Developed under the EVGrid Assist initiative, the strategy helps electricity and transportation stakeholders integrate electric vehicles into the grid in a way that supports the grid and benefits everyone, regardless of EV ownership.
Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
January 17, 2025
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released a Strategy for Achieving a Beneficial Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI) Future, developed as part of DOE's EVGrid Assist initiative. The strategy details how DOE will support stakeholders in achieving a future where electric vehicles (EVs) are safely, securely, and reliably connected with the electric grid. Beneficial vehicle grid integration (VGI) keeps electricity rates affordable for all customers, lowers charging costs, and enables timely access to electricity for EV charging. VGI’s portfolio of approaches gives stakeholders a toolkit of options to meet growing energy demands amid the rise in EV deployment.
"With more EVs hitting the road, we have the opportunity to integrate these vehicles in a way that strengthens the grid and puts downward pressure on electricity rates," said Michael Berube, deputy assistant secretary for sustainable transportation and fuels in DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. "DOE's VGI Strategy gives stakeholders tools and methods to prioritize action and innovation and supports a more affordable transportation system for all Americans."
Building on the vision described in The Future of Vehicle Grid Integration: Harnessing the Flexibility of EV Charging, the VGI Strategy identifies ways DOE will support utilities, EV automakers, regulators, charging providers, aggregators, and other stakeholders as they implement VGI solutions. This approach is centered on three mutually supporting strategies:
- Validate repeatable, extensible VGI solutions
- Support VGI institutional decision-making
- Spur VGI innovation
Consumers are driving up EV sales while the nation's electricity system is undergoing changes. New electricity capacity is being added using renewable energy, including distributed solar and energy storage. At the same time, new loads—such as from buildings, industry, and data centers—are coming online. These simultaneous changes increase the importance of the grid edge for grid operations and planning and call for greater collaboration across the electric and transportation sectors.
"EVs link two pillars of the American economy and are driving the need for enhanced coordination and partnership. In a time where the need to coordinate action across different levels of the grid and sectors of society, the release of the strategy is timely. This VGI strategy will help strengthen the coordination required to realize the value that EVs offer to drivers, electricity drivers, and society," said Christopher Irwin, program manager at DOE's Office of Electricity.
By partnering with and supporting stakeholders as they deploy VGI solutions, DOE will ensure EVs become an asset for the grid, keeping power affordable, resilient, and reliable, while serving drivers’ mobility needs. Download DOE's Strategy for Achieving a Beneficial VGI Future.
For more information on how DOE is supporting stakeholders' VGI efforts and to get involved in future stakeholder engagement opportunities, please visit the EVGrid Assist and Supercharging the Electric Grid Edge websites.
EVGrid Assist is a cross-DOE effort that is led by the Office of Electricity’s Advanced Grid Modeling Research Program, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office, and the DOE/DOT Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. EVGrid Assist activities are also coordinated with other grid and grid-edge activities, ensuring a holistic integrated approach.