Attaining these benefits requires greater penetration of PEVs, and the enabling of these PEVs to offer grid services. Although PEVs represent a small fraction of the vehicles on the road today, recent PEV sales data shows that PEV adoption is growing faster than the adoption of hybrid electric vehicles at a comparable time since they were first introduced into the market. In California, nearly 100,000 PEVs have been deployed already and the Governor of California has issued a mandate and action plan targeting the deployment of 1.5 million zero emissions vehicles on California roadways by 2025. Similarly, 8 states across the United States (including California) have formed a memorandum of understanding targeting the deployment of 3.3 million zero emissions vehicles by 2025. A sizable fraction of these zero emissions vehicles are anticipated to be PEVs. Similar targets for PEV and zero emission vehicle deployment have been established by the Governments of India and China.

Vehicle-grid integration has been explored in numerous research studies and publications. These studies demonstrate the different ways that vehicles can facilitate the improved operation of the electricity grid, from enabling renewables integration to operating distribution systems more effectively. The State of California is in the process of extending these research studies into deployment, through a collection of efforts including demonstration projects, policy and regulatory frameworks, scoping studies, etc. In a collaborative effort between the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the California Energy Commission (CEC) and a collection of stakeholder, a roadmap for enabling vehicle-grid integration in California was developed. Within this roadmap, specific goals and timelines were set. Further, the CPUC developed a whitepaper on vehicle-grid integration which discusses the opportunities, values, and frameworks for vehicle-grid integration in California.

The California Energy Commission has funded two pilot projects, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to demonstrate vehicle-grid integration. The first project will integrate EVs at the Los Angeles Air Force Base into the California frequency regulation market, and the second will use EVs at the Moffett Air Field to provide vehicle-to-building services. As of mid-2014, CEC has open solicitations to launch more vehicle-grid integration pilot projects throughout the State of California, including projects that demonstrate smart charging, vehicle-to-building services, and bi-directional vehicle-to-grid services.