The companies plan to offer Wallbox’s Quaser 2 second-generation DC bidirectional charger with the Bidirectional Energy EV charger management platform, starting in the first half of 2024.
The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Clean Transportation Program provides up to US$100 million in annual funding to support innovation and accelerate the development and deployment of advanced transportation and fuel technologies throughout the state. The REDWDS (Responsive, