42 U.S.C. § 17014 — Research and development into integrating electric vehicles onto the electric grid

(a) In general. The Secretary must set up a research, development, and demonstration program to help electric vehicles — including plug-in hybrids — connect to the electric grid. (b) Vehicles-to-grid integration assessment report. By December 27, 2021, the Secretary must send a report to two congressional committees — House Science, Space, and Technology, and Senate Energy and Natural Resources — studying the opportunities, challenges, and standards needed to connect electric vehicles to the grid. (1) The report must cover: (A) how electric vehicles can help keep the grid reliable — for demand response, load shaping, emergency power, frequency regulation, and reusing old vehicle batteries for grid storage; (B) how grid connection affects electric vehicles — including battery wear from two-way power flow and effects on manufacturer warranties; (C) the grid impacts of more electric vehicles — needed infrastructure upgrades, strategies to limit those upgrades, how charging changes electricity demand over a day, expected load growth, incentives to shift charging to off-peak times, technology needed for two-way power flow, and smart charging methods; (D) research, done with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, on communication systems, protocols, and charging-station standards; (E) cybersecurity risks from electrifying transportation; and (F) whether the Department's own facilities could use the technologies developed. (2) As part of the report, the Secretary must create a 10-year roadmap guiding this research program. (3) In writing the report, the Secretary must consult electric vehicle makers, electric utilities, public utility commissions, battery makers, charging-equipment makers, charging-infrastructure makers, the National Laboratories, and other relevant federal agencies. (4) The Secretary must update this report every 3 years for as long as the program runs, and resend it to the same two committees. (c) Program implementation. The Secretary must (1) carry out the report's recommendations, and (2) coordinate across all relevant Department offices — including the Office of Electricity — to meet this section's goals. (d) Testing capabilities. The Secretary must work with the National Laboratories to build testing capabilities that evaluate, prototype, and improve technologies for connecting electric vehicles to the grid.