V2L — the car as a socket

The traction battery holds far more energy than any portable power station, so a car with this function is a serious generator without an engine. Chinese manufacturers have treated it as a standard feature far earlier and far more consistently than European ones, and in several segments it is the clearest point of difference between a Chinese model and its established rival.

Why it matters when buying

Three things separate a genuinely useful implementation from a token one. The power the outlet can supply, which decides whether it runs a laptop or a power tool. Whether the socket is inside the cabin, outside through an adapter, or both. And whether the car will keep supplying power with nobody sitting in it, since several implementations shut down after a period of inactivity, which defeats the purpose for camping or for a power cut.

The adapter is worth asking about explicitly. It is sometimes included, sometimes an accessory, and sometimes market-dependent for the same model — which is exactly the kind of fact that belongs on a market page rather than in a European brochure.

Related: V2G · onboard charger · AC charging