This edition features two deep dives: an exclusive interview with Ford’s Dave McCreadie on how one of the largest automakers is approaching V2G, and our assessment of DOE’s Vehicle-Grid Integration report released earlier this year, what it contributes, where it remains cautious, and why meaningful federal coordination on V2G is still largely aspirational rather than assured.
On the news front, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) has reintroduced her 2023 bidirectional charging bill, an effort that aligns with the themes and gaps highlighted in DOE’s recent VGI report. At the same time, the global market is showing clear momentum: major automakers across regions are announcing smart-charging programs, expanding V2H offerings, and committing to V2G deployments. As 2025 draws to a close, OEM engagement with V2X is accelerating, positioning 2026 as a pivotal year for bidirectional charging.
One final note: we’ll publish one more edition of V2G News in 2025 before taking a short break for the holidays. Look for fresh updates and expanded coverage when we return in the new year. Our first 2026 edition is scheduled for January 6.
V2G Insights
Ford’s David McCreadie on the Future of V2H, V2G, and Grid-Interactive EVs
December 2, 2025
A Note from Steve
I’m excited to debut a new feature in V2G News: in-depth conversations with the industry leaders who are shaping the future of vehicle-grid integration. We’re launching this series with David McCreadie, Ford’s Director of EV Grid Energy Services, whose decade of work at the intersection of EVs and the electric grid has helped move bidirectional charging from concept to reality.
These interviews are designed to bring you firsthand insight into the strategies, challenges, and breakthroughs driving V2G adoption, directly from the people leading the transition. And this is just the beginning. Throughout 2026, V2G News will feature more voices from automakers, utilities, regulators, aggregators, and technology innovators as we continue exploring what it will take to scale V2G across the U.S. and around the world.
Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for much more to come.
Introduction
V2G News sat down with David McCreadie, Director of EV Grid Energy Services at Ford Motor Company, to discuss Ford’s journey from vehicle-to-home (V2H) backup power to full vehicle-to-grid (V2G) operation, the company’s partnership with Sunrun and ChargeScape, the evolving regulatory landscape, and what it will take to scale bidirectional charging across the U.S. market.
McCreadie has spent his entire career at Ford, working across engineering, business strategy, and energy services. For the past decade, he has focused on a simple but transformative question: How can an EV become a good grid citizen while remaining, first and foremost, a reliable vehicle for its owner?
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q&A With Ford’s David McCreadie
V2G News:
To start, can you describe your role at Ford and the work your team leads in EV-grid integration?
McCreadie:
I lead the EV Grid Energy Services group at Ford. I’ve been with Ford my whole career, beginning as an engineer, and over time shifting into business and strategy roles. For about the last ten years, my focus has been on how our electric vehicles can become good grid citizens and how we can help customers become good grid citizens as well.
That work spans everything from utility-facing coordination to the cloud software that manages charge scheduling and the customer experience in the vehicle and in the app. A core principle guides all of it: customers buy an EV because they need transportation, not because they want to serve the grid. Our job is to ensure customers always have the energy they need when they need it, while making the EV a useful resource for the grid wherever possible.
V2G Intelligence
U.S. Department of Energy, Vehicles-to-Grid Integration Assessment Report
December 2, 2025
United States Department of Energy (January 2025) Vehicles-to-Grid Integration Assessment Report.
Editor’s Note
V2G News has covered a range of issues, from emerging interoperability standards to the growing evidence base for the value of bidirectional charging, but has not explored the federal government’s role in shaping the future of V2G. This edition takes that up, alongside Representative Julia Brownley’s (D-CA) reintroduced bill calling on DOE and other agencies to accelerate work on bidirectional charging, legislative activity that provides useful context for interpreting DOE’s new assessment.
The report makes clear that DOE considers bidirectional charging strategically relevant to grid resilience and energy security. While it outlines an ambitious vision, it remains uncertain how much of it will ultimately advance under the current administration. Even so, the assessment is the most detailed federal statement to date on where V2G may fit into the nation’s long-term energy and transportation strategy.
