Texas Utility Company Plans to Power the Grid with Battery Electric Vehicles

The Toyota 2023 bZ4X all-electric SUV is displayed during the 2021 LA Auto Show in Los Angeles on Nov. 17, 2021. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

Texas’s largest regulated utility company plans to develop technology that would allow energy from electric car batteries to flow back to the power grid.

Oncor and Toyota North America, headquartered in Plano, Texas, announced on Thursday a project known as vehicle-to-grid, or V2G, which the companies believe could allow customers to use their electric cars to help firm up the grid.

“Electrification is coming, and it’s Oncor’s job to build a safer, smarter, more reliable grid that can enable the needs of our customers, the state of Texas, and the ERCOT market,” Jim Greer, Oncor executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a press release.

“This project marks the first collaboration of its kind between Oncor and an OEM manufacturer, and we are excited to work with a world-class technology leader like Toyota to better understand how the electric grid can enable V2G transactions across the Oncor service territory,” he continued.

Research will take place at Oncor’s System Operating Services Facility (SOSF) in Dallas. Oncor serves more than 400 communities with more than 140,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines.

“The SOSF microgrid is composed of four interconnected microgrids that can be controlled independently, but also operated in parallel tandem or combined into a single, larger system,” the release said.

The Oncor facility includes a “V2G” charger, solar panels, and battery storage that will be used for testing and evaluation.

For the initial phase, the companies will use a BEV to learn more about the interconnectivity between electric vehicles and utilities.

A second phase, planned for next year, includes V2G pilot testing with BEVs connected between homes and businesses in Oncor’s service area “pursuant to all standard interconnection processes and agreements.”

“We envision a future where Toyota BEVs provide a best-in-class mobility experience, but also can be utilized by our customer to power their homes, their communities, or even power back the grid in times of need,” said Christopher Yang, group vice president of Toyota Electric Vehicle Charging Solutions team.

In February 2021, winter storm Uri crippled the state’s power grid, leaving more than 4.5 million Texans without power for days on end. At least 246 deaths were attributed to the statewide outages.

The companies said they expect the project will provide insight into the infrastructure needed to support the use of electric vehicles and more clarity about the impact of V2G on the grid.

Earlier this year, the Federal Highway Administration approved the state’s plan to use up to $408 million to install electric vehicle charging stations across the state. The state will use funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed into law in 2021.

Of the more than 22 million vehicles registered in Texas, less than 162,000 are electric vehicles, Dallas–Fort Worth Clean Cities data shows.

Oncor and Toyota’s collaboration follows the release of Toyota’s first-mass market BEV, the bZ4X, in the United States and Canada. Its first Lexus BEV, the RZ 45oe, is scheduled for release on the market in early 2023.