BIDIRECTIONAL Charging study 2026

Charging and driving behaviour, living situation, demographics (criteria for segmentation):

• Sociodemographic data (age, gender, monthly household net income)
• Living situation (settlement size, building type single-family/multi-family, private parking availability and location)
• Vehicle (brand, model, vehicle segment, company car vs. private vehicle, fleet management, employer coverage of charging costs, length of EV experience)
• Driving behaviour (annual mileage and average weekday kilometres)
• Charging locations (home, workplace, public, on the road)
• Charging occasions and charging type (demand-driven, habit-based, price-sensitive, PV surplus-based)
• Home charging equipment (socket, basic vs. smart wallbox, PV system, battery storage, energy management system, heat pump, balcony power unit) and planned purchases
• Time spent at home (weekdays and weekends, by time of day)
• Wallbox plug-in behaviour at home (frequency and perceived effort of connecting)
• Home electricity tariffs (household, EV-specific, dynamic, variable) and willingness to switch
• Annual household electricity consumption
• Attitude towards car dealers offering charging equipment (expectation, relevance)
• Technology affinity (interaction type with technical systems)
• Preferred home charging solution type (affordable vs. high-performance vs. compromise)

Special for the ICE reference group:

• Timing of next planned vehicle purchase
• EV adoption readiness
• Prioritised drivers and barriers for switching to an EV
• Expected home charging feasibility in the event of an EV switch
• Parking situation at the workplace

Awareness and Attitudes towards Bidirectional Charging

• Awareness of the term “bidirectional charging” (know it, heard of it, unfamiliar)
• Primary motivation for participating in bidirectional charging

Vehicle-to-home (V2H):

• Determination of product-market fit for vehicle-to-home (V2H):
  • Prioritised usage benefits
  • Single most important personal benefit
  • Overall benefit rating (scale)
  • Prioritised usage barriers
  • Single most important personal barrier
  • Overall barrier rating (scale)
  • General interest in V2H
  • Reasons for rejection (among those not interested)
  • Addressable target group by segment (net value added)
• Willingness to invest:
  • Initial savings estimate (unprompted)
  • Willingness to invest in V2H wallbox and additional equipment (Gabor-Granger method)
  • Relevance of bidi capability when purchasing the next vehicle
  • Mental accounting: how respondents frame the V2H investment
• Integration:
  • Relevant criteria when selecting a solution partner
  • Single most important criterion in partner selection
  • Trust in different provider types by requirement
  • Expectations of car dealers regarding advice and implementation
  • Planning preference (single-source solution vs. self-coordination)
  • Preferred providers for an all-in-one solution (including reasons)
  • Preferred providers per individual component (including reasons)
  • Preferred control app for the integrated system
  • Minimum acceptable battery level before departure

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G):

• Determining the product-market fit for vehicle-to-grid (V2G):
  • Prioritised usage benefits
  • Single most important personal benefit
  • Overall benefit rating (scale)
  • Prioritised usage barriers
  • Single most important personal barrier
  • Overall barrier rating (scale)
  • General interest in V2G
  • Reasons for rejection (among those not interested)
  • Addressable target group by segment (net value added)
• Remuneration expectations:
  • Initial revenue estimate (unprompted)
  • Revenue expectation for V2G depending on daily plug-in time (Gabor-Granger method)
  • Willingness to adjust charging behaviour in exchange for compensation
  • Current plug-in behaviour at the home wallbox
  • Perceived effort of connecting the vehicle consistently
  • Attractive forms of plug-in incentives (e.g. per-hour credit, peak-time bonus)
  • Preferred remuneration types (direct payment, lease rate reduction, electricity discount, battery warranty extension, etc.)
• Integration:
  • Relevant criteria when selecting a solution partner
  • Single most important criterion in partner selection
  • Trust in different provider types by requirement
  • Expectations of car dealers regarding advice and implementation
  • Planning preference (single-source solution vs. self-coordination)
  • Preferred providers for an all-in-one solution (including reasons)
  • Preferred providers per individual component (including reasons)
  • Preferred control app for the integrated system
  • Minimum acceptable battery level before departure

Vehicle-To-Business (V2B):

• Determining the product-market fit for vehicle-to-business (V2B):
  • Prioritised usage benefits
  • Single most important personal benefit
  • Overall benefit rating (scale)
  • Prioritised usage barriers
  • Single most important personal barrier
  • Overall barrier rating (scale)
  • General interest in V2B
  • Reasons for rejection (among those not interested)
  • Addressable target group by segment (net value added)
• Remuneration expectations:
  • Initial revenue estimate (unprompted)
  • Revenue expectation for V2B with 8 hours of daily plug-in time at the workplace (Gabor-Granger method)
  • Minimum acceptable battery level before departure

For the study, drivers of fully battery-electric vehicles were surveyed. For each use case, only EV drivers who actually use the corresponding charging location themselves were surveyed.

ICE drivers were recruited on a census-representative basis, meaning the sample allows for extrapolation of the take rate, i.e., the business case in all countries.

The study shows technology providers (hardware and software) and providers of services for bidirectional charging which technology experiences the highest acceptance and thus sales expectations with which target group. Additionally, providers also learn which prioritised levers they can use to increase the acceptance and thus the sales of their offers and which messages they can use to best reach their target customers.

The study offers business developers the basis for both calculating take rates and business cases.

The study shows product developers and product managers how which function can be integrated to what extent in order to continue to be accepted as “generic” from the user’s point of view. I.e.: Should car manufacturers offer energy management systems for the home? Do customers see the control of bidirectional charging technologies with the energy supplier, the home technology provider or the vehicle manufacturer?

Since 2018, USCALE has been systematically surveying EV drivers about their expectations and experiences at all touchpoints of the e-mobile customer journey. Additionally, you can find an overview of all USCALE focus studies HERE.

We also show extracts from other studies in the LinkedIn articles by USCALE and Axel Sprenger, our company founder.

If you have any questions, please contact us at contact@uscale.digital.