Thomas Müller parks his Volkswagen ID.7 outside his home in Munich, plugs it in, and heads inside for dinner. But while he sleeps, his car does something unexpected: it quietly sells electricity back to the grid, earning him money while he dreams. By morning, his battery is topped up and ready to go — and he has up to €720 in his pocket from the first year alone. This isn't a pilot project or a futuristic concept. It's the new Vehicle-to-Grid offer from Elli, Volkswagen Group's energy subsidiary, now available to German customers of Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, and CUPRA brands.
Elli unveiled the integrated product package at Power2Drive, the international electric mobility trade fair in Munich, alongside partners from across the VW Group. The system is elegantly simple: customers use the Elli BiDi Charger — a DC bidirectional unit — plug in their compatible vehicle, and let the Elli BiDi App manage the rest. Owners set their departure time and minimum charge level, and the app handles the rest, tapping into the energy market while the car sits parked. The Volkswagen Naturstrom V2G Flow electricity tariff ties everything together, creating a seamless loop between mobility and energy.
The timing couldn't be more significant. With around one million Volkswagen Group MEB vehicles already on European roads — roughly 360,000 of them in Germany — the technical foundation for a mass-market rollout already exists. That's roughly a million cars that can, in theory, act as distributed power plants, storing surplus renewable energy during sunny or windy periods and releasing it back when demand peaks. For the grid, this represents a vast, flexible battery network that doesn't require new infrastructure to build. For drivers, it's a way to turn their parked vehicle into a source of income.
"The electric car will become part of a digital energy and mobility system: it can store electricity, charge in a controlled manner, feed energy back and thus also create economic added value while parked," said Thomas Schmall, Member of the Group Board of Management responsible for Technology at Volkswagen AG. With its standardized MEB platform, existing software architecture, and Elli's energy expertise, the Group is uniquely positioned to make that vision a reality for everyday drivers rather than just early adopters.
Compatible vehicles include those running ID. Software 3.5 with a 77 kWh battery or larger, as well as all ID. models with ID. Software 6 — covering a substantial slice of both the existing fleet and future volume models. Once technical, regulatory, and product requirements are met, the offering is expected to expand to additional Group brands and markets, including France and the UK. For drivers across Europe, the question may soon shift from whether their car can participate in the energy system to why it wouldn't.