Bidirectional charging: what works in Switzerland?As of October 2026.

Bidirectional charging means that the car not only takes in electricity but also gives it back. In the evening the car can then supply the house (vehicle-to-home, V2H) or feed power into the grid (vehicle-to-grid, V2G). The idea is good: a car battery is often larger than any home battery.

In practice, the situation in Switzerland in October 2026 is this: it is allowed and technically feasible, but only with few combinations of car and wallbox, and not yet economical everywhere. On this page we tell you what is documented today and what is still open. We make no promises.

Three terms

• V2H (vehicle-to-home): The car gives power to your own house. The day’s solar power is available in the evening.
• V2G (vehicle-to-grid): The car feeds power into the grid, for example to stabilise it.
• V2L (vehicle-to-load): The car supplies an appliance directly through a socket on the vehicle. No wallbox is needed. Whether your car can do this is in the owner’s manual.

What is allowed today

Bidirectional charging is not prohibited in Switzerland. A bidirectional EV charger counts as storage with end consumption and must be registered with the distribution grid operator through the technical connection request (Technisches Anschlussgesuch, TAG). A qualified electrical installer submits it. Since 1 January 2022 an updated request has been provided for this (source: Swiss eMobility, German). Devices above 3.6 kW must be reported.

Since 1 January 2026 there is also this: if you charge electricity from the grid into storage with end consumption and later feed it back, you can have the grid usage charge refunded by the grid operator for the quantity fed back. This requires metering that records draw and feed-back separately. At most the quantity previously drawn from the grid is refunded (sources: Swissolar, Energonia, both German). This applies to stationary home batteries as well as to bidirectional EV chargers.

What is not regulated here: the grid operator must take solar power, but there is no obligation to take power from a battery, unless it needs it to relieve the grid (source: Energeia, December 2025). What you get for car power fed back is therefore something you agree with the grid operator.

Which cars can do it

The vehicle question is the tightest point:

• CHAdeMO vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and the Honda e have charged bidirectionally for years. In Japan the function has been standard since 2013.
• CCS vehicles, which means most new cars in Switzerland, are partly prepared technically. Whether the function is enabled is decided by the manufacturer, often only with a particular wallbox. With VW ID models, for example, it works only with approved charging stations.
• Alternating-current (AC) solutions, where the wallbox stays simple and cheap, are not approved or only rarely approved in Switzerland today.

Supplier overviews name, among others, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6, Kia EV6 and EV9, Renault 5, Skoda Enyaq, Volvo EX90 and VW ID models as technically prepared. The lists differ, and not every function is released in Switzerland. For your car we check this by model and year of manufacture and obtain the manufacturer’s confirmation.

Standard and communication

For every car to talk to every wallbox, a common standard is needed. That is ISO 15118-20. It governs communication between vehicle and charging station, including feeding back. It is not mandatory, and manufacturers do not yet implement it uniformly. Nationwide implementation is expected for 2027 to 2028, for direct-current solutions at the earliest in 2028 (sources: Energeia, Mobility, Powernewz). Until then, car and wallbox must expressly match.

What the pilot projects showed

The largest trial in Switzerland was called V2X Suisse (2021 to 2024). The Mobility cooperative tested 50 bidirectional Honda e cars at around 40 locations in its car-sharing network, supported by the Federal Office of Energy. Partners included Honda, EVTEC, sun2wheel and tiko.

The results (sources: Mobility, electrive):

• The technology works. On average 5.5 kWh per day was converted bidirectionally per active vehicle.
• Together the vehicles formed a virtual storage unit that met Swissgrid’s requirements for balancing power.
• On paper, up to CHF 2,000 a year of flexibility revenue per vehicle was possible.
• A business model did not emerge at the time, mainly because of high equipment prices. Mobility did not continue the project.

Mobility named expensive charging stations, few vehicles, grid operators’ terms and the missing uniform standard as hurdles.

What it costs

Simple AC wallboxes prepared for bidirectional charging are in part available from about CHF 1,000. Full direct-current charging stations cost about CHF 3,300 to 8,000 with installation depending on the source, and older reports also mentioned about CHF 12,000 (sources: Powernewz, energie-experten.ch, both German). An ordinary EV charger costs about CHF 2,000 to 5,500 with installation. Prices change quickly, so we give binding figures only in the quote.

A simple calculation for V2H

The following calculation is an upper limit, not a promise. Assumptions: grid power 27.7 ct. per kWh, assumed feed-in tariff 8 ct., 3,000 kWh of solar power a year that the car gives to the house in the evening instead of feeding it in.

• Benefit per kWh: 27.7 minus 8 ct., so 19.7 ct.
• 3,000 kWh times 0.197 = about CHF 590 a year before deductions.

From this come losses in charging and discharging, the extra cost compared with an ordinary wallbox, and the additional wear on the car battery, which manufacturers assess differently. A stationary home battery reaches similar values in this calculation, but has no vehicle question. How home batteries pay off is in the guide What does a home battery cost?.

What you can provide for today with an EV charger

If you install a wallbox now, you do not have to give up bidirectional charging. It makes sense to have:

• A wallbox with an open interface that can later be linked to an energy management system.
• A cable with reserve, so that a later wallbox needs no new cable. Which power is enough today is explained in the guide EV charger 11 kW or 22 kW.
• A solar system that supplies the power. How charging with surplus works today is in the guide EV charger with a solar system.
• When buying a car, the manufacturer’s written confirmation that bidirectional charging is approved with warranty.

These points also apply in apartment buildings and underground car parks. There, coordination with property management comes in, see EV charging in underground car parks.

We calculate it for your house

At the free site visit we clarify which car you drive or want to buy, what your distribution board looks like and whether a bidirectional solution is an option for you today. If not, we prepare the installation so that the switch stays simple later. Within 72 hours you receive a binding quote. We handle registration with the grid operator and installation by our own installers from a single source. We plan the EV charger from Zumikon and Lachen for the whole of German-speaking Switzerland.