04/06/2026
Winning pitch - Energy Efficiency Council Conference: A battery on wheels. Australia is searching for ways to increase energy storage, strengthen the grid and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
At the same time, thousands of electric vehicles containing substantial battery capacity are being adopted by households very month. Renters contribute the same RET levy has home owners yet have no asset rights or ways to benefit from the RET by installing solar or batteries. Rooftop solar and home batteries are often tied to property ownership, leaving a significant portion of Australians unable to participate fully in the clean energy future.
What if we allowed EVs to be recognised as the mobile batteries that they are? Allow renters to receive a ‘battery’ subsidy (STCs) on their EV purchase and use that to power their home via a V2G/V2H connection.
What if we took it one step further and considered what a mobile fleet of batteries could look like for a VPP asset in a Retailer sense. A fleet that is transferable, depreciable and useable in more ways than one.
At the EEC National Conference Pitch Session which, while theoretical in nature, was designed to challenge existing assumptions and spark discussion about how policy settings could evolve to better support Australia’s energy transition, Merrily Hunter posed a simple question:
“The largest battery we have in our home is not the one mounted on the wall but the one parked in the driveway, lets recognise it for what it is, an EV is just a battery on wheels”
Unlike a fixed battery, it moves with the person who owns it. It isn’t tied to a roof, a postcode or a mortgage. Recognising EVs as batteries on wheels could create new pathways for renters to access the benefits of clean energy, while unlocking a vast network of distributed storage already sitting in driveways across Australia.
The idea sparked plenty of discussion and ultimately took out the conference’s winning pitch.
Because perhaps the future of energy storage isn’t something we need to build. Perhaps it’s something we’re already driving.
