Toyota has developed the O-Uchi Kyuden System, a battery system for residential use based on electrified vehicle battery technology. The system features bidirectional vehicle-to-home capabilities.
The home battery system is meant for everyday use, providing off-peak electricity, residential solar power photovoltaic system support, and EV charging. EVs capable of bidirectional power can be used by the system as an emergency power supply during power shortages.
With this kind of system, a vehicle can not only be charged from the home system, thanks to power produced from domestically produced solar power, but electric vehicles can also feed electricity back into the home or other devices (V2X) when grid power is not available. These capabilities also mean the possibility of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) balancing in places where the grid system allows bidirectional charging to balance supply in times of high energy use.
In China, where Toyota is active with with CATL and BYD as well as its Panasonic joint venture Primeerth EV Energy, second life use is translated as “cadence”, “gradient”, or “ladder” use, which also refers to the Chinese policy of “most urgent use first” for electric vehicle batteries.
So far, the O-Uchi Kyuden System is only being launched on the Japanese market. Toyota says that pre-orders for the system have already started and sales in Japan will begin in August through home builders and general construction companies.
