Lessons, Gaps and What’s Next
What pilots and early programs have shown, and where the open questions remain.
VGI has moved well beyond the question of whether EV charging can be managed or used bidirectionally. Technical demonstrations have established many of the core capabilities, and a growing number of real-world pilots have tested customer participation, grid services, interconnection and utility operations.
The more useful question for decision makers is now: what does each case study actually prove? A laboratory test can demonstrate technical capability, but it cannot establish customer uptake or a business case. A customer pilot provides real-world evidence but may still tell us little about how a utility would operate a program at scale.
Industry stakeholders who we consulted in the development of this Knowledge Centre consistently identified a need for case studies that go beyond technical demonstration to show the system need, program structure, roles, incentives, reliability, interconnection experience, costs and benefits, and whether an initiative progressed beyond a pilot.
Understanding the level of evidence
A simple way to interpret VGI case studies is by the level of deployment they represent:
| Evidence level | What it can help establish |
|---|---|
| Laboratory test | Can the equipment, controls and communications perform the intended function under controlled conditions? |
| Technical demonstration | Can the technology operate safely and perform the intended VGI function in a real installation? |
| Customer pilot | Does the use case work for a small group of real customers under real operating conditions? |
| Pilot program | Can utilities repeatedly recruit, interconnect, compensate, dispatch and support participants using a workable delivery model, for a larger, more diverse group of customers? |
| Commercial / market-scale offering | Can the approach operate at meaningful scale as a full customer or utility offering? |
This is an evidence scale, not a required technology pathway. Managed charging, V2H/V2B (back-up power only) and V2G (grid-connected) bidirectional charging applications solve different problems and can develop in parallel. A utility may appropriately move directly into a bidirectional application where the use case justifies it rather than first repeating managed-charging work that is already well understood. Industry stakeholders consulted for this Knowledge Centre similarly cautioned against treating managed charging and bidirectional charging as a single linear progression.
Collaboration underpins the path to scale
VGI is inherently cross-sector. Utilities, automakers, charging providers, aggregators, regulators and customers each control part of the technology, program or market pathway. Scaling therefore depends on more than any one organization getting its piece right.
Collaboration is relevant throughout the lessons below: enabling EVs to participate in existing programs requires aligned rules and interfaces; creating a simple customer experience often involves several organizations behind the scenes; scalable delivery requires clear roles across utilities and technology providers; and coordinated pilots can generate stronger evidence while reducing duplication.
Many of the remaining barriers are similarly distributed across organizations, reinforcing the need for shared frameworks, aligned requirements, knowledge sharing and coordinated action.
Lessons learned from VGI programs to date
1. Start with the grid need and build on what already exists
Programs originally designed for other flexible loads or DERs may already provide much of the structure needed for VGI. Where appropriate, utilities can update eligibility rules, interconnection requirements, metering, telemetry or compensation mechanisms to accommodate managed or bidirectional EV charging rather than building a separate pathway from scratch.
There is no single progression from managed charging to bidirectional charging that every utility needs to follow. Managed charging is often more mature and may be a practical near-term option, but it does not necessarily need to come first. The right technology and implementation model depend on the specific grid or customer need: shifting charging may be sufficient to reduce a local or system peak, while other needs may justify going directly to bidirectional charging for capacity, resilience or other grid services. Different VGI applications can also develop in parallel rather than along a single maturity ladder.
The starting point should therefore be the problem to solve, where it occurs on the system, and the assets and program structures already available. Stakeholders consulted for this Knowledge Centre consistently emphasized this need-based approach: readiness and value vary with local load conditions, EV adoption, rate and demand-response structures, utility and market design, distribution versus bulk-system needs, resilience priorities, and available technology.