Purpose of the Report
The Vehicles-to-Grid Integration Assessment Report synthesizes insights from utilities, OEMs, national laboratories, aggregators, government agencies, and other stakeholders through RFIs, roundtables, and multi-stakeholder initiatives. DOE’s goal is to identify the technical, market, and policy barriers to integrating EVs with the grid at scale and to guide its forthcoming 10-Year VGI Roadmap. The report is clear that vehicle-grid integration is essential to achieving U.S. goals around grid reliability and energy security. As DOE writes, “foresighted and judicious integration of EVs with the electric grid…is essential” to ensuring that both systems strengthen one another as EV adoption accelerates.
What DOE Says About Bidirectional Charging
DOE offers a detailed and pragmatic view of bidirectional charging’s potential, repeatedly distinguishing it from unidirectional managed charging (V1G). While V1G adjusts load to support grid conditions, V2G enables EVs to inject power back into the grid, unlocking grid services that no passive or unidirectional resource can provide. These include black start capabilities, real capacity contributions, enhanced frequency response, and more dynamic voltage support.
“Only V2G can provide black start capabilities… and a larger range of regulation, reserve, and voltage services due to the ability to both charge and discharge into the grid.” page 113
V2G Finds
Brownley Reintroduces Federal Bill to Accelerate Bidirectional EV Charging Nationwide
Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) has reintroduced the Bidirectional Electric Vehicle Charging Act, legislation that would push bidirectional capability toward becoming a standard feature on U.S. EVs and tie it explicitly to resilience planning. The bill directs the Department of Energy to develop a National Electric Vehicle Bidirectional Charging Roadmap and, within two years, issue regulations both establishing technical standards for bidirectional charging and requiring that all new EVs beginning with model year 2029 be capable of bidirectional operation, subject to limited exemptions. It also instructs FEMA to require that state and local hazard-mitigation plans incorporate bidirectional charging capabilities, and authorizes civil penalties for manufacturers that fail to comply with the new standards.
Compared with Brownley’s 2023 bill of the same name, the 2025 version is more prescriptive. It moves from encouraging DOE to study and promote bidirectional charging toward mandating a compliance timeline, tying bidirectional capability to a specific model year, and embedding V2X into formal disaster-planning requirements rather than simply encouraging consideration. The updated framing leans more heavily on climate resilience and emergency preparedness, “mini power plants on wheels” and comes with visible support from groups such as The Climate Center and Récolte Energy. At the same time, the bill still faces an uphill path in the current Congress, making it as much a marker of federal intent and a potential roadmap signal to OEMs and agencies as a near-term policy certainty.
11/19/2025
Toyota Enters Smart Charging and Signals a Major Turn Toward V2G
Toyota Motor Europe is expanding its electrification strategy with a new smart-charging ecosystem across multiple European markets, partnering with British Gas in the UK and The Mobility House in Germany to offer demand-side response services beginning in 2026 that lower charging costs, align with renewable availability, and support grid balancing across home, workplace, and public charging. For the V2G industry, the move is notable: Toyota, one of the world’s largest automakers with nearly 15 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles on European roads, is now signaling plans to integrate V2G in future phases, positioning its EVs as flexible grid-interactive assets and reinforcing Europe’s broader carbon-neutrality goals. This marks one of the clearest indications yet that major global OEMs are preparing to incorporate smart charging, flexibility services, and bidirectional capabilities at scale.
11/27/2025
Mercedes-Benz sets 2026 timeline for V2H/V2G
Mercedes-Benz will introduce bidirectional charging across its EQ lineup starting in 2026. The company outlined plans for V2H and V2G functionality alongside an expanded battery-service strategy that includes modular repairs, refurbished pack replacements, and higher-volume recycling. While Mercedes has not yet detailed specific markets or program structures, the announcement places another major global automaker on track for V2X capabilities in the 2026 timeframe.
