A study led by Purdue University researchers and published in Cell Reports Physical Science shows that electric vehicles (EVs) could play a significant role in strengthening the electric grid while reducing the need for costly infrastructure upgrades.
The research team, led by Junjie Qin, assistant professor in Purdue’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, developed a framework that treats EVs as “virtual grid assets.”
By coordinating when and where EVs charge, the model demonstrates how vehicles can function like mobile batteries and power lines, helping utilities balance electricity supply and demand more efficiently.
Framework developed by Purdue University researchers models how coordinated EV charging can act as “virtual grid assets.” Individual vehicle flexibility is aggregated and represented as virtual batteries and power lines to support grid planning and operations. (Image: Cell.com)
Using real-world data from the Chicago metropolitan area and California’s Bay Area, the researchers found that existing EVs could collectively provide grid flexibility equivalent to 740 megawatt-hours of battery storage and 15 megawatts of transmission capacity in Chicago alone. This represents more than $900 million in avoided infrastructure investment.
Nationwide, this approach could allow utilities to accommodate up to 35% more charging demand without expanding the grid.
“This flexibility is not theoretical — it’s measurable and comparable to billions of dollars’ worth of new batteries and power lines,” said Qin. “EVs aren’t just vehicles; they’re energy assets that can help accelerate the clean energy transition.”
Virtual battery and line maps derived from EV charging flexibility in the Chicago area. (Image: Purdue University)
The study also found that balanced investments in grid capacity and public charging infrastructure are critical to unlocking this flexibility at scale. The researchers say this framework can help utilities and policymakers identify the most cost-effective strategies for meeting surging electricity demand from EVs, data centers, and electrified buildings.
The findings come as research worldwide points to the growing role of electric vehicles in grid stability. A recent European study by Eurelectric and EY, Plugging into Potential (2025), estimated that EVs could supply up to 114 TWh of flexible energy to the grid by 2030 (enough to power 30 million households) while saving utilities billions in avoided grid investments.
Similar trends are emerging across North America, where utilities face surging demand from transportation electrification, data centers, and buildings.
Together, these studies underscore the opportunity for EVs to serve as distributed energy resources—supporting renewable integration, deferring costly grid upgrades, and making the energy transition more affordable and resilient.
The paper, “Quantifying Spatiotemporal Charging Flexibility of Electric Vehicles as Virtual Grid Assets to Accelerate Sustainable Energy Transition,” was authored by Ge Chen (Great Bay University), Nima Rashgi Shishvan, and Zhaomiao Guo (University of Texas at Austin), and Junjie Qin (Purdue University). The work was supported by the National Science Foundation.
Filed Under: R&D, Technology News