Beverly Public Schools / National Grid / Highland Electric Fleets, US
Fleet V2G · Demand response
Highland enrolled three electric school buses in National Grid’s existing ConnectedSolutions demand-response program, using the buses to discharge during summer peak periods while maintaining their transportation requirements. National Grid provides the grid signal and compensation structure, while Highland manages fleet charging and dispatch. Highland reports that the buses supplied 27.7 MWh to the grid over 316 hours during the summers of 2021–2024. This project was customer-initiated, and was initially enabled via an exception to allow the V2G site to participate in existing ConnectedSolutions revenue streams. As a result, all partners were able to gather learnings without requiring a net-new program nor full program redesign, and it helped pave the way towards the subsequent Massachusetts Clean Energy Center V2X demonstration program offering free bidirectional charging systems to residential, commercial and school district participants.
LADWP Commercial Energy Storage to Grid (CES2G), US
Commercial / fleet V2G · Distribution-grid support
LADWP’s CES2G program allows commercial, industrial and institutional customers to use large EV fleets or stationary batteries to export energy directly to the LADWP distribution system during specified dispatch periods. The program makes 20 MW of capacity available, with resources integrated and dispatched according to distribution-level system needs and limitations.
Participants receive energy credits of roughly $0.40/kWh, and LADWP guarantees at least 50 critical peak discharge events each year. The program also reimburses up to 75% of eligible interconnection costs, subject to caps based on the connection’s voltage level.
BC Hydro demand response and VGI pathway, Canada
Managed charging · Demand response
BC Hydro has built EV flexibility into its broader Peak Saver demand-response program in stages. It began with behavioural participation, where customers manually reduced or shifted load during peak events, then added connected-device control, including eligible smart EV chargers. BC Hydro has found that the manual program participation pathway remains a valuable channel for customer recruitment, giving customers a path to get comfortable with the concept of DR before converting to more direct load control.
BC Hydro is now working on adding vehicle telematics so customers can participate without a specific connected charger. In parallel, it is advancing V2X planning and pilots as part of its broader demand-response strategy, with future resources expected to respond to system and locational needs through its DERMS.
These efforts sit within Power Smart 2.0, which targets 800 MW of capacity savings by fiscal 2030 across BC Hydro’s efficiency and DR portfolios.
2. Create value for both customers and the grid
VGI programs need a clear value proposition for all parties. Utilities need sufficient system value to justify program costs, while customers need a worthwhile reason to participate and confidence that participation will not prevent them from driving their vehicle normally.
Experience from managed charging programs, and feedback from industry stakeholders consulted for this Knowledge Centre, point to an important design principle: automate flexibility where possible while preserving customer choice and control. Customers will be more willing to allow charging to shift or vehicles to discharge back to the grid when they can set charging requirements, override controls or opt out when necessary.
Across all forms of VGI, the vehicle use case matters. V2G is particularly well suited to vehicles that are parked during grid peaks, such as school buses, last-mile delivery fleets and potentially morning-use fleets such as garbage trucks. Passenger vehicles offer the most substantial aggregate V2G potential because of their scale, even with partial availability and partial participation. Vehicles that are typically on the road during peak periods but parked for long periods overnight may be better suited to managed charging, while high-utilization uses with inflexible fast-charging needs – such as public fast charging or rental fleets – may instead benefit from stationary batteries to reduce peak demand.
The strongest programs therefore combine three things: a valuable grid service, a tangible customer benefit and enough customer control to protect the vehicle’s primary mobility function. Delivering that simple customer experience may require significant behind-the-scenes coordination among the utility, OEM, charger provider, and aggregator.
Peak Drive, Canada
Passenger vehicle V2G · 21 chargers across 3 high-rise buildings
Peak Power’s Peak Drive project deployed 21 bidirectional Nissan LEAFs and chargers across three commercial buildings in Toronto, using commuter and car-share vehicles to reduce building demand during Ontario system peaks and generating up to $8,000 in utility-bill savings per vehicle per year for host sites. The project captured value through Ontario’s existing ICI/Global Adjustment mechanism and demand-response signals, demonstrating that V2G/V2B can create significant value through existing electricity-market and rate structures rather than requiring a V2G-specific market mechanism.
