California Initiative May Accelerate Adoption of Bidirectional EV Charging

The California Energy Commission’s recently published roadmap provides actionable info on the technical, economic, and legal actions needed to promote widespread adoption of V2G and V2H tech.

Lee Goldberg

Related To:

Electronic Design

April 14, 2026

2 min read

What you'll learn:

The California Energy Commission’s roadmap details how the state will develop and scale up a statewide initiative to encourage the deployment of bidirectional EV charging.
The total storage capacity of the state’s EV fleet is estimated at 18.5 GW, a bit larger than the state's total stationary storage, estimated to be 16.9 MWh at the close of 2025.
While the report acknowledges that barriers remain, including high upfront equipment costs and complex grid interconnection requirements, the state is taking steps to address them.

In early March, the California Energy Commission released a new roadmap that details how the state will develop and scale up an initiative to encourage the deployment of bidirectional EV charging systems in residential, industrial, and commercial venues.

In an article titled “CEC Releases Roadmap to Unlocking the Benefits of Bidirectional Charging,” EVinfo.net reporter Bill Pierce explains how the document assesses the technology's potential, identifies key barriers, and proposes concrete next steps to accelerate widespread adoption of vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies.

With more than 2.1 million zero-emission vehicles already on the road at the end of 2025, California’s initiative could help shape the future of V2G for North America.

To understand V2G’s potential, consider the fact that the storage capacity of the state’s present EV fleet is estimated at 18.5 GW, a bit larger than the state's total stationary storage, estimated to be 16.9 MWh at the close of 2025. If EV owners elected to sell even 10% of their vehicle’s capacity to help utilities smooth out peak load demands or supplement solar power production during “shoulder” dawn/dusk periods, the economic advantages would be significant.

Pierce notes that “since personal vehicles are parked roughly 95% of the time, bidirectional-capable EVs could provide valuable energy services to both drivers and the grid without changing driving habits.”

His article also explains some of the potential economic benefits to consumers: “CEC modeling based on 4.5 million EVs in 2030 found that peak grid load reductions could reach up to 5 GW, and average bill savings per vehicle from June through September could range from $262 to $321.”

While the report acknowledges that barriers remain, including high upfront equipment costs and complex grid interconnection requirements, the state is taking steps to address them. Among other things, the CEC is actively funding charger deployments and building an interoperability testing lab to help clear the path forward.

About the Author

Lee Goldberg

Contributing Editor

Lee Goldberg is a self-identified “Recovering Engineer,” Maker/Hacker, Green-Tech Maven, Aviator, Gadfly, and Geek Dad. He spent the first 18 years of his career helping design microprocessors, embedded systems, renewable energy applications, and the occasional interplanetary spacecraft. After trading his ‘scope and soldering iron for a keyboard and a second career as a tech journalist, he’s spent the next two decades at several print and online engineering publications.

Lee’s current focus is power electronics, especially the technologies involved with energy efficiency, energy management, and renewable energy. This dovetails with his coverage of sustainable technologies and various environmental and social issues within the engineering community that he began in 1996. Lee also covers 3D printers, open-source hardware, and other Maker/Hacker technologies.

Lee holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Thomas Edison College, and participated in a colloquium on technology, society, and the environment at Goddard College’s Institute for Social Ecology. His book, “Green Electronics/Green Bottom Line - A Commonsense Guide To Environmentally Responsible Engineering and Management,” was published by Newnes Press.

Lee, his wife Catherine, and his daughter Anwyn currently reside in the outskirts of Princeton N.J., where they masquerade as a typical suburban family.

Lee also writes the regular PowerBites series.