Newark, Delaware is taking another step on the path to building an energy grid that uses cars as storage for electricity. A grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for $750,000 will allow the two-way flow of energy project to buy five more augmented electric cars and to add six more people to the research team.

The project was started by Willet Kempton, an associate professor at the University of Delaware, after publishing a paper on the idea in 1997. The project has been well underway since 2005.

It uses a retrofitted Toyota Scion xB as the electric car which is equipped with software that communicates with the regional energy grid. It is fueled like any other electric vehicle, by plugging it in. What is unusual however is that its store of energy can be sent back to the electrical grid while it’s plugged in. The potential here is, with a greater number of electric vehicles, to have massive energy storage system for the regional energy grid.

Typically, if the regional energy grid requires more juice it will just get it from fossil-fuel plants that can provide energy on short notice. This process would allow backup energy to be received without any harmful emissions being created.

This type of smart grid technology is designed to allow for an interaction of devices which rely on electricity, sharing as is needed to reduce the unnecessary production of power.