Frequently asked questions
The exact amount you can make depends on where you live and how much energy you're willing to send to the grid. In broad strokes, program participants in California can expect to earn passive income and save on utility bills up to a total of $1500 per year, and those in Connecticut can expect to earn up to $1350 in the first 12 months.
It's already common for utilities to pay those who support the grid; many already offer programs for businesses to make money for doing this, as it reduces the utility's need to fire up additional (often gas) power plants to meet electricity needs.
Through its pre-existing utility partnerships, Bidirectional Energy opens up the opportunity for homeowners like you to participate in these Demand Response (DR) programs and Emergency Load Reduction programs (ELRP). We aggregate many of our customers' EV batteries into what is considered a single virtual power plant (VPP) for use when the utility needs, removing the need for that gas power plant to start burning fossil fuels. When the utility pays us for sending power back to the grid, we take a small percentage and pass the majority of the utility payout to you as a program participant.
Bidirectional Energy can optimize your charging schedule with any home charger and any EV, but to make the most money and do the most good for the planet, you'll need a bidirectional (two-way) charger. Including auxiliary hardware and installation, these can cost up to $15,000, but there are many incentive programs available (we'll let you know all the programs you're qualified for) which can reduce that cost by up to 75%.
Our current programs only leverage hardware from Wallbox, with the Quasar 2 bidirectional charger operating only with the Kia EV9 at this point. However, we're actively adding new vendors and chargers (and vehicles!) to our program. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of the latest updates.
A conventional (one-way) EV charger can only charge your EV's battery. A bidirectional (V2G) charger can both charge your EV, as well as move energy in the opposite direction, discharging stored energy from your EV to your home or to the grid.
For smart charge scheduling and one-way charging (colloquially called "V1G" versus V2G, which stands for vehicle-to-grid), we support all EV models and all charger models.
Bidirectional V2G charging is currently only supported by a limited-but-growing number of EV models. Even though many drive a V2G-capable EV, most don't yet own a V2G-capable bidirectional charger. Our programs close that gap -- we leverage our utility partnerships to make vehicle-to-grid a reality, accessible to more communities through rebates thanks to state-funded grants.
You can always manually start or stop charging via the app, and Bidirectional Energy will turn off smart charging for a while. However, there are also many ways to adjust smart charging to your liking.
As examples, you could configure your Bidirectional Energy app settings to cap at an 80% state of charge and/or a floor of 50% charge to ensure you always have enough mileage for your daily trips. If you know you have an upcoming road trip, you could simply toggle off program participation to be extra sure you've got maximum mileage for your trip.
There are many factors that influence an EV battery's lifespan. Research has shown that with bidirectinoal charging could actually increase the battery life by reducing calendar aging of the EV battery. You can read more about how bidirectional charging impacts battery health here.
Demand Response (DR) events occur when the grid is overloaded. During these events, utilities often resort to carbon-heavy power sources like coal plants and diesel generators. When you respond to a DR event by discharging your EV, you help to avoid turning on another expensive, carbon-intensive gas or coal plant. With the Bidirectional Energy app, you can see exactly how much carbon you removed from the atmosphere every time you participate in a DR event.
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