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Toyota begins to see how their electric vehicles can support the grid

Toyota is the latest automaker to partner with an electric utility on how to use electric vehicles to support the grid.

The automaker on Thursday announced a pilot project with Texas-based utility company Oncor for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology that would allow electric vehicles to discharge electricity back into the grid. . Other auto and utility manufacturers have expressed interest in V2G as a way to help smooth out fluctuations in supply and demand, easing the strain on power generation infrastructure.

This is Toyota’s first collaboration with the utility, and the automaker hopes to learn more about the potential of V2G technology from it, according to a press release.

Toyota bZ4X 2023 will be used in V2G test project with Oncor utility

Toyota bZ4X 2023 will be used in V2G test project with Oncor utility

“We envision a future where the Toyota BEV delivers the best mobility experience in its class, but can also be used by our customers to power their homes, communities or even even supply power back to the grid when needed,” Christopher Yang, group vice president of Toyota Electric Vehicle Charging Solutions, said in a statement.

For now, however, the effort appears to be on a rather small scale. It will use Oncor’s experimental “microgrid,” located at the company’s Systems Operations Service Facility (SOSF) south of Dallas, not far from Toyota’s U.S. headquarters. According to Toyota, the microgrid includes an EV charger that supports V2G, as well as solar panels and battery storage. However, it remains unclear whether more than one EV will be plugged into the system at once.

“Toyota and Oncor plan to use the BEV together with the system to better understand the connectivity between the BEV and utilities,” the statement said. Means used may include bZ4XFirst mass-produced Toyota EV for the United States, or Lexus RZa close relative to the automaker’s luxury brand.

Lexus RX 2023

Lexus RX 2023

So far, Toyota has devoted more effort to how hydrogen fuel cell technology can help smooth the mesh. That aligns with its strategy of treating fuel cell vehicles as an alternative to electric vehicles, which Toyota seems to be just changing.

Meanwhile, V2G has received significant interest from industry stakeholders. California has said that it considers V2G technology useful to support the grid and that it is currently working on a regulatory framework. The most recent round of research in 2020 showed how V2G technology could be standardized, allowing electric vehicles to be connected to help power the grid.

Recently California heat wave has issued warnings about electric vehicle charging habits—and Texas has shown it also has problems meeting demand during unusual weather. Tesla, through a program with California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), demonstrated another solution: using thousands of Powerwall battery packs to form a “virtual power plant.”



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