Learning by charging: Understanding consumers’ changing attitudes towards vehicle-to-grid

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging, where vehicles can send power to the grid, can provide valuable services to energy systems and network operators. However, social acceptance is an essential and overlooked barrier which must be addressed if V2G is to be successfully deployed. This study investigates the factors that govern attitudes towards V2G, and how electric vehicle (EV) ownership and participation in V2G changes them. For the first time, this includes survey data from users who had experience using a V2G charger, comparing the response of V2G users (n=49) with EV owners (n=520) and non-EV owners (n=1091). We show that time and EV ownership have lowered concerns around range anxiety, and that EV ownership and V2G trial participation leads to a 15%–35% increase in stated willingness to participate in V2G or Smart Charging as compared to a 2013 baseline. Additionally, it is demonstrated that the strongest single predictor for V2G willingness is whether the consumer believes that V2G can contributes to a stable electricity system. These results suggest that education around V2G benefits and allowing consumers to test V2G before committing could be key factors in increasing adoption. We also highlight the importance of data privacy, which for some consumers contributes towards a negative attitude towards V2G. We release the raw survey data and code with this manuscript.