Actors, business models, and innovation activity systems for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology: a comprehensive review

This study is motivated by the prospect of needing to harness significant flows of investment and finance, along with private sector commitment, towards decarbonizing passenger transport in Europe. It asks: what types of actors and stakeholder groups, business models, and resulting innovation activity systems might vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology create or accelerate? Based primarily on qualitative research interviews and focus groups in five countries—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and a comprehensive literature review, the study assess stakeholder perceptions of primary and secondary business models for V2G. It identifies at least twelve meaningful stakeholder types and corresponding business markets: automotive manufacturers, battery manufacturers, vehicle owners, energy suppliers, transmission and distribution system operators, fleets, aggregators, mobility-as-a-service providers, renewable electricity independent power providers, public transit operators, secondhand markets and secondary markets. These business models fall into the five clusters of equipment, grid services, aggregation, bundling, and secondary markets. We then examine how these business models differ by innovation activity systems—that is, by content, structure, and governance. We lastly translate these findings into policy recommendations of relevance for all types of countries.