V2G-AC Demonstration at Detroit V2G Form; photo by Steve Letendre

November 4, 2025

The V2G Business, Policy & Technology Forum took place October 21–23 at the American Center for Mobility (ACM) in metro Detroit, Michigan, organized by the Smart Grid Observer. The event drew more than 200 participants spanning utilities, renewable-energy companies, automakers, charging-network operators, electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) manufacturers, research organizations, and consultants.

This year’s forum stood out for a simple reason: it featured the second-ever public demonstrations in the U.S. of standards-based, bidirectional-charging systems. Across three garage setups, participants observed live, end-to-end V2G operation conforming to ISO 15118, SAE J3072, UL 1741 SB/SC, and IEEE 2030.5, showcasing how far the industry has come since the earliest pilots.

Having attended five of the six V2G Forums, I left convinced that the conversation has shifted from if bidirectional charging will matter to how we make it work at scale. Three themes captured that transition.

1. Policy Alignment and Market Formation – The Framework for Growth

Policy and market design remain central to enabling V2G deployment at scale. Several sessions focused on the evolving state regulatory landscape and the growing alignment between compensation frameworks, interconnection requirements, and program design.

In the policy track, VGIC’s Executive Director, Zach Woogen, summarized recent state-level activity showing that compensation structures for flexible EVs are beginning to converge across regions. Programs in New England, California, and Maryland now assign consistent annual values for capacity and demand-response participation, typically ranging from $100 to $300 per kW-year. This growing consistency gives manufacturers, aggregators, and fleet operators a clearer basis for evaluating potential project economics.

Thea Goodridge from The Brattle Group, a leading consultancy in the energy transition space, added that market design and valuation methods must continue to evolve as managed charging and bidirectional resources scale. She noted that current incentive programs and tariffs still treat EV flexibility as supplemental, rather than integral, to grid planning. Goodridge emphasized the importance of reflecting V2G’s full system value in utility planning processes and wholesale market participation frameworks to drive efficient resource deployment.

Speakers also noted incremental regulatory progress on interconnection. Several states—including California, Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland—now recognize UL 1741 Supplement B (for DC systems) and Supplement C (for AC systems) as acceptable pathways for certifying grid-tied V2G equipment, providing greater predictability for developers and customers. In addition, V2G-AC for paired EV – EVSE systems is being enabled through the UL 1741 Certification Requirement Decision (CRD) for DER systems, used in combination with UL 1741 SB, further clarifying the approval process for bidirectional charging equipment.

While implementation challenges remain, the sessions reflected a clear shift: from isolated pilots toward the development of a coherent market structure capable of supporting large-scale participation of EVs as grid resources.

2. V2G-AC – The Next Frontier

Among the many technical topics, V2G-AC generated significant interest. Today’s commercial projects mainly use DC bidirectional chargers containing a stationary grid-interactive inverter. V2G-AC reverses that relationship, employing grid-interactive inverter capabilities built into the vehicle, making bidirectional operation possible through an AC bidirectional charger. V2G News covered this topic in-depth in Volume 1 | Issue 2 in the feature article, Highway to Scale Highway to Scale: Why the AC/DC Debate is Slowing Down V2G.

One of the forum’s highlights was the Stellantis Interoperable V2G-AC Demonstration, conducted in partnership with Diamond Electric, Eaton, Kitu Systems, and Southern California Edison (SCE), with software contributions from EPRI. The setup featured a Stellantis vehicle equipped with Diamond Electric’s On-Board Charger Module (OBCM) capable of bidirectional AC power flow, paired with an Eaton bidirectional AC charger. The system communicated through EPRI-developed software for the Electric Vehicle Communication Controller (EVCC) and Supply Equipment Communication Controller (SECC), with grid coordination managed via the Kitu Aggregator linked to SCE’s Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS).

The demonstration was built on work first initiated in California under SCE’s V2G-AC program, which brought together the same partners to validate grid-interactive functionality using standards including SAE J2847/3, SAE J3072, IEEE 1547-2018, UL 1741 SB and SC, and IEEE 2030.5. Development of the V2X-AC on-board charger by Diamond Electric began in 2021 under a collaboration agreement with Stellantis, with testing conducted in California under the broader research framework supported by the California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program. EPIC funds ongoing vehicle-grid integration demonstrations across the state, providing the policy and technical context for projects like this one.

