Summary
- California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law allowing bidirectional charging on EVs in the future
- Bidirectional charging allows EVs to output electricity for various applications
- EVs with bidirectional charging capabilities could benefit grid resiliency and renewable energy penetration
- California’s grid is often overtaxed on hot summer days, leading to increased emissions from peaker plants
- The new law, SB 59, grants power to regulatory bodies to require bidirectional charging on EVs based on use cases and could save costs annually
Article
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a law that may require bidirectional charging on electric vehicles in the future. This means that EVs would not only be able to take electricity from the grid to charge but also output electricity in various forms, such as vehicle-to-load, vehicle-to-home, or vehicle-to-grid. The potential widespread use of bidirectional charging could lead to significant benefits for efficiency, grid resiliency, and increased penetration of renewable electricity generation.
One of the biggest challenges for electric grids occurs during big spikes in electricity demand, such as on hot days when everyone is using air conditioning. Climate change is exacerbating this issue, with California’s grid often becoming overtaxed on the hottest summer days. To address this problem, energy storage solutions, such as Tesla megapacks, are being added to the grid to help balance supply and demand and make energy distribution more predictable. However, another potential solution lies in utilizing electric vehicles as distributed energy storage devices through bidirectional charging capabilities.
While not many automakers have included vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities in their cars, California is considering requiring bidirectional charging through legislation. The current form of the bill, SB 59, allows the California Energy Commission to issue a requirement for specific weight classes of EVs to be bidirectional-capable if a compelling use case exists. The state estimates that integrating EVs into the grid could save $1 billion in costs annually, highlighting the potential benefits of bidirectional charging.
Tesla is one of the automakers gradually introducing bidirectional capabilities through features like Powershare. However, convincing consumers to invest in bidirectional charging equipment and keep their cars plugged in for energy storage has proven challenging. The state of California is hesitant to mandate bidirectional charging until there is a clear interest in the end-user use case for V2G. Nonetheless, the potential for California to require bidirectional charging in the future may prompt manufacturers to take V2G capabilities more seriously.
The ability to utilize millions of electric vehicles for grid energy storage could help flatten out imbalances between electricity supply and demand, addressing issues related to intermittency in renewable energy sources. While the implementation of bidirectional charging may not happen immediately, having the force of law behind it could make V2G a more impactful solution for addressing grid resiliency challenges. Ultimately, the potential for bidirectional charging in electric vehicles could help move the state closer to a future where EVs play a significant role in supporting a more sustainable and reliable energy grid.
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