Businesses are eyeing V2G in Germany – is the market shifting?

In this week’s Power Playbook: From E.ON to Elli to Octopus Energy, recent announcements paint a very positive picture for the future of Germany’s vehicle-to-grid (V2G) market. However, behind-the-curve smart metering and regulatory limitations are still very much hurdles to overcome for commercialisation.

Based on three announcements last week, it appears as though Germany’s V2G market is gaining significant momentum.

All within the same few days, these not-so-small energy and automotive players made public their intentions to grab a slice of the market share:

• Octopus Energy, while launching an EV leasing business in Germany, also unveiled plans to introduce V2G services to the country’s market, building on its experience in the UK. The goal is to help balance the grid and lower consumer costs by enabling cars to feed electricity back into the grid during peak times.
• Volkswagen’s e-mobility arm Elli launched its own bidirectional charging pilot in Germany. The programme allows participating EVs to not just charge from the grid, but also return power to homes and, potentially, the wider power system. Additionally, by the end of the decade, Elli aims to integrate large-scale storage systems and hundreds of thousands of EV batteries across Europe into its virtual power plant (VPP), orchestrating the integration and monetisation of storage capacities through its own energy trading platform.
• E.ON and BMW Group announced the launch of what will likely be Germany’s first commercial V2G solution for private customers. The system combines intelligent home charging infrastructure with bidirectional capabilities, giving consumers more control over their energy use and offering grid operators potential access to a growing pool of flexible storage capacity on wheels.

Alone, the initiatives are interesting. But together, they signal a potential shift for Germany, whose V2G market so far has not been particularly prominent.

Germany and commercial V2G

Indeed, although Germany’s EV uptake isn’t to scoff at, its market opportunity for connecting them to the power grid isn’t what we would call lucrative, at least not yet.

In fact, according to a February 2025 whitepaper by the Research Center for Energy Economics (FfE), there are several noteworthy barriers.

In short, The Integration of V2G in Europe report states it clearly: The use of V2G, at least in the short to medium term, is currently limited to projects and pilots.

But why is this?

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Tariffs, policy and smart metering

For V2G to scale up, real-time data and dynamic control are crucial — and that requires smart meters.

But, at least at the time of the FfE report, less than 10% of these devices have been installed in the country. Without a fully rolled-out smart metering infrastructure, enabling small-scale flexibility at scale remains a massive hurdle.

Additionally, the economic case for V2G in Germany still requires development. While dynamic and time-variable electricity tariffs are available in the country, says FfE, they are not yet widespread. Fixed-price tariffs remain the norm, limiting the potential for users to benefit from energy arbitrage — one of the key economic drivers of V2G in other markets.

All this being said, FfE adds that, due to a growing demand for storage in Germany, both marketing on the spot market and participation in grid and ancillary services, such as redispatch, represent relevant sales markets for the tech.

The think tank adds that many technical hurdles of V2G have already been overcome, particularly with regard to communication behind the meter.

However, implementation is also still being held back by insufficiently implemented standards.

The significant number of market players, especially DSOs in Germany, underlines the central importance of standards and at the same time makes the national implementation of these standards more difficult than in other countries.

Green light or stuck in neutral?

So, is the market really shifting? In some ways — yes.

The involvement of major players like Volkswagen, E.ON, and Octopus Energy signals growing confidence in the future commercial prospects for V2G in the country. According to FfE, because of heavy investment in the standardisation of communication protocols for V2G, close cooperation has been encouraged in the country between such players in the automotive and energy sectors.

Additionally, marketing on the spot market with bidirectionally chargeable EVs does offer attractive revenues.

The market is no longer idling, but until the smart meter rollout accelerates and the economics become clearer, more yet will be needed.

But what do you think? What will be key for Germany’s V2G market? What type of market reform will be needed to enable its widespread commercialisation?

Reach out and let me know your thoughts so that I can feature them on the Power Playbook.

Cheers,
Yusuf Latief
Content Producer
Smart Energy International

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