The Australian Government has officially announced the National Vehicle-Grid Network (VGN) to encourage owners of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles to feed electricity back into the national grid.
Launched by Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and led by Climate-KIC Australia and the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) at the University of Technology Sydney, the VGN aims to accelerate the large-scale deployment of two-way vehicle charging (V2G) across the country.
It builds on a national roadmap for bi-directional V2G charging, enabling plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and electric vehicle (EV) users to both charge their vehicles and add electricity to the grid.
This, in turn, could result in customers being paid back for their energy contribution to the grid.
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The goal of the VGN is to enable large-scale adoption of V2G through greater industry collaboration and uniform standards for device compatibility.
A UTS announcement also said the network would work to “build industry and consumer capabilities through trusted information, educational resources, events and practical tools.”
Funding comes from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and RACE for 2030 CRC, an industry-led collaborative research center established in 2020 with $68.5 million in government funding.
Industry associations will also contribute to funding the network. Current partners include the Electric Vehicle Council and infrastructure provider JET Charge.
It is led by Sydney-based Climate-KIC – a climate innovation initiative – and the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), and funded with $1 million in federal funding.
“We are creating the space for industry, government and researchers to share what works, understand new technologies together and identify opportunities to accelerate bi-directional charging at scale and make electric vehicles a win-win for people, businesses and the grid,” Climate-KIC Australia CEO and UTS ISF Industry Professor Chris Lee said in a statement.
South Australia was the first jurisdiction in Australia to allow V2G transmission.
From May 2024, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and Eclipse Cross PHEV owners were able to sell electricity back to SA Power Networks (SAPN).
Bidirectional chargers convert alternating current (AC) from the grid into direct current (DC), which is required by electric vehicle batteries. But they can also convert direct current back into alternating current, so that power can be taken from the battery and distributed elsewhere.
The power drawn from a battery enables energy sharing applications such as V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) and V2H (Vehicle-to-Home).
The Australian Government launched the National Electric Vehicle Strategy in 2023 with the aim of increasing the supply of affordable and accessible electric vehicles and developing electric vehicle infrastructure to support higher demand.
This included the introduction of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which came into force on January 1, 2025, and imposes fines on car manufacturers that violate established carbon dioxide emissions limits.
The price of electric vehicles continues to fall in Australia. Launched in November, the BYD Atto 1 Hatch starts at $23,990 (before on-road costs) – the cheapest electric vehicle in local showrooms to date.
By the end of November 2025, electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles accounted for almost 30 percent of new car sales in Australia.
The market share of electric vehicles has risen to 8.5 percent of all new car sales, the highest level to date.
