Hyundai Mobis develops a two-way charger for EVs

Hyundai Mobis, Korea’s biggest auto parts maker, has developed a so-called bi-directional onboard charger for an electric vehicle, the company said Wednesday.

A bi-directional onboard charger (OBC) allows an electric car to charge itself at a charging station. It also allows the vehicle to supply electricity from its battery through grid networks to industrial complexes or homes, the company said in a statement.

“It’s like buying electricity at cheap prices at night and selling it at high prices during the daytime. An electric car mated with an OBC will serve as an energy storage system when a power shortage occurs,” a Hyundai Mobis spokesperson explained.

Some 100,000 OBC-equipped electric cars can supply a combined 500 megawatts of electricity.

The OBC is the most essential part in realizing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology that will allow electric cars to supply electricity to power grids.

As Hyundai Mobis expects the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) market to grow to 30 trillion won ($26.7 billion) by 2025, the demand for OBCs will rise sharply, the company said. It cited data from U.S. consulting firm Grand View Research.

V2X communication is the passing of information from a vehicle to any entity that may affect the vehicle, and vice versa.

“Demand for OBCs on electric cars will go up in the next 10 to 15 years,” the spokesman said.

Globally, V2G technology is being tested in countries such as Japan, Denmark, China and the United States, the statement said. YONHAP