China’s Vehicle-to-Grid Trials Turn Electric Cars Into Distributed Power Assets

Shanghai, 21 September 2026 – Vehicle-to-grid trials are expanding in China as utilities move beyond demonstrations and test electric cars as distributed power assets capable of supporting peak demand. A recent Shanghai exercise delivered electricity from privately owned charging points and public stations back to the network, showing how aggregated vehicle batteries could complement conventional generation and stationary storage.

The 12 September exercise reached a peak response capacity of 34,600 kilowatts and supplied 5,856.77 kilowatt-hours to the grid across 410 discharge sessions. Privately owned charging points accounted for 81.25% of the sessions and 65.67% of electricity delivered, marking a change from earlier trials dominated by public charging stations. Household participation is essential if vehicle-to-grid systems are to achieve meaningful scale.