Adapting charging of electrical vehicles to real-time grid conditions could save utilities up to $30 billion annually by 2035 and reduce peak energy demand, according to a new report by The Brattle Group and smart charging provider ev.energy.
The purported benefits would come from enabling managed-charging programs that encourage off-peak charging. This reduces strain on the grid and can help utilities avoid costly infrastructure upgrades, according to an Aug. 21 press release.
The report finds that managed charging can save up to $575 for each EV and 10% on home utility bills, with benefits potentially doubling with the inclusion of bidirectional charging, according to the release.
“As demand grows, and the world electrifies, there’s a real risk that households across the U.S. will face higher energy rates,” Nick Woolley, CEO of ev.energy, said in a statement. “The challenge for utilities is demand is rising fast, and traditional solutions — like building power stations — are slow to deliver and costly.”
Enabling demand flexibility can provide a solution and reduce rates across the board, Woolley added.
Citing data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the report states that forecasts show a 15% increase in peak demand by 2030.
“Electric vehicles represent a massive portion of this surge,” the report states. “While some forecasts predict a near-term slowdown, even conservative estimates project a 1400% increase to 60 million EVs by 2035 (Bloomberg, 2025), while others expect nearly 80 million (Edison Electric Institute, 2024),” the report states.
At the national level, EV sales in the first half of 2025 were up 1.5% year-over-year, with 607,089 vehicles sold, according to a report from Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book. Second-quarter figures were down 6.3% year-over-year. Cox also noted the industry is facing further headwinds with government-backed incentives ending in September and economic pressures mounting. (See Calif. Fights to Maintain ZEV Momentum.)
Still, “the fundamental per-vehicle value is so significant that the business case for managed charging remains urgent even under more conservative adoption scenarios, such as those highlighted in recent industry reports,” according to ev.energy and Brattle’s report.
A similar report by Brattle published in February found that New York could achieve 8.5 GW in “grid flexibility” measures by 2040, saving consumers more than $2 billion a year by using programs like managed charging. (See Study Finds Considerable ‘Grid Flexibility’ Potential in New York.)
The February study said implementing grid flexibility improvements could avoid $2.9 billion a year in power system costs by 2040, $2.4 billion of which could be returned to consumers. These cost savings come primarily from reducing how much investment in generation capacity would be needed to maintain reliability. Avoided distribution and energy costs were $408 million and $384 million, respectively.
Managed electric vehicle charging, heat pump load control and residential behind-the-meter storage all had significant potential for increasing grid flexibility, according to the February report.
In a statement on the most recent study, Ryan Hledik, principal at The Brattle Group, said: “Past analyses have shown that virtual power plants can deliver reliable power at costs up to 60% lower than traditional generators. This new research goes further — offering a rigorous, quantitative framework that confirms EV flexibility as a critical, cost-effective tool for preserving both grid reliability and affordability.”
