Australia’s electric vehicle dream is rapidly turning into a nightmare for thousands of households.
While the government pushes EVs, your shiny new electric car could be pushing your home’s power supply, running appliances, heating, cooling, lighting and then plugging in a car overnight is tipping homes to the brink.
The solution lies not in drawing more expensive electricity from the grid, but in adding solar batteries to create balance, resilience and independence.
According to Steven Yu, CEO of Aussie Solar Batteries Group, batteries are now the critical piece missing from Australia’s clean energy transition.
“Solar panels alone won’t cut it anymore,” Yu said.
“When you add the charging needs of an electric car to an already stretched household load, you hit the limits of the grid and your wallet. A solar battery solves the problem, it stores free energy during the day and makes it available when you need it most, including charging your car at night.”
The new household challenge: powering cars and homes
According to the Electric Vehicle Council, a typical passenger EV, driven 12,000km per year, will consume about 2,000kWh of electricity per year.
By comparison, a typical mainland Australian home consumes about 4,000-8,000kWh of electricity per year (depending on whether they use gas for cooking/heating or not).
That means families that once managed their power bills are suddenly dealing with almost double the demand.
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The average electric vehicle draws as much power annually as an entire household, effectively doubling a family’s energy demand.
For small businesses adding EVs to their fleets, the challenge is even greater.
“Installing a battery is the sensible thing to do and now thanks to rapid progress in technology there are plenty of affordable battery options available for households and businesses,” Mr Yu said.
“Thanks to the federal government, the financial incentives have just got even better.”
Federal rebate making batteries affordable
As of July this year, the Federal Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program has made solving this problem far more accessible.
The program offers rebates of around 30 per cent off the upfront cost of eligible battery systems, equivalent to up to $372 per kilowatt-hour of usable capacity.
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The Federal Government’s new Cheaper Home Batteries Program has made battery systems around 30 per cent cheaper, with rebates of up to $372 per kilowatt-hour
The scheme is open to households, small businesses and community organisations nationwide. It is not means-tested, and applies to systems between five kilowatt-hours and 100 kilowatt-hours.
“This rebate is a game-changer,” Mr Yu said.
“It means Australians can add battery storage for less and finally have the power capacity to run their homes and charge their vehicles without compromise.”
Savings and energy independence
A well-sized solar battery system can cut household energy bills by up to 70 per cent, saving families between $1500 and $3000 annually.
For businesses, particularly those operating EV fleets, savings can reach tens of thousands of dollars each year.
“Every dollar saved on power is a dollar that can be redirected into families and businesses,” Mr Yu said.
“Batteries don’t just save money, they give households and businesses the independence to manage their energy on their own terms.”
For households, this can cut energy bills by up to 70 per cent, saving between $1,500 and $3,000 a year.
However, Mr Yu emphasised that many current solar enabled households are now experiencing financial challenges despite the early financial benefits of solar.
The export tariff, which is money paid to households for selling solar generated power during the day to the grid, is $0.03 – $0.05.
Ridiculously, households still need to buy the same electricity from the grid during the night at a much higher rate of $0.35 -$0.69.
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