Vehicle-to-grid (V2G)
Bidirectional charging that lets a parked electric vehicle export battery energy to the grid, providing storage and grid services.
Vehicle-to-grid treats an EV battery as distributed storage. Using a bidirectional charger, the vehicle can discharge to the grid during peaks or for frequency response, and recharge when power is cheap. Related modes include V2H (vehicle-to-home, backup or self-consumption), V2B (vehicle-to-building) and V2L (vehicle-to-load, powering appliances from the car). Collectively these are called V2X.
Example: 1 million EVs x 60 kWh x 10% allowed window x 50% plugged in ≈ 3 GWh
Typical bidirectional power: 7–11 kW AC, 10–25 kW DC per vehicle
Cars are parked about 95% of the time, and a typical 60–80 kWh pack exceeds a household's daily consumption several times over. Studies suggest V2G-capable fleets could supply a large share of short-duration flexibility needs in high-EV scenarios, reducing the need for stationary BESS.
Barriers: bidirectional DC chargers (CHAdeMO historically; CCS via ISO 15118-20) cost more; many automakers only recently enabled V2G or AC bidirectional support; grid-connection codes require anti-islanding certification; and owners worry about warranty and degradation. Research indicates the extra degradation from moderate V2G cycling is small, especially for LFP packs with long cycle life. Aggregators bundle vehicles into virtual power plants for market participation.
Related terms
All terms →- Virtual power plant (VPP)
A software platform that aggregates many distributed resources, such as batteries, EVs, heat pumps and rooftop solar, and operates them as a single dispatchable unit.
- Battery electric vehicle (BEV)
A vehicle propelled solely by electric motors powered from an on-board rechargeable battery, with no internal combustion engine.
- Frequency response
The automatic change in generation or load that arrests and corrects a frequency deviation after a sudden imbalance on the grid.
- BESS (Battery Energy Storage System)
A complete grid- or site-connected battery installation, including cells, battery management, power conversion, thermal management and controls.
- AC charging (Level 1/2)
Charging an electric vehicle from alternating-current supply, with the vehicle's on-board charger converting AC to DC; typically 1.4–22 kW.
- Demand response
Changes in electricity consumption by end users, in response to price signals or operator requests, to balance the grid.