The New War of the Currents - CleanTechnica

The article "The New War of the Currents" from CleanTechnica draws a parallel between the historic battle over electrical power standards between Edison’s Direct Current (DC) and Tesla’s Alternating Current (AC) and the current debate surrounding bidirectional charging technology in electric vehicles (EVs). EVs, acting as mobile batteries, have the potential to support electricity grids by storing renewable energy and feeding it back when needed, a concept known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G). Despite promising pilot projects by companies like Octopus, BYD, EON, BMW, Mobilize, and Renault, widespread adoption of V2G is hindered by a lack of standardization in charging technology. The core issue lies in the incompatibility between the grid’s AC power and the EV battery’s DC power, requiring inverters to convert electricity flow directionally. Some manufacturers, such as Renault and BYD, integrate bidirectional inverters within the car, enabling affordable AC wallbox chargers to handle V