Zach Woogen is the Executive Director of the Vehicle-Grid Integration Council. He is a self-described "policy and market-design nerd on a mission to equitably decarbonize energy systems." He explains Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI)... an umbrella term that covers managed and smart charging of EVs... shifting when and where charging occurs so that drivers pay less and utilities are not only least impacted, but even supported during peak power periods.

Thanks to the rise of bi-directional EV charging, EVs will not only draw power from the grid, but will be able to discharge power to the homes and businesses to provide back-up power, and can discharge to the grid to support local utilities while providing drivers with a new source of income. After all, there is 40 GW of energy storage in parking lots, fleet depots, driveways, garages, and curbsides across North America.

A recent California Energy Commission study finds that there is more battery capacity in California's EVs (18.5 GW) than all other forms of utility energy storage in the state (14 GW). Yes, that's the "gross technical potential," Zach explains. Cars sit idle 95% of the time. While only a fraction of that will be available to utilities as EVs' number one priority is to provide mobility to their owners, often EVs have excess capacity on board and they are rapidly growing in number.

Zach explains that the promise of bidirectional charging is great.Tapping this new opportunity is not a technical challenge as much as it is a policy challenge. Ford, General Motors, Kia, Polestar,Tesla, and others all are developing the technology to unlock consumer and utility benefits. Virtually every electric bus now is equipped with the technology. Given increased electric demands due to decarbonization -- for heat pumps, air conditioning, EVs, and data centers -- many utilities are in need of additional capacity.

Ted asks Zach about whether VGI might void warranties for batteries. Are concerns about additional cycling of batteries valid? This is certainly an important question. Zach notes that there is considerable research about this and that warranties are an issue. But batteries are "fickle," he explains. Some new studies suggest that light-duty cycling (8 - 11 kW) of EV batteries for VGI might actually be good for batteries' health and longevity, certainly less impactful than deep charging at rates up to 350 kW.

The conversation ends with the role of the Vehicle Grid Integration Council that he leads. VGIC is a member-based trade association focused on the variety of use cases... chief among them being household resilience for EV drivers. Forums managed by VGIC explore solar and storage-paired VGI, fleet management, and the role of aggregators in this growing market. VGIC is engaged with auto makers, utilities, and their regulators... all keen in developing this new capability.

Flanigan's Eco-Logic Podcast
Episode 289, 9/21/2026

🖥️ Watch: https://ecomotion.us/flanigans-eco-logic-podcast/2026-episodes/zach-woogen-the-emerging-benefits-of-bi-directional-ev-charging-look-promising/

★ All episodes: https://ecomotion.us/flanigans-eco-logic-podcast

© 2026 EcoMotion, Inc.

Jules Kortenhorst is the co-chair of the Energy Transition Commission (ETC), a group of 50+ "wickedly smart people" dedicated to effective analysis and insights to drive down CO2 emissions and to accelerating the transition to carbon-free energy. The former chief executive officer of Rocky Mountain Institute who grew RMI from a staff of 50 to 600, Jules is passionate about the ETC's critical work to battle the rise in greenhouse gases that are threatening the planet and humanity.

The ETC has just released a report, "Energy Transition Monitor 2026," that presents good and bad news. The bad news is profoundly disturbing: Rising CO2 emissions are likely to eclipse the Conference of Parties' 2015 Paris Agreement to maintain the average, global temperature to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The good news is that there has been remarkable progress in stemming the emission of gases responsible for global warming.

Ted and Jules discuss the ETC, its genesis and mission, and its new report. Jules calls its findings a paradox: One one hand the rise of renewables and clean energy technologies worldwide is far outpacing all expectations and projections. Renewables are coming on faster and cheaper than anyone had expected. Clean energy supplied 99% of new power growth last year. China has more solar installed than coal, it has more solar and wind capacity than the rest of the world combined. Solar and wind and batteries and EVs are rising worldwide... and their costs are dropping dramatically. China is producing and deploying electric trucks that no one thought could replace internal combustion engine trucks. That's the good news.

