At IAA Mobility 2025, Volkswagen Group subsidiary Elli announced a pilot project in Germany for bidirectional home charging of electric vehicles, along with the start of participant recruitment. The initiative centers on an 11 kW bidirectional wallbox, developed in partnership with sustainable energy provider CUBOS, which links a household’s solar array with an EV battery through Elli’s modular software platform. The system enables customers to use their vehicle battery as home energy storage and manage power flows from the grid, solar panels, and the EV via the Elli Charging app.
Under certain conditions, smart bidirectional charging can lower charging costs by up to 75 percent and enhance household energy independence by leveraging self-generated solar power.
Eligible participants—Volkswagen Group customers and clients of solar installer Otovo—may apply now for the pilot, which will begin in December 2025. Selected households will receive a DC bidirectional charger for compatible Volkswagen Group models built on the MEB platform, including select Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, and CUPRA vehicles equipped with software version ID. Software 3.5 or later and 77 kWh batteries.
Elli plans to extend its bidirectional technology across Europe by integrating it into a “Managed Battery Network” (MBN), a virtual power plant linked to the European Power Exchange. This system will allow aggregated EV and large-scale storage assets to participate in energy markets around the clock through Elli’s in-house trading team. Beginning in 2026, several hundred decentralized EVs will connect to the network, with flexibility marketed on the intraday power exchange, supporting grid stability and renewable energy integration.
Giovanni Palazzo, CEO of Elli, explains: “With our pilot project at IAA Mobility 2025, we’re opening a new chapter in the history of electric mobility. Bidirectional charging is the enabler of energy self-sufficiency at home, and with the initial rollout of our Managed Battery Network, we are elevating vehicle batteries and storage systems to the level of critical energy resources. In doing so, we’re bridging the gap between mobility and energy.”
In parallel, Elli is launching the Elli PowerCenter in Salzgitter, a 20 MW/40 MWh facility using LFP battery packs, which will serve as a platform for energy trading and grid services. By the end of the decade, Elli aims to incorporate large-scale storage systems and hundreds of thousands of EV batteries into its MBN to optimize renewable energy use and accelerate Europe’s energy transition.
Source: Volkswagen Group Press Release
