COMMERCE, CA — April 20, 2022 — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and partners today announced the Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will bring together cutting-edge resources from DOE, DOE national labs, state and local governments, utilities, and private entities to evaluate technical and economic feasibility as we integrate bidirectional charging into energy infrastructure. The MOU will also advance cybersecurity as a core component of V2X charging infrastructure.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) conservatively estimates that 130 million electric vehicles (EVs) will be on the road globally by 2030. As the number of EVs grows and especially as larger trucks and buses electrify with larger batteries, there will be opportunities to use those batteries to also support the grid.

Image provided by DOE.

Bidirectional plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) present immense potential for increasing the country's energy security, resilience, economic vitality, and quality of life while supporting the electrical grid. A bidirectional EV fleet could serve as both a sustainable mobility option as well as an energy storage asset that sends power back to everything from critical loads and homes to the grid. A bidirectional fleet could also create new revenue opportunities for EV owners or fleets.

The Department of Energy also announced today it is tackling the technical challenges and barriers to the integration of tens of millions of EVs with the electric grid, commonly referred to as Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI) through the EVs@scale lab consortium, which brings together six DOE national laboratories to conduct RD&D in the areas of Smart Charge Management, High Power Charging and Facilities, dynamic Wireless Charging, Codes and Standards, and Cyber Physical Security. In addition to addressing the near-term challenges to VGI to benefit all EV stakeholders, the Lab Consortium will conduct high risk, high reward research on the EV charging and grid integration technologies the U.S. will need in the future. 

This collaboration can accelerate and enable bidirectional PEV integration into the electrical grid by identifying and resolving barriers, accelerating commercialization and customer adoption, factoring in security by design, and improving coordination between the electric and automotive sectors through establishing cybersecure bidirectional charging station demonstrations, collecting and analyzing demonstration data, and preparing technoeconomic analyses to evaluate the business case for V2X.

As signatories, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 11 and the National Electric Contractors Association Los Angeles are demonstrating an important commitment to ensuring that a skilled and qualified workforce is required to install bidirectional PEV charging infrastructure.

Participants in the V2X MOU include the United States Department of Energy’s Offices of Vehicle Technologies, Electricity, Technology Transitions, and Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, as well as The California Energy Commission, The California Public Utilities Commission, The City of Lancaster and City of Lancaster Community Choice Aggregator, The City of Los Angeles, Fermata Energy, First Student, Ford Motor Company, General Motors LLC, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers– Chapter 11, Lion Electric Inc., Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Lucid Group, Inc. (Lucid Motors), the National Electrical Contractors Association – Los Angeles, Nissan, Nuvve Holding Corp., Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Rhombus, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and Zeem Solutions.

Read the complete Memorandum of Understanding here.

Original press release can be found here.

About Fermata Energy

Park it. Plug it. Profit.TM Fermata Energy’s proprietary vehicle-to-everything (V2X) software platform and bidirectional chargers turn EVs into mobile energy storage assets, making it possible for EVs owners to combat climate change, increase energy resilience, and reduce energy costs. Learn more at www.fermataenergy.com, and follow us on Twitter (@FermataEnergy) and LinkedIn.