Bidirectional charging appeals, but only a quarter know what it is

Bidirectional charging lets an electric car store surplus solar energy and return it to the house or the grid. Swiss opinion of the technology has improved, but knowledge of it remains limited.

The finding comes from a survey by the YouGov institute published today. Only 27% of respondents recognise the term, four percentage points more than in 2025.

Familiarity varies sharply by profile. It rises to 65% among owners of an electric vehicle and to 43% among those who have a solar installation or plan to install one. It is also higher among people with high incomes and higher education.

Two acronyms, two levels of recognition

The concrete applications are known to differing degrees. The Vehicle-to-Home function, which powers the house, is known to 39% of respondents. The Vehicle-to-Grid function, which returns energy to the electricity network, stops at 20%.

Opinion of the technology is nonetheless favourable. Some 42% rate it very positively and 46% consider it sustainable. Among electric car drivers almost 60% regard it as a cutting-edge technology, and 31% of respondents say it makes electric cars more attractive.

Actual willingness to use it, however, lags behind that approval. About a third of respondents state an intention to adopt it. The share rises to roughly half among those who already own an electric car or a solar installation.

The main obstacle is the cost of the investment. Only 26% consider an outlay of around eight thousand francs, installation included, acceptable for a bidirectional charging station.

To this are added the difficulties of an immature market. Not every electric car supports the function, and different technical standards exist side by side.

The survey was conducted in spring 2026 among 1,055 people in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland, with a comparison against the 2025 data. Italian-speaking Switzerland is not among the regions surveyed.