Tesla currently do not support V2G despite it being an opportunity for owners to monetise (pay off the investment) using the huge battery often sitting idle in their garages.
fig.1 Asleep 20 hours, could have been arbitraging the spot market and supporting the local grid!
e-mail thread with Tesla NZ customer service:
Dear Tesla New Zealand Customer Support,
I am writing as a Tesla owner and long-time supporter of New Zealand’s transition to an electrified, renewable economy.
New Zealand is currently importing billions of dollars of coal, gas, and petroleum products each year, even while renewable electricity is being spilled and households continue investing in solar, batteries, and EVs. This is not a technology failure. It is a confidence and policy-alignment problem.
Vehicle-to-Grid capability is the missing piece.
If Tesla enabled V2G for New Zealand customers, even in a controlled or opt-in form, Tesla vehicles could immediately become a distributed, privately funded resilience asset for the national grid. During peak stress and dry-hydro events, Teslas could discharge modest amounts of energy to reduce reliance on coal and gas, conserve hydro water, and stabilise prices. Vehicles could then recharge during periods of surplus renewable or steady geothermal generation.
This would achieve several things at once:
- Support national energy security without government capital spending
- Reduce fossil-fuel imports and emissions
- Increase the value proposition of owning a Tesla
- Give government the confidence that EVs are not just transport devices, but strategic energy infrastructure
- Accelerate EV uptake by aligning customer benefit with national benefit
New Zealand’s challenge is not a lack of private capital or willing participants. Tesla owners have already paid for the batteries. What is missing is the software and permission to let those batteries help when the system needs them most.
BYD and other manufacturers are already signalling V2X capability. Tesla has the engineering depth, the installed base, and the brand trust to lead globally. It is not too late for Tesla to be the company that turns distributed EVs into a real solution for grid resilience and economic stability.
I respectfully ask that Tesla New Zealand escalate this to regional and global product teams and seriously consider enabling V2G functionality for New Zealand customers. Many of us would gladly opt in.
Tesla has an opportunity to help New Zealand move from importing fuel to exporting resilience.
How to engage the masses in V2G through their wallets:
“Your EV becomes a money-making battery when you’re not driving it.”
“Stop paying peak prices.”
“Turn on automatic savings.”
The climate warriors ask people to care about outcomes they cannot see. Its proving to be an uphill battle.
Electricity bills show dollar benefits every month. Once people see flexibility savings, the emissions reductions happen anyway.