unIT-e ² : the future of smart and bidirectional charging - use case prospects from the user’s perspective in Germany

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a key component to decarbonise the transportation sector. Hence, the adoption of EVs must be attractive to end users, which is why this paper examines smart and bidirectional charging use cases focusing on benefits and prospects from the user’s perspective for 2024 until 2030 in Germany. Use cases like photovoltaic (PV) self-consumption optimization, peak shaving, variable tariffs, and direct market trading are evaluated. The multi-criteria assessment includes the technical readiness of respective technical systems, use case profitability, and a realistic number of potential EV users per use case. Our findings show that today none of investigated use case appears to be ready for large-scale implementation. For smart charging, the first use cases to become technically scalable and profitable from the user’s perspective are PV self-consumption optimization and peak shaving. Bidirectional charging is found to become technically mature later in time. Large-scale implementation of the first bidirectional charging cases could start around the end of 2025. All of the investigated use cases are projected to become profitable around 2030 at the latest with profits ranging from less than 100 € up to more than 2,000 € per EV and year.