Grid Supportive Bidirectional V2X Residential EV VPP
Bidirectional Energy, Inc.
Recipient
San Francisco, CA
Recipient Location
$0
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
During 2025, the project advanced core technical development and integration activities to prepare for system-level demonstration. The bidirectional EVSE completed its design freeze, and prototype units are being fabricated to support UL certification and vehicle integration testing. Standards-based communication progressed significantly, with successful ISO 15118 testing demonstrating both grid-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-grid functionality with Honda EVs. In parallel, Bidirectional Energy developed a comprehensive bidirectional charging test plan and initiated integration work to enable bidirectional charging management between its aggregator platform and Emporia’s bidirectional EVSE, which has completed design freeze and entered UL certification testing. Coordination with Honda and Volkswagen Group engineering teams continued to align vehicle integration and testing schedules. The project also evaluated multiple multi-family affordable housing sites and selected a demonstration site with sufficient electrical capacity and lower installation costs. With technical components nearing certification and a pilot site identified, the project is positioned to transition from component validation into system integration and on-site demonstration in the coming year.
The Issue
Residential vehicle-to-everything (V2X) has the potential to enable electric vehicles (EVs) to power other home loads to reduce demand on the grid. Other potential use cases include exporting power during emergency grid events and offering resilient home backup power. The only residential V2X chargers available to purchase in the US are only operable with a single EV model. There is a market gap for residential V2X chargers that are interoperable with multiple EV models and capable of providing backup power and load shifting capabilities to residential homes. There are also challenges in interconnecting bidirectional electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) with the distribution grid, especially at locations that require costly electrical infrastructure upgrades that burden customers and ratepayers.
Project Innovation
This project will develop a residential bidirectional EVSE that will interoperate with multiple EV models, as well as the recipient’s aggregator platform, to provide home backup and load shifting capabilities to residential homes and enable exports to the grid when needed through utility and market programs.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
Bidirectional charging enables customers to use their EVs as DERs to benefit the grid while saving on their utility bill, providing backup power, and accessing secondary revenue streams from participating in grid services.
Affordability
Using V2X at scale to reduce net peak demand on the grid can provide billions of dollars in electricity grid cost savings through avoided upstream investments in utility infrastructure and energy storage capacity.
Reliability
By shifting local demand, V2X can reduce net peak load, contribute to grid reliability, and prolong the life of utility equipment.
Key Project Members
