21:07 30-05-2026

EVs Could Soon Feed Power Back to the Grid — But Owners Should Know One Key Catch

ISO 15118-20 becomes mandatory in the EU on 1 January 2027, and Germany has scrapped the double grid fee. But the question of battery wear is still wide open.

In Germany, electric cars are getting ready to stop being just transport and turn into part of the energy system. At the Automotive Masterminds 2026 conference in Berlin, lawyers from CMS Hasche Sigle said that bidirectional charging is now close to commercial launch. The idea is straightforward: the car not only pulls electricity from the grid but can also send it back — into the home, the charging infrastructure or the grid itself.

The main argument for the technology is a huge pool of energy that currently sits idle. According to the speakers, an EV spends about 95 percent of its time parked. With bidirectional charging, its battery becomes a storage unit: it charges during cheaper hours, supports the home at peak demand, or helps balance the grid through dedicated aggregator operators.

The technical side is catching up too. The new ISO 15118-20 standard is meant to unify data exchange between the EV and the charging station. In the EU it becomes mandatory on 1 January 2027 for all newly installed and refurbished charging points. Another major shift — Germany has scrapped the double grid fee: until recently, owners were effectively paying twice for the same energy, once when charging and again when feeding it back.

Plenty of open questions remain. By the end of June 2026, the German regulator is expected to publish metering rules — especially for owners of solar panels. And the most sensitive point is still unanswered: how extra charge and discharge cycles will affect battery life and who will carry that risk.