The California Energy Commission (CEC) has awarded Brooklyn-based EV charging company it’s electric $1.1 million to develop and commercialize a curbside vehicle-to-grid EV charger. The company will develop the new technology in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Delaware, and expects to bring it to market by 2028.

it’s electric offers a scalable and simple curbside charging solution for the millions of urban EV drivers who can’t install home chargers, and rely on on-street parking.

The company’s new charger will be visually identical to its current design, but will add the ability to send energy from EV batteries to the grid. This will enable cars that park on the street to function as distributed energy resources, delivering benefits to both EV owners and grid operators.

“Seven million light-duty vehicles are routinely parked on city streets in California,” said Nathan King, co-founder and CEO of it’s electric. “As these vehicles convert to electric, their batteries have enormous potential to help offset peak demand in critically overstrained electric utility service areas. And as a matter of equity, all EV drivers should have equal opportunity to participate in EV charging demand-response programs and V2G energy arbitrage opportunities.”

“Vehicle electrification is about both cleaner transportation and a strong grid,” said Commissioner Andrew McCallister, who leads the CEC’s Research and Development division. “This project helps unlock the full potential of EVs to provide load flexibility, support electric system reliability, and reduce peak demand.”

The project will also develop a second innovative technology: the J3068 Active Cable, created with the University of Delaware. This cable integrates the SAE-standard untethered charging format with Delaware’s Active Cable Communication Module, enabling bidirectional charging while seamlessly associating driver account information with the cable.

Source: It’s Electric