The project paired this grid use case with a customer mobility offering: participants received a discounted three-year EV lease package, free downtown parking, a home smart charger and maintenance in exchange for participating in grid peak events. Some vehicles were also made available through car-sharing, allowing different mobility use cases to be tested. Peak Drive also demonstrated dispatch of the EVs within a multi-asset virtual power plant alongside building demand response and stationary batteries.
Sciurus / OVO–Kaluza V2G Demonstrator, UK
Large customer pilot · 300+ V2G systems
Sciurus installed 320 residential V2G systems across the UK. Kaluza automatically optimized when vehicles charged and discharged, while a customer app allowed participants to monitor imports and exports and set their charging preferences. By the end of the trial, 73% of surveyed participants said V2G capability was important or highly important for their next EV purchase.
Although Cenex concluded that equipment costs needed to fall for the economics to become broadly attractive, the trial went a long way towards building customer confidence in V2G. Survey results showed that at the beginning of the project, only a minority had no concerns, but by the end, the vast majority had no concerns about using the V2G charger. OVO has developed full customer retail offerings for V2G, ready to scale as soon as the technology comes to the mass market.
3. Build clear roles and scalable delivery processes
As VGI moves into larger programs, the implementation model becomes as important as the technology. Utilities need repeatable processes for equipment eligibility, enrollment, interconnection, installation, dispatch, metering, measurement and verification, data integration, customer support and cost recovery.
Scalable delivery also depends on clear roles, interfaces and internal accountability. Industry stakeholders consulted for this Knowledge Centre highlighted questions around visibility and control, DERMS and aggregator interfaces, dispatch, metering and verification. Depending on the program, these functions may sit with the utility, an OEM, a charging provider or an aggregator, but responsibilities need to be clearly defined so the different parts of the program can operate together consistently.
PG&E V2X Pilots, US
Pilot program · Residential + commercial
PG&E aims to enroll 1,000 residential customers and 200+ commercial EVs in its V2X pilots, requiring repeatable processes across vehicles, chargers and customer types—not one-off demonstrations.
PG&E administers the program and sets eligibility, interconnection, and participation requirements, while automakers and EVSE suppliers must demonstrate compatible, interoperable vehicle–charger combinations before participating. PG&E then maintains eligible product lists and standardized pathways for enrollment, interconnection, testing and grid participation.
MassCEC V2X Demonstration Program, US
Residential, commercial and school bus
MassCEC supports V2X across residential customers, commercial customers and school-bus sites, with program support extending well beyond the charger. Residential participants receive free bidirectional charging equipment and installation. For new school-bus sites, eligible costs include EVSE, site design, permitting and interconnection coordination, installation and software management. Existing sites can receive funding for providing as-built drawings, operating lessons and data.
The program leverages roughly $6 million in funding, including for installation support across residential, commercial and school-bus applications, placing MassCEC among the larger current efforts to gain deployment experience across different customer and site types.
4. Target and coordinate pilots around the questions that still matter
Pilots are most valuable when they build on what has already been learned and focus on the next unanswered question. Utilities can make better use of time and funding by drawing on evidence from other jurisdictions and designing new pilots to extend that knowledge rather than independently confirming the same findings. Stakeholders consulted for this Knowledge Centre similarly emphasized the value of shared learning and multi-utility collaboration.
The scale and design of the pilot should follow the question being answered. A small technical test may be enough to confirm interoperability between a specific vehicle and charger, while questions about customer participation, resource availability, grid performance or program economics may require a much larger deployment over a longer period.
Maryland DRIVE Act VPP and V2G Pilots, USMulti-utility DER / V2G pilots
Maryland’s DRIVE Act requires BGE, Delmarva Power & Light, Pepco and Potomac Edison to propose pilots that compensate customers and third-party aggregators for using DERs, including bidirectional EVs, to provide distribution-grid services such as reducing demand or injecting power into the grid.
