New V2X program will study how bidirectional EV charging can lower utility costs
Bidirectional charging allows EV owners to use energy from their car batteries to power their homes or send the energy back to the grid. The innovative technology can save EV drivers money on utility costs while helping lower electricity demand during peak periods.
How bidirectional EV charging can bring down utility costs
EV drivers are quickly learning their cars are good for more than just zero-emission driving. Electric vehicles utilize powerful, compact batteries that can charge and discharge quickly and efficiently.
The ability to send energy back and forth from the vehicle to the grid (V2G) and vice versa is a significant benefit of owning an EV. If deployed properly, it can save utility customers money while protecting the US’s aging grid infrastructure.
Companies like PG&E and Duke Energy are launching programs aimed at studying the best ways to utilize this technology.
Duke Energy partnered with Ford F-150 Lightning owners in August to use the EV pickup’s powerful battery to supply energy during peak hours, lowering grid intensity and savings across the network.
PG&E is initiating a program of its own to test bidirectional EV charging for homes, for businesses, and with local microgrids.
PG&E launches V2X pilot to test EVs as mobile batteries
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is rolling out three new Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) pilot programs to determine the best practices to maximize bidirectional EV charging benefits for consumers and the grid.
In a press release Tuesday, PG&E invited customers to participate in a pre-enrollment for its new V2X program.
The plan involves allowing EV drivers to utilize their vehicle’s battery, leveraging it to earn money and offset energy use when demand is the highest. Participation involves:
- Powering your property temporarily when there’s an outage.
- Charging your vehicle during times with less demand while using the EVs power when energy during peak hours (4 p.m. to 9 p.m.).
- Earning additional revenue incentives from sending energy back to the grid during high-demand periods.
Users will earn an upfront payment and performance-based incentives for participating in the V2X program. Enrollment in PG&E’s Emergency Load Reduction Program can provide additional savings, which can help offset the costs of buying and installing a bidirectional EV charger.
The incentives include:
V2X Residential
- Up to $2,500 upfront ($3,000 for customers in disadvantaged communities).
- Up to $2,175 additional for providing stored energy to the grid in times of high demand through auto-enrollment in the ELRP demand response program.
V2X Commercial
- Up to $2,500 upfront ($3,000 for customers in disadvantaged communities) for installing a three-phase bidirectional charger less than 50 kW.
- Up to $3,625 additional for providing stored energy to the grid in times of high demand through auto-enrollment in the ELRP demand response program.
- Up to $4,500 upfront ($5,000 for customers in disadvantaged communities) for installing a three-phase bidirectional charger greater than or equal to 50 kW.
- Up to $3,625 additional for providing stored energy to the grid in times of high demand through auto-enrollment in the ELRP demand response program.
V2X Microgrids
- Up to $3,750 for providing stored energy to the grid in times of high demand through auto-enrollment in the ELRP demand response program.
- Can stack incentives with V2X Residential or Commercial
Currently, the only EV to qualify is the Ford F-150 Lightning. However, EVs based on the Hyundai Motor Group’s E-GMP platform, including the Hyundai IONIQ5, Kia EV6, and Genesis GV60, are expected to be eligible between 2023 to 2024, followed by VW ID.4 (2023-2024), Porsche Taycan (2024), GM Silverado (2024), Volvo EX90 (2024-2025), and Polestar 3 (2025).
Electrek’s Take
Bidirectional charging can play a critical role in transitioning to a green energy economy. The rising frequency of extreme weather events is testing the aging US grid infrastructure, simultaneously increasing energy demand while limiting the ability to generate it.
One way to solve this is by implementing widespread renewable energy like wind and solar, but this will take time to deploy.
In the meantime, electric vehicles can play an integral role. EVs with bidirectional charging capabilities can help reduce stress on the grid during peak demand hours while saving on utility costs.
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In a move that helps the brand duck protectionist anti-Chinese tariffs, Volvo Cars has switched production of its award-winning EX30 models destined for US roads from its Zhangjiakou plant in China to the Ghent facility in Belgium.
Volvo EX30 production began in the company’s Ghent factory back in April, but those first cars were earmarked for the Swedish domestic and European export markets, but that move wasn’t primarily motivated by avoiding tariffs. As Electrive reports, the company seemed happy enough to continue importing its small electric crossover from China and accepting the new 28.8% tariffs (up from 10%), but the wait times to get the vehicles shipped in from China was imply too long.
In 2024, Swedish and German buyers had to wait up to eight months for their EX30 in some cases, according to Volvo Cars’ European boss, Arek Nowinski, per Automotive News. Once production in Ghent is fully up to speed, however, wait times should be cut to about 90 days. Those wait times, and the price hike associated with the tariffs, have hurt sales of the originally Chinese-made Volvo EV. In 2024, for example, the EX30 ranked third in European EV sales, but slipped out of the top 10 first half of 2025.
“The car is now being built in Europe, which means faster delivery times,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson to Automotive News. “We should return to the sales and market share figures for the EX30 that we had before the introduction of tariffs.”
Coming to Staying in America
The EX30’s switch to Ghent is good news for American fans of the compact, lickety-quick Volvo EV. Now that it’s no longer exclusively made in China, Volvo has decided to give it a stay of execution as it revamps its US product lineup to better align with market trends (read: SUVs) and the changing political landscape (read: tariffs and inflation).
The reason? The Made in China version of the EX30 would virtually unsellable in the US due to the implementation of 147% tariffs on vehicles imported from China. Vehicles imported from Europe, meanwhile, carry just 15% tariffs, keeping the EX30 in a competitive price bracket.
Expect to see both Ghent and South Carolina play an increasingly large role in Volvo’s US product mix – at least for the next three-odd years.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Cars, Automotive News, via Electrive.
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New filings have revealed that BYD is about to release a ridiculous 3,000 hp electric supercar: the Yangwang U9 Track Edition.
BYD already shocked the world when it launched the Yangwang U9, its first all-electric supercar.
It featured four advanced electric motors with a combined power of nearly 1,300 horsepower. The U9 can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in just 2.36 seconds.
With a motor at each wheel and a highly advanced electric-air suspension, the U9 can turn on itself and even jump over potholes.
But that was only the beginning.
Based on a new filing with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), BYD is preparing to launch a new ‘Track Edition’ of the Yangwang U9:
When an automaker releases a “track” version of a car, it typically primarily features body changes for better aerodynamic performance, adding downforce, and it will also often feature bigger brakes.
The Yangwang U9 ‘Track Edition’ appears to feature all that… and much more.
The filing reveals that BYD updated the motors at each wheel to a new 555 kW motor. That’s a higher-performing motor than in most performance electric vehicles. The U9 Track Edition has four of them for a total of 2,220 kW (3,019 hp).
I would have thought that this was a typo if it wasn’t for the insane electric vehicles coming out of China these days.
Here are a few pictures from the MIIT filing:
There are a lot of performance specs that are not included in the MIIT filing. Therefore, it will be interesting to see when the vehicle is fully unveiled and BYD reveals what kind of performance it can achieve with 3,000 hp packed in 4 electric motors.
Here are a few other features mentioned in the filing:
Standard features:
- 20-inch wheels with 325/35 R20 tyres
- Carbon-fibre roof
- Large fixed carbon-fibre rear wing
- Rear diffuser with adjustable blades for aerodynamic optimisation
Optional aerodynamic parts:
- Standard or enhanced carbon-fibre front splitter
- Electric rear wing
Electrek’s Take
How are they going to keep that thing from flying away? Seriously.
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