What Is a Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G)
V2G is the key to sustainable mobility and energy transition
Vehicle-to-Grid, or V2G for short, is a technology that allows energy to be pushed back to the power grid from the battery of an electric car. With electric vehicle-to-grid technology, the battery of an electric car can be charged and discharged based on different signals, such as energy production or consumption nearby. Compared with regular smart charging, also known as V1G charging, V2G goes one step further, it not only enables the charging of electric cars in a way that allows the charging power to be increased and decreased on demand; but also allows the charged power to be momentarily pushed back to the electric grid from car batteries to balance variations in energy production and consumption.
When it comes to energy production, decarbonization refers to the deployment of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. As energy should be either used when it's produced or stored somewhere for later usage, the growth of renewables consequently causes our energy system to be more volatile, requiring new ways to balance and store energy to be used. Nowadays, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) is increasing steadily, and the batteries of EVs are by far the most cost-efficient form of energy storage as they do not require additional investment in hardware. Unlike unidirectional smart charging, V2G enables battery capacity to be utilized in more efficient ways, turning EV charging from an electrical demand response to a battery solution.