After reviewing the utilities’ initial proposals, the Maryland Public Service Commission directed them to return with larger and broader pilots. The Commission called for greater participation, including commercial and industrial customers and third-party aggregators; opportunities for V2G export; clearer performance metrics and compensation; improved data exchange; and a common two-year pilot period. The expanded programs are slated to launch in 2027.
Nova Scotia Power EV Smart Charging Pilot, CanadaResidential managed charging · Renewable integration
Nova Scotia Power used a 30-month smart-charging pilot to test several questions about how flexible EV charging could support its system, including load levelling and shifting charging toward periods of higher wind generation. Multiple short experiments were executed and iterated, generating valuable data for analysis. The program tested both controllable chargers and vehicle telematics across approximately 200 participants while allowing drivers to retain control over when their vehicles needed to be charged. One wind-following experiment reduced charging-related carbon emissions by 10%, demonstrating that managed charging can provide value beyond peak reduction by aligning flexible demand with renewable generation.
Guidance for designing a pilot program
Before launching a pilot, confirm the following:
- What decision will the results inform?
- Has the underlying technical question already been answered elsewhere?
- Is the key uncertainty technical — or about customers, economics, interconnection, operations or regulation?
- What scale is required to generate credible evidence?
- Could several utilities address the question together?
- What result would support moving to the next level of deployment?
From pilots to scale
The case studies above show that the remaining challenge is increasingly about turning proven capabilities into repeatable programs and market offerings.
That requires clearer business cases and regulatory pathways, more consistent technical requirements, stronger market signals to automakers and technology providers, and simpler customer and interconnection processes. Many of those issues span organizational and jurisdictional boundaries: no single utility or province can resolve all of them independently.
Canada’s fragmented requirements can also weaken its influence over product availability. No single province or territory is large enough to shape global product decisions on its own, while a more coordinated Canadian market can provide a stronger signal.
The next generation of pilots should therefore be larger where scale matters, coordinated where utilities share the same questions, and deliberately designed to close the evidence gaps standing between pilots and programs. The Alliance’s proposed multi-stakeholder approach is intended to allow participants to share risk, generate more meaningful evidence and strengthen combined purchasing power.
What remains uncertain
Stakeholder input collected for this Knowledge Centre points to an important shift in the VGI conversation: the question is increasingly not whether VGI creates value, but more specifically where it creates value, how much, for whom, and how to scale it.
While this Knowledge Centre provides foundational educational resources, important gaps remain in translating that potential into scalable deployment. These include:
- Consistent approaches for quantifying the VGI value stack and achievable resource potential
- Viable compensation and business models
- Customer participation and experience
- Interoperable technology and streamlined interconnection pathways
- Clear roles across utilities, automakers and technology providers
Not every uncertainty needs to be resolved before action begins. The priority is to resolve the questions that could materially change a planning, investment, regulatory or program decision – while improving the consistency of approaches across Canada where fragmentation itself is a barrier.
Priorities for Canadian action
Enabling VGI readiness to scale will require coordinated progress across several fronts:
- Integrate VGI into planning now, while continuing to improve forecasts and evidence.
- Create clearer and more consistent pathways to deployment, including interoperability, interconnection and program requirements.
- Strengthen the business case and customer value propositions, including how VGI value is assessed and compensated.
- Coordinate the next generation of pilots and deployments around the most consequential and time-sensitive unanswered questions, sharing evidence rather than repeatedly testing what is already known.
Working together on what’s next
These barriers cannot be resolved by a single utility, automaker or jurisdiction acting alone. The thread that came through most strongly across all themes of stakeholder input in the course of developing this VGI Knowledge Centre is the need for cross-sector collaboration, and for Canada’s path forward on VGI to take into account the perspectives of all enablers with a role to play in the VGI ecosystem to address barriers to scaling VGI.
Coordinated Canadian action can create a larger and more predictable market, share the cost and risk of resolving common questions, and translate lessons from individual projects into scalable approaches. The next steps of the Canadian VGI Alliance will provide a forum for utilities, automakers, policymakers and other stakeholders to advance these priorities collectively.
