Is Tesla gearing up with V2G capabilities?

Tesla has apparently equipped the Model 3 and probably also the Model Y with bidirectional charging capacities. However, there are now some doubts about the corresponding report that makes the claim.

Bidirectional charging would come as a surprise because Tesla CEO Elon Musk has always argued that the Tesla fleet was too small to make this feature pay off for balancing the power grid. Tesla is also concerned about potentially ageing the battery. In the meantime, however, the Tesla board may have changed their approach to bidirectional charging. These assertions come from a report by Electrek based on statements by an electrical engineer who was involved in the teardown of a Model 3 for a competitor.

According to the report, the design of the onboard charger is completely bi-directional: electricity can be converted not only from AC to DC but also the other way round. This is an important prerequisite for bidirectional charging. In addition, the device was equipped with a 3-phase design so that it could be used worldwide. It stands to be assumed that Tesla could activate bidirectional charging via a software update.

So far, mainly only the large OEMs such as Honda and Nissan have been involved in the development of V2G technologies. For example, Nissan, TenneT and The Mobility House (TMH) recently completed their V2G pilot project, which was launched in 2018 to redistribute renewable energy in Germany.

Update Sunday 24 May 2020: Meanwhile, an electrical engineer has published a video that supposedly proves that the Electrek report got it wrong. The engineer reasoned that it is possible that components of the charge control system were misinterpreted during the “teardown”.

electrek.co (report claiming bidirectional capability), electricrevs.com (counterargument)