Hardware withdrawal and workforce talks
The withdrawal covers home wall chargers, construction of charging infrastructure for businesses and production of specialized charging stations. Palazzo said Elli wants to concentrate on scalable digital services that can reach customers across more markets and generate recurring revenue.
Existing customers will not be affected, according to Palazzo: software updates, service and spare parts will remain available. Elli also plans to sell its remaining wall charger inventory.
Employees were briefed on the restructuring on Tuesday, November 3. Palazzo did not say how many jobs could be lost, but said he hoped to reach an agreement with employee representatives in the coming weeks.
A separate change to Flexpole production is not expected to eliminate jobs, according to Elli Chief Technology Officer Mark Möller. Electrive.com reports that final assembly of the battery-buffered fast-charging stations at Volkswagen's Hanover plant will end by the close of 2026. Employees working on Flexpole assembly will move to the adjacent battery system assembly line.
Chinese partner ZhongDe Energy is taking over the Flexpole business. It plans to assemble an upgraded model at a 2,000-square-meter facility in Dreieich, near Frankfurt.
Charging services and grid integration
Elli will retain its network of more than one million charging points across Europe, its fleet fueling and charging services, and its Volkswagen Naturstrom green electricity offering. According to electrive.net, the company will organize its operations into two business areas, Mobility and Energy, starting in 2027. The transition is planned in stages, with completion by the end of that year.
Fleet services will draw on the integration of LogPay's fuel-card business, allowing Elli to serve fleets containing both combustion-engine and electric vehicles. Porsche is also set to adopt Elli's own MSP charging solution in 2027, electrive.net reports.
Another part of the strategy is to integrate electric vehicles into the power grid so they can serve as electricity storage rather than simply draw power to charge. Elli is preparing to launch a Vehicle-to-Grid offering with The Mobility House in November 2026, according to electrive.net.
Customers can receive up to €720 a year in electricity-bill credits for keeping their vehicles plugged in for a specified amount of time each month in V2G mode. The offering will use a bidirectional DC wall charger from Chinese manufacturer EV-Tech, rather than one developed in-house.
Battery storage responsibility moves within Volkswagen
Elli will also hand over responsibility for Volkswagen's large battery storage installations, which buffer wind and solar power. Another company within the Volkswagen Group is to operate the systems.
The change follows Elli's entry into energy storage and energy trading earlier in 2026. In March, it connected the group's first large-scale battery storage system, the PowerCenter in Salzgitter, to the grid, according to Elli.
That installation has approximately 20 MW of output and 40 MWh of storage capacity. It uses battery systems supplied by Volkswagen's PowerCo subsidiary and forms part of a virtual power plant.
Financial background and potential investors
Volkswagen established Elli in 2018 as a charging infrastructure and electricity provider, ahead of the launch of its ID. electric car family.
Süddeutsche Zeitung, citing Elli's publicly filed 2024 accounts, reported annual revenue of €174 million and a net loss of about €54 million. Hardware contributed roughly 15% of revenue. Citing information from Volkswagen Group circles, dpa reports that Elli's 2026 revenue is heading toward a multiple of the 2024 figure.
Elli is also seeking outside partners and investors. Palazzo told electrive.net that several companies had expressed interest in discussing equity stakes or closer strategic cooperation, but no agreement was ready to sign.
