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Electric vehicles as grid resources: Barriers to vehicle-to-grid (V2G) in the United States

Crystal Soderman et al.

Utilities Policy2026https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2026.102175article
AJG 1
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Growth in electric vehicle (EV) adoption has increased interest in using EV batteries as grid resources. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technologies enable bidirectional power flows between electric vehicles and the electricity system and have demonstrated potential to support grid reliability and resilience in pilot programs worldwide. Despite demonstrated technical feasibility and system-level benefits for utility resource planning, broader V2G deployment remains limited. This study examines barriers to V2G adoption in the United States using qualitative evidence from 33 interviews with 42 stakeholders, including utilities, government agencies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), school districts, and participants in V2G pilot programs. We apply the Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) as an organizing framework to examine adoption barriers across five constructs: facilitating conditions, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, price value, and social influence. Barriers related to facilitating conditions and effort expectancy emerge as the most salient, reflecting persistent challenges in standardization and interoperability across the V2G ecosystem, as well as concerns related to market development, infrastructure readiness, grid integration, and compatibility between vehicles and charging equipment. Performance expectancy follows, as stakeholders raise concerns about battery degradation, vehicle warranty implications, and vehicle availability in day-to-day operations. This study contributes to understanding barriers to V2G adoption and identifies policy-relevant pathways to reduce implementation challenges, including the development of interoperable standards and clearer institutional support. • Interviews with 42 experts identify key barriers to U.S. V2G deployment. • Non-uniform standards and interconnection processes limit V2G scalability. • UTAUT2 highlights facilitating conditions and effort expectancy as key barriers. • Utilities and OEMs face coordination and market-creation challenges. • Battery degradation, warranties, and value uncertainty constrain V2G adoption.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2026.102175

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@article{crystal2026,
  title        = {{Electric vehicles as grid resources: Barriers to vehicle-to-grid (V2G) in the United States}},
  author       = {Crystal Soderman et al.},
  journal      = {Utilities Policy},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2026.102175},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.