Bidirectional charging is moving from pilot projects to commercial deployment, but three suppliers—Valeo, Cubos and Compleo—argue that alternating current (AC), not direct current (DC), is the path to mass-market adoption. DC-based vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems place most of the power electronics in the wallbox, simplifying integration with existing vehicles, but Valeo's Thomas Basbous calls DC hardware "very, very expensive" and unsuited to scale. Valeo instead is launching a bidirectional AC wallbox with Nissan in the UK, with certification for Germany and France underway, leveraging its existing onboard-charger business to put the necessary power electronics in the vehicle rather than the charge point.
Cubos, which has already run DC bidirectional pilots with Volkswagen, is nonetheless developing an AC prototype with a modular architecture: unidirectional charging modules installed today could later be swapped for bidirectional ones, protecting early infrastructure investments. Compleo is taking a more conservative route, building a modular AC platform but delaying rollout until communication protocols, grid codes and certification requirements are sufficiently settled—targeting a phased launch from late 2027, and cautioning against treating "BiDi-ready" labelling as a guarantee of future compatibility.
All three note that ISO 15118-20 establishes communication standards but does not by itself enable functional V2G. Unresolved grid-fee rules and a fragmented grid-operator landscape, particularly in Germany, remain additional barriers to scaling AC-based bidirectional charging.
Source: electrive.com — read the original article