11/27/2025
Hyundai Motor Group Ramps Up Global V2X Rollout
Hyundai Motor Group is accelerating its global V2X strategy with new V2G and V2H offerings across Korea, Europe, and the United States, one of the most coordinated, multinational bidirectional charging rollouts by any automaker to date. The Group will launch Korea’s first V2G customer pilot on Jeju Island in late 2025 using the Kia EV9 and Hyundai Ioniq 9, aimed at supporting grid stability on a system with high renewable penetration. In Europe, Hyundai will introduce a commercial V2G service in the Netherlands, enabling customers to optimize charging around price signals and export energy during high-value periods. And in the U.S., Hyundai and Kia are expanding V2H capabilities across the Ioniq and EV lineups, allowing EVs to serve as home backup and load-shifting resources. The initiative underscores Hyundai Motor Group’s view that EVs are becoming core components of the energy ecosystem, not just transportation assets.
11/28/2025
Why Electric School Buses Remain V2G’s Most Scalable Early Market
A new CleanTechnica interview with Synop CEO Gagan Dhillon reinforces why electric school buses continue to be the strongest early V2G fleet opportunity in the U.S. Dhillon highlights real-world performance from active V2G school bus programs, the economics of fleet electrification after the federal tax-credit cliff, and why predictable duty cycles and long dwell times make school buses ideal grid-interactive assets. The conversation also underscores a broader trend: fleet energy-management platforms are increasingly central to making V2G financially viable, opening pathways for school districts and fleet operators to capture recurring grid-services value.
11/25/2025
Polestar, Volvo’s EV Brand, Brings Bidirectional Home Power to the U.S.
Polestar, Volvo’s performance EV brand, has taken a major step into the bidirectional-charging era with the launch of vehicle-to-home (V2H) capabilities for Polestar 3 drivers in California. In partnership with dcbel, owners can now use their EV to power their home during outages, shift charging to low-cost hours, and reduce annual energy bills by as much as $1,300. The California-only rollout uses dcbel’s Ara home energy system and taps state rebates to offset installation costs. Positioned as a first phase of a broader global strategy, Polestar sees V2H as a core feature of its energy ecosystem, with a wider U.S. and European expansion already planned, including support for the Zaptec Go2 AC bidirectional charger.
11/18/2025
Mitsubishi and Kaluza Launch Japan’s First Residential V2G Project
Japan has taken a meaningful step toward mainstream bidirectional charging with the launch of its first residential V2G demonstration, a partnership between Kaluza and Mitsubishi Corporation that links Kaluza’s energy-intelligence platform with Japanese hardware and retail-energy partners to enable bidirectional power flows between EVs, homes, and the grid. The project will test real-world V2G and V2H operations and validate business models for residential deployment, drawing on lessons from Kaluza’s earlier V2X programs in California and Europe. Its debut comes amid accelerating global momentum, with Volvo and Polestar introducing bidirectional-capable models and V2X proving effective in critical-infrastructure settings such as the Redwood Coast Airport Microgrid, underscoring how Japan is positioning itself to integrate EVs as flexible distributed energy resources.
11/26/2025
Socorro, New Mexico Demonstrates How Small Communities Can Scale V2G Through City–Co-op Partnerships
The City of Socorro, the Socorro Electric Cooperative, and Nuvve New Mexico have signed a new MOU that positions the small New Mexico community as a model for municipal–co-op collaboration on electrification and grid resilience. The agreement outlines joint work on school bus and municipal fleet electrification, EV charging infrastructure, smart rate design, and the integration of solar, storage, and V2G systems. The partnership builds on New Mexico’s statewide Vehicles-as-a-Service program and aims to deploy V2G-capable buses and other DERs in ways that benefit hospitals, emergency services, and local residents. For V2G watchers, Socorro offers a replicable blueprint: coordinated planning, aligned incentives, and a utility committed to treating electrification projects as grid assets rather than isolated pilots.
11/24/2025
