Owning an electric vehicle (EV) comes with plenty of perks nowadays. They’re cleaner with no more tailpipe emissions choking pedestrians as you zoom by, and typically cheaper to run, thanks to lower fuel and maintenance costs. And for those who enjoy a smooth ride, EVs, with their instant torque and whisper-quiet motors, are hard to beat.
But wait - what if your EVs aren’t just a sweet ride but also mobile batteries? What if they could power your home and even support the entire electricity grid?
That’s the promise of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G). Based on the technology of bi-directional charging, V2G essentially allows your EV to not only charge but also discharge energy. Your EV becomes a power bank on wheels: it can load up when electricity is cheap or abundant, then deliver that energy when it’s most needed - during peak hours, outages, or grid stress. That could mean using your EV’s battery to keep dinner cooking while your rooftop solar takes a break, or storing excess energy on a sunny afternoon and using it later when the kids leave every light on during their gaming marathon.
But can bi-directional charging and V2G technology become a cornerstone of the future energy system beyond powering your house during peak times and power outages? Can it also be used on a massive scale, with electric fleets and trucks becoming large-scale storage? Encouragingly, V2G is poised for significant growth in Europe, with the market projected to reach $1.2 billion by 2031, and the share of V2G-ready EVs in the U.S. is predicted to grow from 5% in 2023 to 20% by 2028.
So how does V2G work? What are its promises and its pitfalls? Let’s take a look at the current state of this emerging technology and what it could mean for the future of energy.
How does V2G work and who is it for?
At its core, the concept of V2G is exactly what it sounds like: your EV doesn’t only pull from the energy grid, it also pushes energy back.
But what is needed for this?
- a bi-directional charger, which can both charge and discharge power
- a compatible EV, since not all current models support bi-directional charging
- a smart energy management system, which knows when to charge and discharge based on grid signals or household energy needs
Think that you’ll have to wait a while until the first smart energy management systems hit the market? It’s closer than you may think. Intelligent software that automates the V2G process is already in development by companies like Kaluza, EV.Energy, and The Mobility House. That means you don’t have to play energy manager along with your day job.
As mentioned above, individual households could greatly benefit from V2G. Who wouldn’t want to turn their driveway into a micro power plant, especially if it means saving money? On a windy night, you’ll be sleeping soundly as your EV charges up from the surplus energy being produced. Then that cheap, green energy will be used in your home during peak hours.
But what about the 46% of Europeans who live in flats? That part of the population will also benefit from V2G. Though it’s a bit more complex, apartment buildings may even have an advantage over houses, especially with shared charging infrastructure becoming more common. With smart communal chargers already being installed in some regions, charging for multiple vehicles and bi-directional energy flow can be coordinated. Some even see a future where apartment buildings become natural energy hubs in this way.
While the individual consumer would certainly profit from V2G, commercial fleets may become the real game changer. Delivery vans, municipal vehicles, and long-haul trucks often sit idle for predictable periods. V2G would enable these “large batteries” to act as grid-scale energy storage. This would help stabilize the grid and even generate revenue through flexibility services.
School-bus-to-grid pilots in places like Oakland already demonstrate this potential. The Californian city has a fleet of 74 electric school buses equipped with bidirectional chargers managed as a virtual power plant, returning approximately 2.1 GWh of power to the grid annually, and serving as a grid-scale energy asset whenever they’re idle.
EU-funded initiatives like V2Market are exploring how to make these fleet applications technically and economically viable, helping lay the groundwork for future commercialization.
V2G Benefits & Potential
Sure, V2G will benefit both the average citizen and business operators, but by supporting grid flexibility, it’s also a game changer for the environment. More renewables are coming online and this means that the energy supply is going to be fluctuating more. V2G can smooth that out. For example, on an excessively sunny day, EVs can store that excess solar power and feed it back into the grid during peak evening demand. This way the system is balanced, with less need for expensive grid reinforcements to manage local peaks and troughs.
Nowadays, many countries still depend on gas peaker plants to handle the excess demand during spikes. V2G would reduce the need for these fossil-based backup systems. If EV batteries are used instead, emissions would be cut and entire separate stationary battery storage systems would not need to be built.
A study from Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research shows that widespread V2G adoption in Europe could enable EVs to supply 15–20% of peak electricity demand and cover up to 9% of the continent’s annual electricity consumption, making EVs the fourth-largest electricity source by 2040.
Meanwhile in Great Britain, the most optimistic of National Grid’s Future Energy Scenarios predicts that by 2050, up to 45% of households will actively provide Vehicle to Grid services , delivering up to 38 GW of flexibility. And a study from distribution system operator UK Power Networks (UKPN) found a potential flexibility of 4.3 GW sitting in airport car parks, with a value of £1.3 billion in flexible energy savings by 2050.
Of course, we can’t forget about the monetary benefits for consumers. Participating in grid services like frequency regulation or peak shaving, where your EV discharges energy during times of high demand, can lead to lower electricity bills or even direct payments.
Limits, Risks & Real-World Use of V2G
First, let’s discuss the most common worry around V2G: the fear that bi-directional charging could wear out the EV battery more quickly. It’s a valid question since usually more cycles equal a shorter battery life. Many manufacturers have even erred on the side of caution by excluding V2G-related degradation from battery warranties.
But scientific research has shown us that these worries are not well-founded.
A 2017 study from University of Warwick showed that with intelligent V2G control, discharging from 40% to 8% SOC after daily driving can reduce capacity fade by around 6% and power fade by about 3% over 3 months. It also shows that it could actually improve vehicle battery life by around ten percent over a year. Meanwhile, a Nature publication in 2022 confirmed that many EV batteries still have plenty of life left for grid applications even at 70–80 % capacity.
Luckily, confidence is also growing among automakers thanks to the underlying science. More automakers are entering the V2G space and often start by investing in fleet use cases, where the returns are the clearest. With the support of European policy, warranty, and hardware standards will most likely be pushed towards broader V2G compatibility in the coming years.
Driving Into a Clean Energy Future
While the technology behind V2G is rapidly maturing and major automakers, like GM, Volvo, Tesla, Nissan, BMW, Volkswagen, and Ford, are already introducing vehicles with V2G-ready hardware into their fleets. Meanwhile, hardware and software providers like EV.Energy, The Mobility House, and Kaluza are already deploying bi-directional chargers and smart energy systems in Europe.
Last year the UK saw its first V2G tariff implemented by Octopus Energy, promising homeowners free charging in exchange for feeding the grid. Monetization pathways are also becoming more robust through frequency regulation, peak shaving, energy arbitrage or by leveraging time-of-use price differences.
So, while V2G is still in its early stages, it can revolutionize how we use EVs; not simply as consumers of power but as contributors to the grid. If technology, policy, and business models align, your EV can help smooth demand, accelerate renewable integration, reduce emissions, and even earn you some extra cash!
