Massachusetts is turning vehicle-to-grid technology from promise into practice. The state’s V2X Demonstration Program, launched earlier this year by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), has entered its installation phase—and it represents the most comprehensive test of bidirectional charging as a grid resource in the United States.

Over the next year, the program will deploy up to 100 bidirectional chargers across residential, commercial, and school district sites. Installations are expected to be completed by September 2026, with data collection continuing through the end of that year. The findings will be compiled into a public V2X Guidebook, providing lessons learned to inform future utility programs and policy design nationwide.

How the Program Works

The program is funded at $6.3 million (within a larger federal EV infrastructure award). MassCEC is working with The Mobility House, Resource Innovations, B2Q, Voltrek, and others to activate EVs as storage assets totaling roughly 1.5 MW of flexible capacity.

The structure is notable:

• Turnkey and free to participants. MassCEC covers assessment, design, equipment, installation, interconnection fees, and an operations and maintenance plan. Fleet sites receive five years of charging management software.
• Diverse deployment mix. The program targets 50–60 residential units, 30–40 commercial chargers across 3–5 sites, and 10–20 school-bus chargers at 3 depots.
• Tight timelines. Technology qualification wrapped in spring 2025. Applications closed in July 2025. On-site assessments run through December 2025. All installations must be complete by September 2026, followed by data collection through December 2026 and publication of the V2X Guidebook in December 2026.
• Grid services integration. Participants will be enrolled in Connected Solutions or comparable demand response programs. Dispatch events will primarily occur during summer peaks, with owner opt-out and state of charge (SOC) protections to ensure vehicles remain ready to drive.

Where the Technology Stands Today

For years, V2G was defined more by pilot projects and PowerPoint slides than by market-ready equipment. That’s starting to change.

The program’s pre-qualification process required eligible bidirectional chargers to meet UL 1741-SB certification—a key safety standard for grid-interactive inverters—and demonstrate grid-parallel discharge capability. This immediately narrowed the field to commercially viable products.

On the residential side, split-phase options now include the dcbel Ara, Wallbox Quasar 2 (with Power Recovery Unit), and Sunrun’s Home Integration System paired with Ford’s Charge Station Pro. The table below shows currently compatible vehicles and chargers:

Light-Duty Vehicle Compatibility

Light-Duty Vehicles
EV	Model Years	Compatable Bidirectional Charger
Nissan LEAF	2013+	dcbl Ara
Kia EV9	2024+	Wallbox Quasar 2 with Power Recovery Unit
Ford F150 Lightening	2022+	Sunrun Home Integration System with the Ford Charge Station Pro

Vehicle eligibility is widening, but slowly. To date, the Nissan LEAF, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Kia EV9 are the only light-duty models confirmed for bidirectional charging. For homeowners, these options demonstrate progress but also highlight how limited consumer choice remains.

For fleets, three-phase bidirectional charger options such as the Tellus 20–60 kW DC charger, InCharge ICE-22/44/66 V2X, and Heliox 44 kW V2G show that the supply of bidirectional EVSE for high-power commercial applications is no longer limited to a single vendor or one-off deployments.

In the medium- and heavy-duty segment, school buses are the clear leaders. Models from Blue Bird, IC Bus, Thomas Built, BYD/RIDE, and Micro Bird are broadly compatible with multiple DC V2G chargers. This gives districts flexibility and reduces stranded-asset risk. The alignment between bus OEMs and charger manufacturers is one of the strongest proof points for V2G’s near-term scalability in the school bus segment.

By contrast, other commercial light- and medium-duty vehicles have yet to follow. Few models currently support V2G functionality, and there’s a noticeable gap in mid-power V2G chargers suited for smaller fleets that don’t require large, high-capacity charging.

Integration Barriers Remain

Hardware availability is only part of the story. Getting bidirectional chargers to communicate reliably with vehicles, utilities, and grid operators—and doing so within existing regulatory frameworks—remains the harder challenge. Four issues stand out:

1. Interoperability is the dividing line. The school bus ecosystem benefits from relatively open communication protocols. The residential light-duty market, however, is highly fragmented by OEM–charger pairings and proprietary integrations. For homeowners, the lack of assurance that today’s bidirectional charger will work with tomorrow’s EV remains a significant barrier to adoption.
2. Data sharing is complex. To be brand-agnostic and grid-useful, the program had to broker detailed data-sharing agreements with both automakers and charger manufacturers. Establishing common telemetry standards for dispatch verification, performance tracking, and customer protections is proving difficult. The lack of standardization continues to slow contracting and program enrollment.
3. Interconnection still requires foresight. Utilities have been collaborative, thanks in part to the program’s statewide structure and experienced installers. But once sites exceed 200 kW, additional studies can add months of delay. Designing projects to stay below those thresholds—or phasing installations—has been critical to keeping school and fleet deployments on schedule.
4. Policy seams are becoming visible. Regulators and utilities are grappling with how to treat electrons discharged from a vehicle battery, especially when they weren’t originally charged from on-site solar. They’re also working through how V2G should interact with existing distributed energy resource (DER) and EV programs. Stakeholders expect new clarifications that distinguish rules for stationary storage from EV-as-storage, while maintaining consumer protections.

What Massachusetts Is Teaching Us About V2G

The Massachusetts program demonstrates that when the path is clear and costs are covered, demand for V2G is real. Enrollment targets were met quickly through a two-step process (interest form → full application), underscoring that early adopters are ready to participate if barriers are minimized.

Still, customer experience highlights key friction points. Warranty terms remain fragmented across OEMs, requiring extensive education and negotiation. Without clear, consistent warranty language—or ideally, standardized templates—this issue will continue to slow adoption.

Reliability is non-negotiable. The Mobility House, serving as the aggregator, has prioritized mobility first, enforcing conservative state-of-charge thresholds and customer opt-outs. That “always-drive-ready” promise is the baseline for consumer trust at scale.

Just as important, the program is structured as a cross-utility, statewide model. By standardizing technology qualifications, establishing secure data pathways, and aligning with active demand response programs, Massachusetts is effectively writing an implementation playbook that other states can adopt. The forthcoming V2X Guidebook will serve as a synthesis of technology, policy, and operations—something regulators can cite and utilities can incorporate directly into planning.

The program is de-risking key market questions:

• Residential V2G without compromising mobility: How to run vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid programs that keep cars ready to drive
• Utility-verified dispatch: How to dispatch school buses into summer peaks with measurement and verification
• DER integration: How to integrate EVs alongside solar and battery storage without conflicting program rules
• Streamlined deployment: How to accelerate contracting and interconnection under real fleet deployment pressures

Enrollment into capacity-oriented demand response programs, paired with the creation of a measured, reportable dataset, positions V2G as something utilities can include in distribution plans and regulators can treat as a credible non-wires alternative—a grid solution that defers or eliminates the need for traditional infrastructure upgrades.

Bottom Line

Massachusetts is moving V2G from “interesting pilot” to bona fide grid resource, at a scale and with a rigor that will shape how utilities, OEMs, and regulators across the U.S. approach bidirectional charging. By demonstrating what works—and documenting what doesn’t—the program is building the foundation for V2G to become a standard tool in grid planning.