The bad news, the sobering part of the paradox, is that emissions are not falling. In fact, they are at best "plateauing," and in many cases rising. Climate outcomes are "off track." A United Nations Environmental Program report, also just released in August, echoes this finding. It states that an "overshoot" is occurring, overshooting the 1.5 degree ceiling... and at best 1.8 degrees by mid century. At best, the report finds, we are on track to hit 2.6 - 2.8 degrees without policy changes. Jules is concerned about this overshoot. It will require us to work hard to bring emissions back to the 1.5 degree threshold before we can get to the critical work dropping emissions.

The conversation shifts to CO2 abatement policies in tough sectors. First and foremost, notes ETC, is phasing out coal. Unlike most countries that dispatch power resources based on marginal cost pricing which favors carbon free and low cost solar and wind, China continues to burn coal due to an antiquated policy that prioritizes coal contracts, even curtailing solar and wind at times. Curtailing methane emissions must also be a focal point, as a single methane molecule is 86 times as potent as a CO2 molecule. Methane must be captured in the oil and gas industry and in coal beds that seep the toxic gas. Cows produce methane at alarming rates and we all have an opportunity to eat less meat to cut methane emissions. Stemming deforestation is key... as is its cure... reforestation. Jules notes that the best way to safely capture emissions is to plant trees.

Ted wraps the episode with a question about what listeners can to. On top of it all, emphasizes Jules, is voting. We simply must get out to vote and elect officials that will take climate change and the need to reverse the rise in emissions seriously. Vote for those that share your views, that have the guts to take on vested interests. And finally, notes Jules, we all must follow what our former boss Amory Lovins, has so aptly framed as "applied hope." This is not to be naive, and simply hopeful, but to apply our smarts — new technologies and policies and programs that are cost and climate effective — to stem rising emissions, to urgently reverse rising emissions, for the benefit of all.

Kevin J. Patel is a voice for young people, channeling their stories and solutions to address and turn the course on climate change. Born to parents who were climate refugees from India, Kevin took charge in his local South Central LA community, developing community gardens to address the gross inequities of food. He noted that his community had an abundance of fast food, but nothing healthy. This is racial inequality, what he calls an injustice. Food activism was his starting point.

Kevin suffered from air pollution at a young age, hospitalizing him and galvanizing his commitment to take action, then tackling the injustice of the fossil fuel industry that was extracting locally, but putting nothing back into his community that is plagued with so many injustices... a lack of trees, a plethora of highways and roads, what he calls "sacrifice zones." Los Angeles Councilman Paul Koretz gave him a voice; at age 15 he was on the podium telling his story. That led to an idling ban for vehicles. In high school, he formed the world's first environmental justice club.

What a trajectory. His activism drew the attention of then Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti who formed the Mayor's Youth Council for Action, the world's first. That led to Garcetti appointing him to a similar role within the C40. Kevin became the founding member of the C40's Youth Hub. Then thanks to Gary Gero, LA County's Sustainability Officer, Kevin was appointed to the County's Youth Climate Commission. He also became a member of the US EPA's Youth Advisory Council. And when Greta Thunberg came to LA to support the LA Climate Strike, Kevin hosted her and they shared inspiration for voice and change.

The conversation ends with a focus on solutions. Kevin is clear. we have the solutions. Now is the time for implementation, turning our voices to action, becoming what he calls "solutionists." He says that this is not the time for despair, but instead a time of declaration. Having completed college, he has transitioned to an intergenerational model. He recently formed Earth Era Institute... to resource activism with two new funds and to convene action with concerned citizens and experts across cultures and generations.

Flanigan's Eco-Logic Podcast
Episode 287, 9/7/2026

🖥️ Watch: https://ecomotion.us/flanigans-eco-logic-podcast/2026-episodes/kevin-j-patel-young-activists-are-taking-on-the-world-climate-crisis/

★ All episodes: https://ecomotion.us/flanigans-eco-logic-podcast

© 2026 EcoMotion, Inc.