Automakers and charger makers spent four days in Germany last month connecting prototype and production hardware to find out what fails. The charging-industry association CharIN held its Testival & Conference Europe from September 22 to 25, 2026, at the All Park Society, hosted by Phoenix Contact, with a Public Day on September 23. According to the CharIN press release, the event focused on Megawatt Charging System (MCS) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) testing. CharIN also used the Public Day opening to launch a new V2G logo, a self-certifiable mark that companies implementing V2G functionality can use to signal interoperability. CharIN compared it to the Plug & Charge logo it introduced at the 2022 Testival Europe.
CharIN counted 327 Testival and Conference attendees, 27 testing companies, 14 charging stations, 12 electric vehicles (four of them heavy-duty) and seven AC/DC test systems. Hubject served as strategic testing partner.
Who brought hardware
The vehicle side included BMW, Daimler Truck, Hyundai, HOLON, Lotus, Mercedes-Benz, Rivian, Stellantis, Volvo and Volvo Trucks. On the charger (EVSE) side were ABB, Alfen, Alpitronic, BMW, ChargePoint, Dropbeats, KEBA, NexBlue, Peblar, Phoenix Contact, Pionix, SRP Zuid and Vector. Test systems came from comemso, Dropbeats, dSPACE, Applus IDIADA, Keysight and Vector. Phoenix Contact provided a CCS charging point rated up to 720 kW, according to electrive's report from the event.
At a Testival, vehicles and chargers from different manufacturers meet under controlled conditions, including some models not yet officially unveiled. CharIN chairman Claas Bracklo framed the event this way in the press release: "Interoperability is not solved in a single meeting or a single product cycle." Stephan Volgmann, CSO and Executive Board member at Phoenix Contact Group, said: "The next chapter of e-mobility is about integration."
ISO 15118-20: the most movement since last year
ISO 15118-20 is the charging communication and energy transfer control standard that vehicles and chargers use to talk to each other. CharIN CTO Michael Keller said he saw the greatest progress compared to last year in ISO 15118-20, according to electrive. He also set the bar for success: "Without 100% interoperability, the customer has no guarantee of a successful charging process".
The standard itself changed this summer. ISO 15118-20:2022/Amd 1:2026, published in July 2026, adds three things to the base document:
- MCS services, covering the megawatt-class charging aimed at heavy-duty vehicles;
- AC-DER grid integration, for AC charging that interacts with the grid as a distributed energy resource;
- a revised security concept.
The physical MCS plug is specified separately, in IEC TS 63379. CharIN said the September event also marked an MCS milestone: with the publication of IEC 61851-23-3:2026, which sets requirements for DC charging equipment for the Megawatt Charging System, the core MCS standards are now in place. Alongside it are IEC TS 63379 (connector and coupler), ISO 15118-10 (automotive Ethernet physical and data link layer), ISO 15118-20 (charging communication and energy transfer control) and ISO 5474-3 (vehicle requirements for DC power transfer).
V2G: hardware is appearing, grid compliance is early
Bidirectional capability is spreading among test equipment. At the earlier Arnhem Testival in May 2026, 13 of 23 DC test systems and seven of 11 AC test systems supported bidirectional energy flow, electrive reported. CharIN still considers V2G, and compliance testing against European grid requirements, to be at a relatively early stage.
Basic communication can still trip up. During a high-power charging demonstration at the event, a Mercedes-AMG needed several attempts before the vehicle and charger communicated.
Asia session keeps the same focus
CharIN took the same agenda to Korea. Its Conference ASIA 2026, which concluded October 12, was hosted by the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) in its 50th anniversary year and focused on MCS and V2G. Program topics included ISO 15118-20 standards for interoperable V2G protocols, Australian grid integration experience, the latest MCS developments and cybersecurity, and KERI ran a V2G demonstration with AC chargers. Participants included Hyundai Motor Company, Gridwiz and Stäubli Korea. "Asia is a key region for the global rollout of interoperable charging," CharIN managing director André Kaufung said in the release.
| CharIN event (2026) | Dates | Host | Focus / detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Testival, Arnhem | May | — | 13 of 23 DC and 7 of 11 AC test systems bidirectional |
| Testival & Conference Europe, Germany | Sept 22–25 | Phoenix Contact | MCS and V2G testing; V2G logo launched |
| Conference Asia, South Korea | Concluded Oct 12 | KERI | MCS and V2G; ISO 15118-20, cybersecurity, AC V2G demo |
What It Means for Drivers
Nothing changes at public chargers because of these sessions. Testivals are engineering tests between manufacturers. The practical effects matter most to shoppers and owners considering bidirectional charging:
- Read the V2G logo as the manufacturer's own claim. Because the mark is self-certifiable, the company behind the product applies it. It does not mean an independent lab has tested a particular car with a particular charger.
- Ask which version of the standard a product supports. When a vehicle or home charger is sold as V2G-capable, ask the seller whether it implements ISO 15118-20 and whether it supports the July 2026 amendment, ISO 15118-20:2022/Amd 1:2026.
- Confirm the pairing, not just the label. Before paying for bidirectional hardware, get written confirmation from both the automaker and the charger maker that your specific vehicle and charger work together for exporting power, and check whether your utility has approved that setup for grid connection. A licensed electrician should do any home installation, following the manufacturer's instructions and local code.
