Winemaker goes from high energy bill to added profit using his Nissan LEAF’s solar energy storage capabilities
Facing rising electricity costs that climbed to around $6,000 a year, one winemaker decided he had had enough. Joseph Evans first installed a solar energy system to power his entire property while the sun was out. However, he wanted to take it a step further. So, he started using his Nissan LEAF with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities to store energy during the day to power the property at night — which reduces cost and even adds an extra profit stream since he can sell the excess back to the grid.
Vineyard uses solar energy and Nissan LEAF with V2G to cut costs
“I’ve gone from a $6000 annual power bill to making around $50 per week (over $2,500 a year) in profit selling my excess power back to the grid,” says Joseph Evans, owner of Ballycroft Vineyard and Cellars in South Australia.
After watching his electricity bill climb to $6,000, the winemaker took matters into his own hands by installing a rooftop solar energy system. The solar system powers the entire vineyard during daylight hours, reducing electricity costs by $4,000.
Evans was determined to reduce the remaining $2,000 in annual power costs stemming from nightly usage, which is where his Nissan LEAF electric vehicle came to the rescue.
In September, Nissan announced it approved its first V2G charger for LEAF drivers. The EV has come with bidirectional charging capabilities since the model year 2013 but lacked a charging unit.
V2G allows you to send energy from the vehicle’s battery back to the grid during peak demand times to save on electricity costs or make an additional profit, such as in Evans’s case.
That is more than $2500 in annual profit, from what was once a significant cost. And what’s even better is the fact that, while fuel and electricity prices are only heading in one direction — and that direction is up — my costs are fixed, and fixed at zero.
He added, “Instead of paying for my power, I’m getting paid for my power.” Ballycroft is one of the first test sites in Australia approved by SA Power Networks (SAPN) to utilize V2G technology.
This is a game-changer, and I wanted to be right at the front of the queue to have V2G installed. It makes me entirely self-sufficient with my power needs, makes my home and business more sustainable, and it’s so easy to use.
Evans powers up his business and home using a Wallbox Quasar V2G charging unit and the 40 kWh battery in his Nissan LEAF, the same EV he drives to deliver wine to local restaurants. When he’s done, he recharges the LEAF and then, at night, plugs it into the V2G charger to power his home and property.
According to Evans, his Nissan LEAF provides adequate energy for living, heating, cooling, and meeting the demands of his 10-acre vineyard. He also has enough to send back to the grid, earning him a rebate.
You can watch a video of the operation here.
Electrek’s Take
V2G and bidirectional charging technology is unlocking a new benefit for EV drivers. The ability to send energy back to the grid or power a home during peak energy demand hours can save on utility costs and promote a sustainable energy grid.
Adding solar energy into the mix with V2G, as the Bollycraft Vineyard did with their Nissan LEAF, can help maximize the benefits and reduce stress on the grid in the long run while supporting self-sufficient power needs.
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Tesla has partnered with Steak ‘n Shake to deploy Superchargers at up to more than 100 restaurant locations.
The partnership between Tesla and the American fast food chain has been revealed through a strange series of posts on X.
First, Tesla CEO Elon Musk commented on Steak ‘n Shake’s announcement that it is switching from using seed oils to beef tallow.
The restaurant responded by proposing “Tesla charging stations at Steak n Shake”, but they apparently didn’t know that it was already happening as Tesla responded that they had already signed on 6 sites and they have over 20 more in review:
The Steak n Shake account responded by suggesting that the partnership extend to over 100 locations:
Thank you Tesla Charging! Let’s do over 100 locations. Consider all sites approved!
The chain operates over 400 locations around the world – many of them in the midwest. A lot of these locations are located near highways, where Tesla prefers to deploy charging stations.
It’s not the first time that Tesla has partnered with a restaurant for multiple Supercharger locations. It also has a deal with Ruby Tuesday.
Tesla is currently deploying its latest V4 Superchargers capable of 500 kW – with the first stations expected to come online in the US later this year.
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Volkswagen’s electric SUV is making a comeback. Last month, the Volkswagen ID.4 topped Tesla’s Model Y to become the best-selling EV in Europe, and it was even in the top three in the US.
Volkswagen ID.4 was EU’s best-selling EV, top 3 in the US
Although new vehicle registrations fell 2% in Europe last month, electric vehicles were a bright spot, with BEV sales up 37% from the year prior.
