For a commercial buyer, a bidirectional charger is the smallest line in its own project. The full cost is the unit, the utility’s approval to export power at your address, export metering, and the programme or platform arrangement that settles what you send out — and the first check costs nothing: whether your vehicles are documented by their maker as able to export at all. No EVDANCE listing states a bidirectional model; EVDANCE’s chargers charge one way, so this is a costing guide for a different procurement, not a product shortlist.
Key Takeaways
- Price the stack, not the unit: vehicle readiness, bidirectional hardware, utility export approval, metering, installation, programme terms.
- The vehicle maker’s documentation gates the project — audit the fleet’s models before quoting hardware.
- Interconnection and metering are priced by the utility for your address; no supplier can quote them for it.
- No EVDANCE charger is bidirectional; export is a separate procurement from one-way managed charging.
The Cost Components
| Component | What decides it | The document that prices it |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle-side readiness | Which of your vehicle models the maker documents as export-capable, and on what terms | The vehicle maker’s own documentation, per model — the gate every other line waits on |
| Bidirectional unit | A different equipment class: conversion in both directions plus grid-protection functions, matched to specific vehicles | The supplier’s written quote for the exact unit and vehicle pairing |
| Utility interconnection and export approval | Your utility’s process for generation at the site — application, review, inspection | The utility’s written requirements and charges for your address; no other site’s terms transfer |
| Export metering and settlement | How exported energy is measured and credited — a separate meter or account arrangement where required | The utility or programme’s metering specification |
| Electrical installation | Commercial installation by a licensed electrician; charging is a continuous load, so circuits are sized at 125% of charger current under the NEC | The installer’s quote from the site survey |
| Programme or platform participation | Whether an aggregator or utility programme dispatches and pays for exports at your site, and on what split | The programme contract — outside it, there is no export income to model |
Two of these lines are routinely left out of early budgets. The vehicle audit is one: a fleet is rarely uniform, and a unit bought for vehicles the maker has not documented for export is stranded hardware. The interconnection line is the other — it is priced by the utility for your address, on its own timeline, and no supplier quote can fix it for them. Australia’s national roadmap for bidirectional charging, published by ARENA, works through the same approval and metering layers for commercial sites; the technology background is in our explainer on bidirectional charging: V2L, V2H and V2G.
Price the Questions Before the Hardware
- Which vehicles qualify? List the models the maker documents as export-capable; that list sizes the project before any charger is quoted.
- What does the utility require at this address? Application, protection and metering requirements, charges and timeline — in the utility’s writing.
- Who pays for exported energy here? A named programme with terms, or nobody. Whether bidirectional charging is worth it turns on this answer.
- What maintains the unit? Warranty term and service route for a class of hardware with fewer field technicians — in the supply contract.
What EVDANCE Sells Today
EVDANCE’s range is one-way charging for vehicles, depots and workplaces — for example the EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station, two Type 2 connectors sharing up to 43 kW, with OCPP 1.6J and RFID for managed access. No EVDANCE unit sends power back to a building or the grid, and none should be budgeted as if a software update will change that: export is a hardware class, not a setting. If your project needs managed one-way charging now, our commercial charging team can work from your vehicle list — reach us via contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does EVDANCE sell a bidirectional charger?
No. No EVDANCE listing states bidirectional or V2G capability; the range charges vehicles one way. A project that needs export is specifying a different equipment class from a different procurement.
Why is there no standard price for a commercial bidirectional installation?
Because the stack is priced by different parties: the unit by its supplier, the installation by your electrician, the export approval and metering by your utility, and the settlement by a programme. Each is quoted per site and per fleet — no single figure survives those variables.
Can our existing chargers be upgraded to export later?
No. Export needs the inverter and grid-protection functions built into a bidirectional unit, plus the vehicle maker’s support for the exact model. A one-way charger cannot be converted with an accessory or an update.
Related Reading
- Bidirectional Charging Explained: V2L, V2H and V2G
- Which EVs Can Do Bidirectional Charging?
- Is Bidirectional Charging Worth It?
