Electric car owners could soon save hundreds of pounds a year thanks to a new scheme being unveiled by Volkswagen.
The iconic German brand is planning to launch Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology for customers in Germany in the fourth quarter of this year.
Alongside Elli, Volkswagen will introduce V2G technology that will allow drivers to charge their vehicles and "actively integrate" them into the energy system and generate revenue.
The system will feature the electric vehicle, VW app, electricity tariff, smart meter, bi-directional charger, and installation.
Pre-registration is set to launch in June, with other European nations set to follow Germany in the near future.
Market estimates suggest that drivers could save between €700 (£604) and €900 (£777) annually in the best-case scenarios.
At first, customers would receive compensation for making their EV battery available for energy trading and will depend on performance and flexibility.
VW said the aim of the scheme was to reduce the total cost of mobility, with hopes that charging would become "nearly cost-neutral".
Drivers could save hundreds of pounds a year thanks to a new scheme
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Martin Sander, Member of the Board of Management, responsible for Sales, Marketing, and After-Sales at Volkswagen Passenger Cars, noted that electric mobility would only reach its full potential if it is cheap for drivers.
He continued, saying: "With Vehicle-to-Grid, we are delivering exactly that: significantly lower home charging costs – and, in the long term, nearly cost-free charging.
"As a pioneer in bidirectional charging, our entire ID. family has been 'bidi-ready' since 2023.
"In this way, we are bringing V2G from innovation into everyday life and making this technology accessible to the mass market. That is the ambition of the Volkswagen brand."
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Volkswagen will launch the V2G technology in Germany later this year
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Market research suggests that V2G technology could save €22billion (£19billion) in system costs every year in Europe alone by 2040.
In Germany alone, where the scheme will launch first, around 9,500 GWh of renewable energy was recently curtailed.
Estimates state that this is enough to power around three million electric vehicles for an entire year.
Giovanni Palazzo, CEO of Elli & SVP Charging and Energy Volkswagen Group Components, described V2G as "delivering its full value" through the vehicles, infrastructure and the energy market.
Volkswagen estimates that drivers could save billions of Euros a year with the V2G technology
| VOLKSWAGENHe explained that this was the belief behind the creation of Elli and its continued development as part of the energy infrastructure.
Mr Palazzo continued, saying: "Today, we have the technological and operational capabilities to scale an integrated solution across millions of vehicles and brands.
"We are now taking the next step: connecting batteries, unlocking new value through aggregation, and making our vision of a 'Managed Battery Network' a tangible reality for the first."