WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the addition of new signatories to the Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), a partnership of public and private sector entities created on April 20, 2022. 

The newest signatories to the V2X MOU are Blue Bird, Honda, New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Shell, and Revel.

“We are so delighted to announce our second tranche of MOU participants which shows that momentum is still building,” said Rima Oueid, DOE’s V2X MOU lead and commercialization executive at the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT). “V2X could serve as a catalyst for modernizing the grid, leverage more renewables, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as we electrify transport in a thoughtful way.”

V2X represents vehicle to grid (V2G), vehicle to home, and vehicle to load technologies, which taken together are referred to as V2X charging infrastructure. Enabling and accelerating the deployment of these technologies could make the power grid more resilient and reliable as well as supporting green jobs and careers in the U.S.

This past summer, the State of California instituted the Emergency Load Reduction Program paying $2 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for V2G and announced a decision to allow submetering electric vehicles (EV) chargers which is a step towards building a V2G market. The recent Inflation Reduction Act extended EV tax credits including for bidirectional EVs charging equipment.

Support for and cooperation around V2X efforts is growing with today’s announced signatories working together to bring cutting-edge resources from DOE and its National Labs, state and local governments, utilities, labor, and private entities to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of bidirectional charging into energy infrastructure. Additionally, the V2X MOU advances cybersecurity as a core component of V2X charging infrastructure.

"Building upon the first-of-its-kind partnership announced back in April, I am pleased to see the signature page growing in length," said Dr. Vanessa Z. Chan, DOE Chief Commercialization Officer and director of OTT. "Today we welcome each of these organizations to this collaborative effort to provide for grid resiliency and the nation’s energy systems."

"As part of our commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050 and our goal to produce 100% electric vehicles by 2040, Honda is looking forward to joining the DOE’s collaboration to accelerate vehicle-to-everything technologies,” said Ryan Harty, division lead of CASE & Energy Business Development at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (Honda). “Our initiatives in this area, including the Honda Smart Charge program and Honda Smart Home, demonstrate the great potential for V2X technologies to provide valuable solutions that will help us meet our decarbonization goals."

"Part of our mission as a non-profit electric distribution cooperative is to provide our members with reliable electric service options,” says New Hampshire Electric Cooperative CEO Alyssa Clemsen Roberts. “This collaboration with industry, government, and utilities will help bring forward the best options for our members as they use their distribution system in new ways, including V2G. The significant amount of stored energy in electric vehicle batteries can help benefit electric distribution systems across the country. This effort by the DOE will help us find the best way to efficiently use that energy while creating the highest member value."

“As the leader in electric and low-emission school buses, Blue Bird is thrilled to join this innovative public- and private-sector partnership dedicated to developing clean transportation and energy infrastructure solutions in the United States,” said Britton Smith, senior vice president of electrification and chief strategy officer of Blue Bird Corporation. “The school bus system deploys over 500,000 vehicles today and, thereby, constitutes the largest mass transportation system nationwide. Battery-electric school bus fleets with bidirectional charging capabilities could significantly strengthen grid resilience overall.” 

"The EV transition can't happen without a strong grid, making V2X technology an extremely valuable asset and an important priority for the public and private sectors," said Paul Suhey, COO and co-founder of Revel. "Revel recently launched the first New York City vehicle-to-grid program with Fermata Energy and NineDot Energy, and we look forward to forming new partnerships with members of the V2X MOU."

Participants in the V2X MOU include DOE’s Offices of Vehicle Technologies, Electricity, Technology Transitions, and Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, as well as The California Energy Commission, The California Public Utilities Commission, The City of Lancaster and City of Lancaster Community Choice Aggregator, The City of Los Angeles, Fermata Energy, First Student, Ford Motor Company, General Motors LLC, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers– Chapter 11, Lion Electric Inc., Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Lucid Group, Inc. (Lucid Motors), the National Electrical Contractors Association – Los Angeles, Nissan, Nuvve Holding Corp., Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Rhombus, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, Zeem Solutions, Blue Bird, Honda, New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Shell, and Revel.