US Military to Soon Own Largest Federal Fleet of V2G Plug-In Vehicles

Bragging rights to the owners of the largest federal fleet of plug-in vehicle may soon belong to the US Military.

The military, which is looking to invest an initial $20 million for a fleet of plug-in vehicles, will explore vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology at a level never before conducted anywhere in the world.

Up to 500 V2G vehicles will be in use at six US military bases—including the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy—as part of a pilot program announced in January.

Camron Gorguinpour, special assistant to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, stated:

"If we execute this fully, it will be the largest electrical vehicle acquisition for a federal fleet that has ever been conducted.  It will certainly be the largest vehicle-to-grid demonstration that has ever been conducted in the world."

Gorguinpour is optimistic that V2g vehicles can practically pay for themselves in revenue generated by sending electricity back to the grid:

"For example, a Nissan Leaf can earn more than $200 a month in southern California’s energy market.  You can lease a Nissan Leaf for $199 a month, so at a certain point it becomes a revenue generating proposition above and beyond what you're spending to operate the vehicle."

V2G systems will initially be installed on six bases: Los Angeles Air Force Base and Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California; Joint Base Andrews, Maryland; Fort Hood Army Base, Texas; Marine Corps Base Hawaii; and Joint Base McGuire-Dix, New Jersey.

---

---

If the pilot program proves a success, then the US military will slowly incorporate V2G at 30 bases across the country and will purchase a total of 1,500 plug-in vehicles to bolster the V2G program.

The contract for vehicle and V2G technology has been signed, so this is no dreamy proposition.  It will soon be reality.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Insideevs.com?

Take our 3 minute survey.

- The InsideEVs team