Electric vehicles with the capacity to send energy back to the grid at peak hours can unlock substantially more value than one-way managed charging during the cheapest hours.

Indeed, roughly $7 billion worth of potential annual market value nationwide by 2030—for utility companies and vehicle owners, according to a study by energy modeling consultant firm E3, commissioned by General Motors.

E3 ran simulations for one-way managed charging (V1G)—when EVs use software to charge only when energy costs are lowest, as well as for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging—when EVs are enabled with the capability to send power back to the grid during the highest-value hours for reliability and congestion relief. The study found that V2G delivers five to 15 times more value per vehicle than V1G.

“A managed EV is worth a few hundred dollars a year to the grid, but a V2G-enabled one can be worth several times that, because it can discharge during the highest-value hours, not just shift its charging to cheaper hours,” according to the study.

E3’s simulations found that, depending on the region of the country, V1G value ranges from $100–$450 per vehicle-year, and V2G from $680–$2,750 per vehicle-year. Most of V2G’s higher value range comes from the ability to increase load response and grid reliability during peak hours, as well as the increased ability for utilities to avoid or delay upgrades to transmission and distribution infrastructure.

The value derived from energy arbitrage—shifting charging to cheap hours and selling back during expensive ones—depends on how a region runs its electricity market.

“Regions like the Midwest, downstate New York and the Eastern PJM region have capacity markets that compensate resources for maintaining availability to support reliability during peak system conditions,” the authors wrote. “California relies on a Resource Adequacy framework that serves a similar reliability function. These market structures can create some of the strongest value opportunities for V2G resources.”

Even with its enhanced opportunity, V2G stills lack clear revenue pathways today, according to the study. Moreover, V2G customer value varies widely depending on rate design, export rules and availability of pilot programs.

Compensation at wholesale energy prices yielded returns too small to meaningfully affect customer bills. Compensation at full retail rates includes fixed distribution, transmission and policy charges avoided by the customer but not the utility, resulting in a cost-shift to all ratepayers.

“A compensation structure tied to the actual grid value of the export, with that value shared between the customer and the utility, avoids both problems: customers come out ahead, and the design scales as participation grows,” according to the report.

Clear regulatory frameworks and updated rate structures are needed to unlock broader customer participation and value.

“The opportunity is large and increasingly within reach,” the authors wrote. “EVs are a flexible grid resource that customers have already purchased to meet driving needs, so capturing their full value depends mainly on program design: new rules, standardized ways to aggregate vehicles, and programs that let customers and utilities share in the value V2G-enabled vehicles create.”