Are electric vehicle drivers willing to participate in vehicle-to-grid contracts? A context-dependent stated choice experiment

Abstract

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology could turn electric vehicles (EVs) into a potentially valuable solution to the problem of increased load demand caused by large-scale EV integration. Successful market penetration of V2G relies not only on developing the technology itself, but also on EV drivers' willingness to participate in this technology. This paper aims to explore Dutch EV drivers' preferences for participating in V2G contracts. In particular, we conduct a context-dependent stated choice experiment to examine the impact of EV recharging technology on the V2G contract preferences. Two contexts have been designed: the current EV recharging time and fast recharging. Our results show that in the context of current recharging time, Dutch EV drivers in general prefer not to participate in V2G contracts, while the opposite is true in the context of fast recharging. With regard to specific V2G contract attributes, Dutch EV drivers are most concerned about ‘discharging cycles’. Also important to them is ‘the guaranteed minimum battery level’, but its importance drops significantly in the fast charging context. In addition, ‘monthly remuneration’ and ‘plug-in time’ also influence people's preferences for adopting V2G. From these findings, we draw the implications for the aggregator and policy makers.