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The current pace of the electric vehicle (EV) market reflects a moment rich with opportunities for innovation and strategic growth. While growth rates may shift, the EV industry continues to thrive and expand its role in reshaping transportation and energy systems. Technological advances and rapidly growing charging networks position EVs as increasingly strong competitors to combustion-powered vehicles.
EVs also play a vital role in the broader shift toward electrification, driven by goals like energy efficiency, decarbonization, and resilience. Beyond transportation, they are transforming into mobile energy hubs, offering storage and delivery capabilities through breakthroughs such as vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology. Bidirectional charging technology underpins this shift, paving the way for EVs to actively support smarter, more adaptive energy networks.
These developments are driving us closer to a transformative moment for EVs and their role in shaping sustainable, interconnected energy systems.
A massively underutilized resource
Even the relatively small number of EVs on the road today represents a vast ocean of storage capacity that will only grow in the coming years. Bidirectional charging allows an electric vehicle to both charge its battery from the electrical grid and discharge energy back to the grid or another electrical system. This capability will not only enable emergency backup power for homes and businesses but also allow users to alleviate grid strain and reduce energy costs.
Electric car sales in the first quarter of 2024 increased by about 25% compared to the same period in 2023, mirroring growth trends seen in early 2022. Projections suggest that by the end of the year, electric vehicles could comprise 45% of the automotive market in China, 25% in Europe, and over 11% in the United States.
This growth in market share reflects the increasing utility and decreasing cost of EVs. Battery technology has continued to advance, with EV batteries today featuring capacities of up to 200 kWh.
Longer driving range is the obvious benefit of this growth—but the untapped storage potential could be even more revolutionary. Even the smallest EV battery has almost 4x the capacity of a leading residential energy solution, such as Tesla Powerwall, with a capacity of 13.5 kWh. Paired with bidirectional charging capabilities, EV-based storage can support the optimal use of residential renewables like solar.
Multiple use cases will drive rapid growth and innovation
In addition to the scale of storage capacity available, bidirectional charging is highly versatile, supporting high-value use cases including:
Automakers like Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, and Ford are among the key players today, but many others have announced upcoming releases. For example, vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf, Ford F-150 Lightning, Tesla Cybertruck, and GM Silverado offer some version of bidirectional charging. Technology firms (including Schneider Electric) are also participating, providing the EV charging and intelligent home electrical ecosystems required to use bidirectional vehicles to their full potential.
As the technology evolves, it will open up new avenues for energy management and distribution on a large scale. Utilities are also an essential player in ensuring that the technologies can connect to the grid and consumers can extract the full value from their new energy asset.
A few have started engaging on bidirectional vehicles, but more need to, especially passenger vehicles. PG&E, an electric utility serving 16 million people in central and northern California, recently announced a V2G pilot program and announced the Ford F-150 Lightning system as the first eligible equipment for home backup applications.
Connecting to the home, connecting to the grid
V2X adoption rates will depend on many factors, including market demand, government incentives, and regional needs.
For example, following trends from solar and storage, we expect to see increasing demand for V2H backup systems to improve home resilience in high-EV adoption states with frequent natural disasters and outages, such as California and Texas.
However, a homeowner will need more than just their vehicle and charger to enable home backup. These installations require a backup switch that disconnects the home from the grid during an outage and often a critical load center to prioritize which home loads to backup. Early learnings from the market show that the total installation cost of the systems available today can be a whopping $12-15k, not including the equipment cost.
Schneider has been a leader in the home electrical distribution market for many years. We’ve developed deep relationships with installers across the country, and we’re focused on simplifying and significantly reducing the cost of this installation.
V2G-enabled systems, where the vehicle supplies electricity back to the grid or home (while remaining connected to the grid) are well-suited for regions where customers pay variable electricity rates and can arbitrage their time-of-use (TOU). Vehicle owners will charge their vehicles during low-cost periods and discharge their vehicles during high-cost periods. TOU arbitrage, power export payments, and virtual power plant participation (where many vehicles can be aggregated to provide grid services) will be critical to increasing the ROI for vehicle owners. Connecting these systems to the grid requires adherence to grid-connected inverter standards, such as IEEE 1547. Companies in the electrical, solar, and storage sectors like Schneider are accustomed to these standards, but they pose significant challenges for automakers at present. They will need to collaborate with utilities and regulatory bodies to lower the costs and regulatory hurdles and increase the monetization opportunities, making the shift to V2X more enticing to homeowners.
Solar and V2G: A virtuous cycle
Integrating bidirectional charging with solar and storage systems is vital to future energy management. About 8% of U.S. homeowners currently use solar panels. Despite recent market challenges, growth in U.S. solar installations is expected to continue at a steady rate at least through 2028.
Solar-plus-storage system adoption is rising, particularly in California and Hawaii, driven by net metering policy changes encouraging energy self-consumption. Given the right energy management solutions, bidirectional charging, or V2X, could add significant storage capacity for these systems. In addition, pairing a V2X system with stationary batteries can improve overall system efficiency and provide a more seamless transition of the home to backup mode.
Key aspects of this integration include:
- Integrated energy management and monitoring providing comprehensive control over household energy use and EV charging.
- Prioritizing the use of self-generated solar energy to charge the EV at a lower cost.
- Enabling faster vehicle charging speeds at home by stacking energy delivered from solar, storage, and the grid.
Schneider Electric is at the forefront of this shift, with solutions like Schneider Home that integrate solar inverters, home batteries, intelligent electrical panels, EV chargers, and connected switches and sockets, all controlled through a single app. This system is a prime example of how home energy systems, eventually including V2G charging, can be optimized for efficiency and sustainability. As we continue to innovate and embrace these integrated systems, we move towards a future where everyone can be part of the energy efficiency solution.
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