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 requests for information (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
DOE also stresses that V2G can help defer expensive distribution and transmission upgrades, particularly in areas with significant solar penetration or limited hosting capacity. It recognizes the role V2X can play in resilience, allowing EVs to serve as mobile storage for homes, buildings, and critical loads. At the same time, the report notes that V2G deployment is still largely limited to demonstration projects in the United States, though there is significant activity internationally.
The assessment is equally candid about the obstacles: the absence of a national interconnection standard for V2G (unlike IEEE 1547 for stationary DERs), limited choices and high prices for residential DC bidirectional chargers, the additional costs and design challenges of onboard AC bidirectional inverters, and the need for sophisticated aggregation and grid-management platforms to fully monetize bidirectional capabilities.
The Federal Role in Advancing V2G
Where the report is most consequential is in outlining DOE’s own strategy. The Department is establishing a cross-cutting Vehicle-Grid Integration Initiative, coordinated through a new internal Vehicle-Grid Integration (VGI) Task Force that spans the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), the Office of Electricity (OE), the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), and the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT). The Department of Energy (DOE) positions itself as the entity responsible for conducting foundational research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) in areas the private sector is unlikely to pursue, such as cyber-physical security, advanced control algorithms, systems modeling, and interoperable communications standards.
A cornerstone of this strategy is the formation of the EVs@Scale Lab Consortium, a coordinated network of national laboratories focused on pre-competitive research for vehilcle grid integration (VGI). The consortium will develop and test bidirectional interoperability, cybersecurity frameworks, charge management systems, and standards that enable EVs to operate as grid assets. DOE also plans to use its own facilities and fleets as living laboratories, building on platforms such as Argonne’s Smart Energy Plaza and NREL’s large-scale managed charging installations.
The Department underscores the need for interagency coordination, especially with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), to address cybersecurity, grid planning, and standards development. This includes possible federal work on public key infrastructure (PKI), interconnection guidance, and more uniform approaches to bidirectional safety and communication requirements.
Why This Matters
The DOE assessment provides a clear signal that the federal government, through its research institutions, its convening power, and its policy coordination, is beginning to build a comprehensive foundation for bidirectional charging in the United States. The report frames V2G not as a peripheral innovation, but as an integral part of a resilient and flexible future grid.
Still, it remains uncertain whether the current DOE leadership will fully advance this vision. The roadmap outlined here is ambitious, but its execution will depend on sustained federal commitment and prioritization. For the V2G community, this makes the report both encouraging and a reminder that continued engagement and advocacy will be critical as DOE determines what aspects of this work move forward.
