Nature Energy, Published online: 14 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41560-026-02107-5

European charging infrastructure targets rely on uniform benchmarks that overlook flexibility from smart charging (V1G) and V2G. A system model shows that V1G delivers most cost and infrastructure savings, whereas V2G provides smaller savings but substantial balancing revenues, particularly in photovoltaic-dominated, grid-constrained systems.