Germany is facing continued regulatory and infrastructure challenges in deploying bidirectional charging technology at scale, despite growing industry support and an increasing number of vehicle-to-grid pilot projects.
The issue was highlighted during the third European Summit for Bidirectional Charging hosted by Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, where automotive, energy and digital industry representatives discussed progress toward integrating bidirectional charging into European electricity networks.
The summit follows earlier meetings held in 2023 and 2024, during which the German government pledged to remove legal, technical and organizational barriers to make bidirectional charging commercially viable by 2025.
While several automakers and energy companies are preparing commercial offerings, industry participants said regulatory complexity continues to slow deployment.
An increasing number of electric vehicle models are now technically capable of bidirectional charging, including the Renault 5, Ford Capri, Ford Explorer, several Volkswagen models, the Mercedes-Benz GLC and the BMW iX3.
BMW recently launched its first commercial vehicle-to-grid offering in Germany with E.ON, while Ford Motor plans to introduce a similar service this summer with Octopus Energy.
Volkswagen intends to launch its bidirectional charging services through subsidiary Elli in the fourth quarter of 2026, while Renault and Mercedes-Benz are also preparing services in partnership with The Mobility House.
Despite these developments, industry participants said Germany’s regulatory framework remains fragmented.
According to reports presented during the summit, unresolved issues include implementation of Germany’s MiSpeL storage integration procedure, taxation of electricity fed back into the grid, inconsistent rules governing electricity charges and uncertainty surrounding coordination among Germany’s more than 800 grid operators.
The ministry said participants agreed that a simplified European regulatory framework and a unified European market for bidirectional charging would be necessary to accelerate adoption.
Katharina Reiche, Germany’s economy minister, acknowledged that other European countries have moved faster in introducing bidirectional charging tariffs and services.
Industry groups also proposed an EU-wide standardized dynamic grid-status signal system aimed at balancing charging demand across grid levels and preventing overloads.
The summit additionally examined “energy sharing” models that would combine bidirectional charging with local renewable generation and battery storage systems, particularly for apartment buildings and workplace charging networks.
The German ministry said reports and recommendations from the summit will now be submitted to the European Commission to support development of a broader European regulatory framework for bidirectional charging.