Electric vehicle–integrated sustainable community microgrids: A review of control strategies, challenges, opportunities and pathways toward SDG 7

The demand for electricity continues to increase with economic growth and increasing end-use electrification, particularly in the transport sector. Despite ongoing progress, achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 by 2030, which aims to provide affordable and clean energy for all, remains uneven and structurally constrained. Electric vehicle (EV)-integrated community microgrids (MGs), operating in grid-connected or islanded modes are a promising solution that combines distributed energy resources, local electricity generation options and mobile energy storage systems (ESSs) through EV fleets. However, the high penetration of renewable energy resources, EVs and battery ESSs introduces significant challenges to system stability, power flow and operational reliability. This review provides a comprehensive assessment of recent developments in EV-integrated community MGs, energy management, decentralized EV fleet coordination and bidirectional EV charging/discharging into the electricity network. It also provides a framework for integrating MGs, EVs, and renewables, including grid-to-vehicle (G2V) charging, bidirectional vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) applications, to enhance grid flexibility and ancillary services. It further discusses the optimization mechanisms, control frameworks and their applications within the MG environment. In addition, the review evaluates the contribution of EV-integrated community MGs toward achieving SDG 7 in sustainable community energy systems. The analysis also addresses existing technical, economic, social acceptance and regulatory challenges that hinder large-scale deployments. The study outlines future research directions and proposes a conceptual framework for researchers and policymakers, offering actionable pathways to accelerate the global clean energy transition and support the achievement of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.