an EV owner

I’d never thought a car would be helpful for much more than taking me places.

Our family has had a couple of EVs over the past couple of years, and I keep coming across different examples of the different side benefits they deliver.

Here are four examples of the ways EV owners are enjoying the ride without even putting their foot on the accelerator:

𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝘂𝘁? 𝗡𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. EV owners have discovered the joy of powering their homes during outages using the energy stored in their car’s battery. It’s like having a personal power station parked in your driveway. When choosing an EV, if you want this benefit, ensure it is equipped with vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-home.

𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗕𝗕𝗤 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹? A lot of EVs come set up with vehicle-to-load. This means you can power stuff from your car battery. Our car came with a multi-socket powerboard that connects to the car battery. The picture shows a market food stall in Salamanca, Tasmania that is running from their BYD.

𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘆. No more exhaust fumes. It’s not just about reducing your carbon footprint; it’s also about creating a healthier environment for you and your family.

Heat Up, Cool Down. I’m surprised how often we use this, but you can precondition your EV for the perfect temperature before you even step inside, which is quite lovely on the hot days recently!

Paul Oosting is chief growth officer for Acacia Money and a former head of GetUp. The story was first published on his LinkedIn page.