Beyond the plug: unlocking vehicle to grid potentials during climate-induced disasters

Kurzfassung

Bidirectional charging goes beyond electric vehicle (EV) charging as a vehicles’ energy is used to supply consumers, buildings and the electrical grid. This way, EVs can provide flexibility to the grid. The present study considers the special case of bidirectional charging during disaster events. Importantly, EV owners’ acceptance for bidirectional charging determines whether it will be successfully employed during future disaster events and if thereby, system resilience can be improved. Through two focus group discussions with homeowners and tenants, all owning an EV, the user perspective is examined and insights into potentials and barriers for bidirectional charging during disaster events are gained. Results show selfish EV-usage motives dominating in anticipation of hypothetical disaster events, even more so for homeowners than tenants. Importantly, the responsibility to provide energy during disaster events was attributed to official actors. Recommendations on how information campaigns for bidirectional charging during disaster events should be designed to enhance acceptance are discussed.