Electric vehicles could serve the role of two and a half gas power plants during the evening hours.

Electric vehicles (EVs) could potentially displace the power output of roughly two and a half conventional gas-powered plants before the end of the day.

Electric cars are not just efficient modes of transport, but could also play a significant role in the energy sector. A study by Eon, Germany's largest energy provider, suggests that electric cars (e-cars) could save massive emissions, even including production, compared to combustion engines.

One intriguing aspect of e-cars is bidirectional charging, a technology that allows them to not only store power for their own operation but also feed it back into the household or the power grid. Bidirectional charging variants include Vehicle-to-Load (V2L), Vehicle-to-Device (V2D), Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G).

By early 2025, more than 225,000 cars in Germany were registered that are technically prepared for bidirectional charging. However, bidirectional charging is currently being tested in pilot projects but is not yet widely available.

The ADAC has compiled a list of around 30 e-car models that "at least theoretically" master a variant of bidirectional charging or are prepared for it. The simplest form of bidirectional charging, V2L or V2D, is already available in some car models.

In the V2H variant, the e-car feeds stored power into the home network via the wallbox. This energy could power 2.5 million households from 5:30 PM to 5:30 AM, according to Eon's analysis. When the power from the car battery is fed into the distribution network via the wallbox, it is called V2G. During this nighttime period, the megawatt capacity could replace the power output of 2.5 large gas power plants.

Eon's CEO of Eon Energie Deutschland, Filip Thon, states that if 60% of the battery capacities were flexibly available at night, it would provide almost 8,000 megawatt hours of energy. This is a substantial amount, considering that it could supply enough night power for 2.5 million people.

However, many questions still need to be clarified for widespread application of e-cars as power storage. The necessary regulations and frameworks can typically be established by regulatory authorities and policymakers involved in energy and transportation sectors, such as national energy agencies and transport ministries, in coordination with industry stakeholders and standards organizations. These entities define technical standards, safety requirements, and billing frameworks to enable bidirectional charging integration.

The Consumer Center North Rhine-Westphalia and the TÜV Association have also highlighted the need for legal framework conditions, uniform standards, and market-ready tariffs for bidirectional charging.

Large amounts of carbon dioxide could be avoided through the use of car batteries in the grid. As the technology advances and regulatory hurdles are overcome, e-cars could become not just a solution for reducing emissions on the road, but also a crucial part of a sustainable energy future.