Unidirectional smart charging delivers up to 4.5 percent in annual system cost savings across Europe when infrastructure costs are included in energy models, according to research cited by Nature Energy. In contrast, bidirectional charging technology generates substantial market revenues in energy systems dominated by solar power.
The findings indicate that charging infrastructure targets should account for structural differences across diverse national energy systems rather than applying identical rules nationwide. Current European policies rely on standardized deployment goals, including Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 of the European Parliament and of the Council from 13 September 2023, which established mandatory alternative fuel infrastructure targets and uniform public capacity rules.
National Infrastructure Models
A 2022 European study by Lanz and colleagues demonstrated that total charging costs vary based on infrastructure deployment costs and local utilization rates. Subsequent work by Kühnbach and researchers at Fraunhofer ISE and Fraunhofer ISI in 2024 examined how integrating V1G unidirectional and V2G bidirectional EV charging alters European power grids and user outcomes.
Similar grid effects have appeared in North American studies. Research by Powell and colleagues in 2022 evaluated grid impacts and emissions from uncontrolled and managed EV charging under deep electrification scenarios in the western United States. A 2025 review by Muratori examined how V1G and V2G systems lower costs and stabilize power grids.
The analysis of European charging infrastructure coordination, authored by F. Sanvito and colleagues, was published in Nature Energy on August 4, 2026, under DOI 10.1038/s41560-026-02121-7.
