Hyundai Motor Group is bringing its smart and bidirectional charging activities together under the new global AllDayEnergy brand. In the future, the platform could allow Hyundai and Kia owners to charge when electricity is cheapest, store surplus solar power in their cars, supply part of that energy back to their homes, and potentially earn money by helping balance the electricity grid.
AllDayEnergy will eventually cover smart charging, Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) services across Hyundai and Kia models, turning electric cars into mobile batteries for homes and electricity networks.
For households with solar panels, the technology could reduce grid consumption and even replace part of the role of a separate home battery. However, compatible cars, chargers, and energy contracts are not yet widely available.
Considerable investment
The conversion will also require a considerable investment. Early estimates suggest that a compatible bidirectional charger, energy management system, electrical work, and inspection could cost between €8,000 and €12,000 in Belgium.
A system capable of keeping the house operational during a power failure could cost between €10,000 and €15,000 because it also requires equipment that safely disconnects the home from the public grid. Prices should fall as production increases, while leasing arrangements, employer contributions, or energy contracts could eventually reduce the upfront cost.
Modest rollout to start
The rollout starts more modestly. AllDayEnergy will first offer V1G smart charging through the Kia app in the United Kingdom during the second half of 2026, before expanding to other European markets, the United States, and Korea.
V1G does not return electricity from the battery. Instead, it schedules charging according to electricity prices, grid demand, solar production, and the driver’s required departure time. The more ambitious V2H and V2G functions will follow progressively.
V2H allows the vehicle battery to power a home, while V2G can return electricity to the public grid when demand and prices are high. Hyundai Motor Group is already testing such services in markets including the Netherlands, where Hyundai IONIQ 9 and Kia EV9 owners are participating in a bidirectional charging trial with energy company Vattenfall.
The announcement is more important than the launch of another charging app. Hyundai and Kia want to extend their role beyond selling cars and become providers of energy services.
An integrated package combining the vehicle, home charger, app, and electricity tariff could reduce operating costs while keeping customers within the group’s ecosystem.
5 to 10 times more storage
A modern EV contains far more storage than a typical household battery. A Kia EV6 with a 77.4 kWh battery, for example, stores five to ten times as much electricity as many residential battery systems.
A household with solar panels could charge such a car in the afternoon and use some of that energy to power the house in the evening or at night. Even when the owner reserves half of the battery for driving, the remaining capacity could still exceed that of many stationary batteries.
The car would not necessarily have to be filled completely on one sunny day. Replacing the 10 to 20 kWh consumed during a normal day’s driving is much easier than charging the entire battery from empty.
Six hours with an average solar surplus of 5 kW could theoretically add around 30 kWh, sufficient for approximately 150 kilometers of driving in an efficient electric car.
Solar power can therefore cover a substantial proportion of an EV’s annual electricity needs, provided the car is parked and connected to the panels while they are producing.
The main limitation is timing rather than total annual generation. A vehicle that is away from home during working hours cannot absorb the midday solar surplus.
Seasonal differences
Bidirectional charging could solve part of that mismatch by storing solar energy in the car and returning it to the home later. However, it cannot solve the seasonal difference between strong summer production and high winter consumption. An EV can shift energy from afternoon to evening or from one day to the next, but it cannot economically store July’s electricity until December.
There is also an important distinction between using the vehicle to reduce household grid consumption and keeping the home running during a power outage.
An emergency backup requires the installation to disconnect safely from the public network and to create a stable local power supply. That generally requires additional home-integration equipment and may initially support only essential circuits.
Belgium is an attractive market
Belgium should nevertheless be an attractive market for AllDayEnergy. The country has a large number of solar installations, digital meters, and company cars, all of which are useful ingredients for smart, bidirectional charging. Company fleets also offer relatively predictable charging patterns that an electricity supplier or aggregator can pool.
However, Belgian Hyundai and Kia owners should not expect their vehicles to become full home batteries immediately. AllDayEnergy has no confirmed Belgian launch date, and smart charging will almost certainly arrive before bidirectional services.
A Belgian V1G introduction in 2027 appears plausible, followed by selected V2H or V2G projects from 2027 or 2028. Wider commercial availability is more likely toward the end of the decade.
Grid requirements
The technology is only part of the challenge. A bidirectional charger that injects electricity is treated as a generating installation and must comply with Belgian grid and electrical-safety requirements.
Compatible equipment needs certification, inspection, registration with the distribution system operator, and protection against feeding electricity onto the grid during an outage.
The financial model is equally important. Buying electricity cheaply and selling it back later may not justify the cost of an expensive charger once conversion losses, taxes, and network charges are factored in. V2G becomes more compelling when large numbers of vehicles are aggregated and paid for providing balancing or flexibility services.
Company cars add another unresolved layer. Belgian employers frequently reimburse home charging, but V2H raises questions over company-paid electricity subsequently used by the employee’s household.
Conversely, employees may store their own solar electricity in a company vehicle before returning it to the grid. Clear tax and reimbursement rules will be essential before large fleets activate the technology.
Is your EV compatible?
Vehicle compatibility will also vary. The IONIQ 9 and EV9 are currently Hyundai Motor Group’s clearest European V2G candidates. Kia also markets models, including the EV2, EV3, and EV4, as prepared for future V2H and V2G activation.
Existing owners need to be more cautious. V2L, which already allows cars such as the EV6, IONIQ 5, and IONIQ 6 to power appliances, is not the same as certified V2H or V2G.
The EV6 illustrates the potential perfectly, but European compatibility may still depend on the model year, onboard hardware, software, charger certification, and battery-warranty conditions.
Cost remains the final barrier. Early bidirectional chargers can cost several thousand euros before installation, while a complete system with energy management, inspection, and optional blackout backup could approach €8,000 to €12,000.
That may be difficult to recover through electricity trading alone. The proposition becomes more attractive when the car replaces a separate home battery, the owner is paid for grid flexibility, or the equipment is financed through an employer, leasing company, or energy contract.
AllDayEnergy, therefore, marks an important strategic step rather than an immediate Belgian product launch. Hyundai and Kia already have much of the vehicle technology.
Whether European and Belgian owners can benefit will depend on the availability of affordable certified chargers, compatible energy contracts, clear company-car rules, and sufficient remuneration for making their batteries available.
