Urban Resilience with Curbside Bidirectional Electric Vehicle Charging

Vehicle-to-Grid Integration

Recipient Location

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$1,002,764

Amount Spent

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Active

Project Status

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Project Update

The project has officially kicked off in October 2025, and the team is now actively progressing on development of the V2G OCPP Site Management Tool with full OCPP compatibility, while also advancing integration of the existing curbside charger’s industrial design and mechanical form factor with V2G signaling hardware and control protocols to enable safe and efficient bidirectional energy flow.

The Issue

As electric vehicle adoption accelerates, the electric grid faces growing challenges related to peak demand, local congestion, and the integration of distributed energy resources, particularly in dense urban environments. While Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology has the potential to help address these challenges by enabling bidirectional energy flow between EVs and the grid, real-world deployment remains limited. Key barriers include technical integration, operational complexity, coordination across stakeholders, and uncertainty around user participation models.

Project Innovation

A key technical innovation is the SAE J3068-based Universal Socket, which uses a single standardized connector compatible with a wide range of EVs, reducing installation complexity and cost while enabling more advanced communication capabilities. The project will develop a curbside alternating current (AC) bidirectional EV charger paired with a SAE J3068 Active Cable, which is a smart cable that manages communication and control signals between the charger and vehicle to enable secure bidirectional power flow.

Project Goals

Evaluate the technical and operational feasibility of deploying V2G capabilities to curbside and distributed EV chargers

Assess user participation and engagement models to better understand driver behavior, incentives, and barriers to adoption

Identify infrastructure, coordination, and policy considerations needed to support scalable and equitable V2G deployment

Project Benefits

This project advances the understanding of how V2G can be deployed in real-world, curbside charging environments to support grid reliability and decarbonization goals. By testing bidirectional charging in dense urban contexts, the project explores opportunities to reduce peak demand, improve local grid resilience, and unlock new value streams for drivers and utilities. The project also supports consumer awareness and participation by examining user-facing incentives and engagement models. Insights generated through this work will help inform future utility programs, policy frameworks, and equitable approaches to V2G deployment, particularly in communities that have historically faced limited access to clean energy infrastructure.