According to JATO Dynamics, 165,473 EVs were registered in Europe in January. The Volkswagen ID.4 took the top spot after registrations surged 195% to 7,177, overtaking the Tesla Model Y.
Tesla Model Y registrations plunged 46% in Europe last month to 6,155. The Model 3 refresh, which was launched in late 2023, had a 44% decline in registrations. Overall, Tesla registered only 9,913 vehicles in January 2025, a 45% decline from last year.
While the arrival of the new Model Y plays a role, backlash against Elon Musk’s increasingly outspoken political antics is also causing widespread hate among owners in the US and Europe.
Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO said the solid performance of EVs is “particularly impressive given the significant dip in sales that Tesla experienced” in January.
He explained, “it’s not unusual for sales to drop just before a new generation or an updated model is introduced to the market.”
Although sales are expected to pick up again, Munoz added, “The performance of both the Model 3 and Model Y is an indication of the declining popularity of Tesla in Europe overall.”
Volkswagen is taking advantage with the ID.4 taking the top spot, and the ID.7 placing third with 5,879 registrations, up 657% from January 2024.
Kia’s mass-market EV3h launched in late 2024, took fourth with 5,792, while the Skoda Enyaq rounded out the top five.
Chinese automakers, like BYD and MG, are starting to gain some real traction in Europe. With 37,134 vehicles registered last month, up 52% from January 2024, Chinese brands accounted for 3.7% of the market. That’s up from the 2.4% market share in January 2024.
Although still a relatively small number, combined, it would put them ahead of Ford, which registered 35,790 vehicles in Europe last month.
Electrek’s Take
The ID.4 appears to be making a comeback. After it went back on sale early last month, Volkswagen’s ID.4 was already the third best-selling EV in the US in January behind Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3.
Despite its success in Europe and the US, Volkswagen, like most global OEMs, is struggling in China. VW’s Chinese joint venture with SAIC cut the price of the ID.4 X, its version of the electric SUV sold in China, to under $20,000 (139,900 yuan) this week.
With leases starting as low as $189 per month in the US, it’s no wonder the ID.4 is already a top seller. If you’re ready to check it out for yourself, you can use our link to find deals on the Volkswagen ID.4 in your area.
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Elon Musk has reportedly ‘canceled’ a Tesla engineer for complaining about the CEO’s behaviors on social media.
As we recently reported, Tesla insiders are finally starting to speak out against Elon Musk over his increasingly unhinged social media presence.
For example, just today, he called CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen’s family a “crime family” because someone wrongly claimed that his daughter received millions of dollars from USAID when it was just someone with the same last name.
However, it looks like Musk and Tesla are actively suppressing employees speaking out.
The New York Times reports that Tesla has fired Jared Ottmann, a manager of battery thermal supplier industrialization engineering, over his complaints about Musk.
Ottmann, who has been at Tesla for 6 years, says that he has been raising concerns internally about Musk’s use of social media for the last 3 years, but he ramped up his effort last month after Musk’s salute at the Trump inauguration.
The engineer specifically took offense to a tweet that Musk posted in the aftermath of the inauguration. Instead of apologizing and saying that he didn’t mean to make a Nazi salute, Musk decided to attack the media for even suggesting that the gesture was a Sieg Heiland tweeted this:
Ottmann commented on the post:
This post by Tesla’s current CEO name drops genocidal assholes as a joke and has 308,000 likes.
The engineer says that he raised the issue with Tesla and while he gets “personally support”, he says the company remains silent about Musk’s behavior:
Starting in 2022 and especially the last week I’ve raised the issue internally multiple times, with managers, HR, legal compliance, investor relations. And while overwhelmingly people offer personal support, Tesla as a company has remained silent.
Ottmann, who has been promoted 4 times in 6 years at Tesla, has now been let go.
Electrek’s Take
For a guy who calls himself a “free speech absolutist” and “anti-cancel culture”, he canceled this engineer pretty quickly when he didn’t like how he was exercising his free speech.
This is obviously an attempt at scaring other Tesla employees from speaking out at Tesla.
It’s one of my main concerns about the automaker: it’s not a meritocracy that attracts top engineering talent anymore. One of the main criteria to work at Tesla now is to support its CEO, who is off the deep end.
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