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What Interconnection Got Right & What’s Ripe for Change?
Bidirectional electric vehicles (EVs) are proliferating with more and more OEMs coming to market with the technology in their next EV models. As of Q2 2026, Ford Motor Company (“Ford”) manufactured over 100,000 EVs with bidirectional charging features. Ford’s next EV model coming to market under its Universal Electric Vehicle platform in 2027 will also have bidirectional charging features. With Ford’s experience in market with bidirectional EVs and its future product lineup, Ford has found a fragmented utility interconnection landscape across the U.S. Interconnection regulations and utility interconnection procedures were historically written and developed for distributed energy resource (DER) assets that are stationary and affixed to a customer’s garage, such as battery storage or solar. These interconnection procedures don’t always fit well for bidirectional EVs which are used for both customer mobility and potential grid assets.
Ford has been working closely with utilities and regulators across the country over the last 3+ years to help clarify and adapt utility interconnection procedures to make the process smooth for customers and installers. For example, Ford opened proceedings in Michigan, Colorado and Texas to seek clarity for current and future EV customers and spur the conversation around interconnection for greater EV adoption which primes these markets for leveraging these assets for near-term and long-term grid reliability and resiliency. In this session, Ford will dispel the lessons learned from interconnecting bidirectional EV systems with utilities across the U.S., share what has worked well, and what can be improved. Ford & utilities will share what processes have worked well to enact change and help unlock barriers for a broader EV future for all. Utility panelists will share their perspective on working with OEMs, how OEMs can be good work partners, and highlight what they’ve done proactively in their own jurisdictions to help improve the interconnection process for bidirectional EV customers.