Together, these efforts showed how end-to-end, standards-based V2G-AC operation can function today, thereby demonstrating both grid interoperability and the potential pathway toward residential and fleet applications using UL 1741 SC once it is finalized or the emerging UL 1751 CRD with UL 1741 SB for paired EVs – EVSE systems.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Yukihiro Hatagishi expanded on these themes, sharing testing results that confirm SAE J3072 coordination enables vehicles to meet IEEE 1547 ride-through requirements. Once UL 1741 SC is finalized, expected in 2026, and more jurisdictions approve the UL 1741 CRD pathway, the regulatory and technical pieces for commercial V2G-AC will align.

Together, the Stellantis demo and related work suggest V2G-AC may soon shift from concept to commercial reality in North America.

3. Interoperability and Certification – From Pilots to Scalable Systems

Interoperability remains a critical focus at the forum: the message wasn’t that the work is done, but that the next phase is now in front of the industry. V2G News covered this issue in the last edition in the feature article Vehicle-to-Grid Interoperability: From Custom Integration to Common Infrastructure. 

The sessions and demos at the Forum, made clear that while custom integration has demonstrated technical capability, moving to scalable, certified systems requires further coordination across vehicles, chargers, communications protocols, and compliance/certification frameworks. 

Presentations from Keysight, QualityLogic, and others reinforced that interoperability is progressing, but not yet at the level needed for routine deployment. Speakers noted that the path from demonstration to certification remains uneven, and that consistent testing and verification frameworks are still taking shape across the industry. Here are the top take-aways from the presentations at the Forum:

Key takeaway 1: There is growing recognition that interoperability must be supported by formal certification regimes, not just matched-pair demonstrations. As one panel on “V2G Standards Update: Moving Towards Interoperability” noted, the shift is from matched-pair interop tests towards certification-based approaches, but the infrastructure for that (test labs, certification bodies, harmonized test procedures) is not yet mature. 

Key takeaway 2: The standards ecosystem is advancing, but gaps remain in foundational areas like V2G-AC interconnection, grid code compliance, cybersecurity, and full ecosystem testability. For example, a workshop on “V2G-AC Technologies and Standards” listed fragmented protocols, incomplete bidirectional AC definitions, and uneven cybersecurity coverage as core barriers. 

The demonstrations at the American Center for Mobility (ACM) reinforced both these points. One demonstration (involving Heliox / Synop / Keysight / BYD) showed a fleet-bus V2G setup compliant with ISO 15118-20, SAE J2847 and UL 1741 SB-type criteria, illustrating that interoperation across vendor hardware and communication protocols is technically feasible. At the same time, another demo (by Tellus Power Green / Pacific Power / QualityLogic / Keysight) executed a UL 1741 SB test via an automated certification software stack, indicating that commercial certification tools are emerging.

But the industry remains clear: these are early milestones, not fully operational scaling platforms. The Forum presenters reiterated that until the certification pathways, standardized test programs, and regulatory-certified interconnection processes are aligned, large-scale deployments will continue to face friction.

Looking Ahead

The October 2025 V2G Forum in Detroit had a noticeably different tone from previous events, less about proving the technology works and more about aligning the technical, regulatory, and commercial systems needed to bring it to market at scale.

Having attended five of the six Forums, I’ve seen the conversation evolve from early-stage experimentation to structured, cross-sector collaboration. The industry has moved from asking if bidirectional charging can play a role in the clean energy transition to working through how it will.

Still, the discussions underscored that progress is not automatic. Policy, technology, and markets must continue to advance together to unlock the full value of vehicle-grid integration. Standards adoption remains uneven, interconnection pathways are still being refined, and compensation mechanisms vary widely across states. Without continued coordination among automakers, utilities, regulators, and technology providers, the promise of bidirectional charging could stall before reaching mainstream adoption.

Yet, the demonstrations and discussions in Detroit offered a clear signal: the foundation is being built. If these efforts continue, the transformative potential of bidirectional charging is within reach, but realizing it will depend on sustained collaboration, consistent policy support, and a shared commitment to scaling what’s now been proven to work.