Toyota and Pepco collaborate to drive V2G technology adoption

Toyota Motor North America (Toyota) and local energy utility, Pepco on Monday announced (June 17) that they have joined forces to work on vehicle-to-grid research for battery electric vehicles using Toyota bZ4X.

The collaboration aims to explore bi-directional power flow technology that will allow BEV owners to not only charge their vehicles' battery but also send power back to the local energy grid. As part of the collaborative effort, Pepco and Toyota will study the needs of EV owners through their charging habits and vehicle usage, which will be crucial in driving the widespread adoption of V2G technology.

"Bidirectional charging is a great way for customers to leverage their electric vehicles in a way that supports the grids and their home electricity ecosystem," said Christopher Yang, Group Vice President, Toyota EV Charging Solutions.

"Working with Pepco will help us understand charging and discharging use-cases, which will ultimately benefit our customers and help utility providers better understand grid demands," he added.

Trends indicate that nearly 80 percent of EV owners currently charge their EVs at home overnight when the energy demand is lower. With bi-directional capabilities, these vehicles could send power back to the local energy grid during peak demand hours or severe weather events.

The V2G research will be undertaken at Pepco's Watershed Sustainability Center at the company's Rockville Service Center in Montgomery County, Maryland. The research will use a bi-directional charger and Pepco will lead the effort to design and evaluate a variety of EV charging and discharging use-cases that can potentially provide grid and customer benefits.

"Pepco is leading the energy transformation in the communities we serve by embracing technology that is helping to drive the clean energy transition", said Tyler Anthony, President and CEO of Pepco Holdings.

"V2G is designed to connect with the local energy grid and is part of our roadmap to ensure a successful and equitable energy transition. This collaboration with Toyota allows us to better understand V2G technology and its impact on the grid, our customers, and overall service reliability as we work together toward a more sustainable and resilient future for the communities we serve."

The demonstration project will also assist Pepco in understanding the infrastructure needed to enable the rapid growth of EV charging infrastructure and the nuances of interconnecting large numbers of V2G assets to the grid to better prepare the utility to implement requirements of the DRIVE Act and support customer adoption of this technology, the company stated in an official release.

Maryland is an important EV market with a target to achieve 300,000 EVs on road by 2025. Pepco is helping the state lead the charge by installing 250 EV chargers in the State. Additionally, Maryland also became the first state to pass vehicle-to-grid legislation in April, when it passed HB 1256 – the Distributed Renewable Integration and Vehicle Electrification (DRIVE) Act – that requires utilities to develop interconnection processes for bi-directional chargers.