On November 25th, EV4EU joined the Swedish Electromobility Centre (SEC) for the webinar “Optimizing EV Infrastructure: Insights from the EV4EU Project” – a joint initiative to explore cutting-edge electric vehicle (EV) solutions and exchange knowledge on the future of electric mobility in Europe.
With over 40 participants, the session served as a platform to present EV4EU’s experience in EV integration, market interoperability, and charging infrastructure optimization.
Hosted by Mikael Lantz and Valeria Castellucci, Theme Vehicle–Grid Interaction Leaders at SEC, the webinar began with an introduction to the Center, established in 2007, to accelerate the development and implementation of electric propulsion technologies. SEC’s mission focuses on increasing the applicability and efficiency of electric mobility while minimizing environmental and health impacts and strengthening the competitiveness of Swedish industry.
To open the EV4EU presentations round, Hugo Morais, EV4EU Project Coordinator, provided an overview of the project – now entering its final phase (ending May 2026) – and introduced the invited speakers:
- Matej Zajc from the University of Ljubljana, presenting on EV integration in Slovenian energy markets and related interoperability challenges.
- Antonios Koutounidis from HEDNO, sharing insights from the Greek demonstrator and the optimization of public charging infrastructure, including interaction between CPOs and DSOs.
Let’s take a closer look at each presentation.
Matej Zajc – University of Ljubljana
Matej began by highlighting that EV4EU aims not only to validate developed technologies but also to ensure they are ready for real-world market deployment.
In the Slovenian energy context, the country has 5 DSOs, and one TSO. With increasing renewable energy penetration and EV adoption, it is crucial to enhance system flexibility.
The presentation outlined the development and implementation of the Slovenian demonstrator, focusing on integrating EVs into energy markets supporting Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technologies. The demonstrator enhances Virtual Power Plant (VPP) capabilities and establishes a Local Market Platform (LMP) supporting procurement, trading, and activation of local flexibility services.
Required technological upgrades were also presented – such as CCS-compliant charging stations and smart-meter–based grid observability – along with challenges related to limited availability of V2X-capable EVs, real-time data access, and platform-DSO integration.
The presentation also detailed how local flexibility services are activated and traded, covering tendering, bidding, market clearing, activations, and billing between DSOs and aggregators.
In conclusion, the link between KPIs and the evaluation and enhancement of business models was highlighted, together with the key exploitable results of the Slovenian demonstrator.
These outcomes aim to support future large-scale deployment of interoperable, market-integrated V2X solutions.
Antonios Koutounidis – HEDNO
The EV4EU Greek demonstrator, located in Koropi, near Athens, has implemented an Open V2X Management Platform to test V2G/V2X services at the distribution-grid level. The demo area includes thousands of MV/LV customers and significant rooftop PV capacity.
The DEMO is responsible for developing and demonstrating all the required technologies to enable flexibility in public charging stations.
The goal of the DEMO is to test how flexibility incentives (through distribution use of system (DUoS) tariffs and bilateral flexibility contracts) affect EV users’ charging behavior and its impact on the electricity distribution network.
Antonios highlighted several challenges and recommendations for large-scale V2X adoption in Greece.
Technical and methodological challenges
- Immature OCPP 2.0.1 implementations
- Need for robust incentive structures
- Concise user-notification processes
Regulatory barriers
- Fragmented interoperability standards (ISO 15118, CHAdeMO, CCS)
- Absence of V2X-specific legislation
- No Local Flexibility Market to reward distributed V2X resources
Antonios Koutounidis concluded with policy recommendations, including a look into purchase and deployment incentives; mandatory interoperability standards and large-scale V2G pilot programs. These measures would support Greece’s transition toward grid-integrated EV infrastructure.
To wrap up the Session, the closing Q&A moderated by SEC, covered several relevant industry topics:
Battery degradation and user insights: Participants discussed battery degradation, battery health, and the importance of gathering real-world data to better understand degradation patterns.
AC bidirectional charging: AC charging was highlighted as a strong candidate for widespread bidirectional EV slow charging needs. However, adoption remains limited due to market immaturity, lack of interoperability, compliance with grid codes or inconsistent implementation of communication protocols. Although some manufacturers (e.g., Renault) support AC bidirectionality, most AC chargers do not fully implement standardized communication, hindering mainstream adoption.
Price signals and user behavior: their impact on charging behaviour was also discussed. According to Hugo Morais, the influence of pricing depends on system flexibility availability. For example, in Portugal, users actively monitor price fluctuations and prefer to charge during low-price periods, making pricing a crucial factor for EV adoption.
User participation in V2G: User satisfaction and engagement in V2G services were also addressed. Matej shared insights from Slovenia, noting that penalizing users for “incorrect” usage can drive them to switch providers. Instead, understanding user needs is essential. In Slovenia, this is being supported through AI-based tools and the project’s mobile app.
More information about EV4EU four Demonstrators at: https://ev4eu.eu/demos/
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