Germany must take action now to maintain leadership in Vehicle-to-Grid innovation

Vehicle-to-Grid technology gains attention at CES from leading German companies such as Ambibox, EcoG, and The Mobility House. The current German Federal Government has emphasized this topic since the coalition agreement. At the trade show, the three companies receive direct support from the Federal Minister for Digital and Transport, Volker Wissing. Developments over the past year underline the potential of V2G for the energy market and climate protection. Some automotive manufacturers, such as Volkswagen, also announce the integration of bidirectional charging into their models. 

At CES 2024, the three companies now jointly present the relevant puzzle pieces for V2G at the German Pavilion (Booth 55439): Technology company EcoG introduces an operating system and reference design for bidirectional wall boxes. This system links the hardware of charging station and home energy management system manufacturer Ambibox with the technology of The Mobility House, which markets vehicle batteries on the energy market. 

Vehicle-to-Grid or bidirectional charging holds enormous potential for the energy transition and grid stability. Millions of decentralized, connected electric vehicles could form a massive swarm storage and provide flexible balancing to volatile energy sources like wind and solar, with reduced grid expansion and without inconvenience to drivers. This can minimize the use of fossil power plants, which have traditionally provided a significant portion of flexibility. Electric vehicles thus become an integral part of climate protection, reducing not only CO₂ emissions in mobility but also in power generation.

• Equal treatment of mobile storage in fee exemptions: A use of vehicle batteries that supports the energy system should be treated the same as stationary storage. This requires extending grid fee exemptions to V2G.  
• Unified registration process: Germany needs to work on making V2G easy to register with the grid operator. Currently, there are over 800 different grid operators with often individual registration procedures.  
• Updatable charging infrastructure: To adapt conditions during the V2G rollout, DC charging systems are needed that can be adjusted to the grid connection via software updates, complying with ISO 15118-20 according to CharIN application guidelines. 

About Ambibox:  

Ambibox develops and manufactures bidirectional wall boxes and energy management systems enabling Vehicle-2-Grid and Vehicle-2-Home applications. As a pioneer in bidirectional charging technology, the company has successfully charged and discharged a vehicle under real conditions while complying with the current industry standard ISO-15118-20.    

The Mainz-based company collaborates closely with numerous global vehicle manufacturers, developing hardware and software solutions that enable bidirectional charging. Ambibox integrates DC wallboxes into a comprehensive system of photovoltaics, battery, charging station, heat pump, and energy management system. Delivery of bidirectional wall boxes begins in the first quarter of 2024.  

About EcoG:   

EcoG is the European market leader in operating systems for fast charging stations, equipping over 30 different production lines of more than 15 manufacturers today, along with 60 system partners such as Infineon. This includes DC wallbox models enabling bidirectional charging.  

EcoG is a German-American technology company founded in 2017. Specialized in reference designs, charging controllers, and control software, EcoG enables large manufacturers to bring products to market quickly and easily. As a co-author of the application guideline of the industry standard ISO-15118-20 and spokesperson for CharIN, EcoG has pioneered bidirectional charging, successfully testing it with various automotive manufacturers to ensure interoperability between infrastructure and vehicles.  

Press Contacts:

Ambibox: [email protected], +49 6131 633902 0 

EcoG: Mirjam Laubenbacher, Head of Communications, [email protected], +49 151 28209346