Signal Vehicle to grid pilots in France, the United States and Japan; first explorations in Spain

Summary

The report sees using electric vehicles as mobile energy sources as a promising path toward productive cities. Bidirectional technology, known as vehicle-to-grid, allows electric cars to send electricity from their batteries back to the grid when demand peaks. Countries such as France, the United States and Japan have run pilots with public or private fleets. Spain has also begun to explore such solutions in urban settings. The report presents the technology as one strand of distributed microgeneration, alongside energy-harvesting floor tiles, power-generating speed bumps and photovoltaic windows. By producing power close to the point of use, these devices cut transmission losses and make the system more resilient, the report explains.