What is EV flexibility & wholesale market optimisation?

EV flexibility is the ability to adjust when electric vehicles charge in response to electricity market conditions and price signals. By shifting charging to periods when wholesale electricity prices are lower, energy retailers and flexibility providers can reduce procurement costs and create value that can be shared with customers through smart charging tariffs.

What is the EV Flexibility Index?

The EV Flexibility Index is a benchmarking tool from LCP Delta that tracks the monthly value that an average Electric Vehicle (EVs) can generate from smart charging across European energy markets. It helps retailers, investors and flexibility providers compare opportunities by country and understand how value is changing over time.

What are the main drivers of EV flexibility value?

The value of EV flexibility is driven primarily by wholesale electricity price volatility. Wider overnight price spreads create more opportunity to optimise charging. Other important drivers include renewable generation, battery storage deployment, market regulation, network congestion and the availability of additional revenue streams such as ancillary services and local flexibility markets.

What are the additional revenue streams for EV flexibility?

In addition to wholesale market optimisation, EV flexibility can create value through intraday trading, imbalance optimisation, ancillary services, local flexibility markets, capacity markets and network tariff optimisation. The most attractive business models combine multiple value streams while balancing operational complexity and risk.

EV Flexibility Index: Summer 2026 - How much value could an average EV have captured?

Energy transition Investment Energy transition investment EV charging research Flexibility research

Laurence Robinson Senior Consultant - Power Markets

Stephen Harkin Partner and Head of Demand

Lucinda Murley Senior Consultant - Residential Smart Energy

Duncan Sutherland Consultant - EV Charging

About the EV Flexibility Index

The EV Flexibility Index from LCP Delta tracks the potential value of smart charging for electric vehicles across European energy markets. Each edition benchmarks how much value an energy supplier could capture by optimising when customers charge their EVs in response to wholesale electricity prices.

Explore the EV Flexibility Index series:

Q1 2026: How much value could an average EV have captured?

Over the 4 months from May to August 2026, energy suppliers could have saved €44-89 per EV. This is a significant increase over the €41-57 saving per EV from our previous benchmark that covered the first four months of 2026.

In this edition of LCP Delta’s EV Flexibility Index benchmark, we have also added: Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal & Sweden.

EV flexibility value per month: maximum wholesale savings per EV

Maximum potential wholesale market savings for an average EV, May–August 2026, €/EV/month.

Similar to the first four months of 2026, EV flexibility value continued to vary significantly month by month. Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and, to a lesser extent, Sweden saw exceptional opportunities in June, with savings around 50% higher than in surrounding months. This was driven by unusually wide wholesale price spreads.

Spain and Great Britain recorded consistently lower flexibility value, but for different reasons. In Spain, peak electricity prices were consistently below those in other European markets — around €50/MWh lower than Germany over this period. In Great Britain, overnight wholesale prices were more stable, limiting the spreads available for optimisation despite relatively high overall prices.

Flexibility value is rising through 2026 with wholesale price expected to stay high through winter, suppliers could be saving €150-250 per year, per EV in 2026.

EV Flexibility Index: wholesale savings per EV, Q1 vs Q2 2026

Maximum potential wholesale market savings per average EV across the first and second four-month periods of 2026.

What is driving EV flexibility value in 2026?

Average overnight wholesale price spreads by week, 2026

Average 1-hour Day Ahead price spreads during the 6pm–6am EV charging window, €/MWh.

The largest spreads in the Day Ahead market in the ‘overnight’ charging window (6pm to 6am) happened in the last week of June 2026. This coincided with the extraordinary heat wave affecting most of Europe, during which demand for power for cooling jumped at the same time as weather effects caused wind output to drop. Alongside this the French nuclear fleet was badly affected by the heat, removing a key measure of import support to other European grids.

Across 2026, we have seen average weekly overnight spreads to be in the range of €50-100/MWh, but during the June week above, spreads increased to almost €300/MWh in some markets.

Going into the winter we can expect higher overall price spreads due to persistently high TTF gas prices and the international situation with Middle East supply. Gas continues to play an important role in marginally priced electricity markets. We may see elevated spreads over the upcoming winter period.

EV flexibility value is intricately linked to complex wholesale market dynamics.

Why did EV flexibility value spike in June 2026?

In June 2026, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, and GB saw severe price spikes in their Day Ahead markets due to several factors linked to the heat wave. With many nuclear plants in France and Belgium affected by lack of river water for cooling, closed for safety or maintenance, the sudden drop in wind output in coordination with a sharp rise in power demand for cooling led to spikes in short term power markets.

This led to the savings per EV achieved in June in these countries being almost double that of other months in the same benchmark period.

How do wholesale electricity prices affect EV flexibility value?

When macro-economic factors impact wholesale electricity markets, prices can rise rapidly, increasing the costs of energy for energy retailers. These rises in costs are typically experienced faster than the costs can be passed on to consumers, due to both regulatory restrictions and customer propositions. Flexibility provides an additional tool and a mechanism for suppliers to manage their cost exposure by moving demand where possible away from higher prices.

Explore the EV Flexibility Index

If you would like to understand how EV flexibility values are changing across Europe and what this means for your business, the EV Flexibility Index provides the market intelligence needed to support strategic decisions.

From benchmarking opportunities to assessing future scenarios and evaluating the full EV flexibility value stack, the EV Flexibility Index helps organisations navigate a rapidly changing market.

See the EV Flexibility Index in action

Your questions answered

: EV flexibility is the ability to adjust when electric vehicles charge in response to electricity market conditions and price signals. By shifting charging to periods when wholesale electricity prices are lower, energy retailers and flexibility providers can reduce procurement costs and create value that can be shared with customers through smart charging tariffs.

: The EV Flexibility Index is a benchmarking tool from LCP Delta that tracks the monthly value that an average Electric Vehicle (EVs) can generate from smart charging across European energy markets. It helps retailers, investors and flexibility providers compare opportunities by country and understand how value is changing over time.

: The value of EV flexibility is driven primarily by wholesale electricity price volatility. Wider overnight price spreads create more opportunity to optimise charging. Other important drivers include renewable generation, battery storage deployment, market regulation, network congestion and the availability of additional revenue streams such as ancillary services and local flexibility markets.

: In addition to wholesale market optimisation, EV flexibility can create value through intraday trading, imbalance optimisation, ancillary services, local flexibility markets, capacity markets and network tariff optimisation. The most attractive business models combine multiple value streams while balancing operational complexity and risk.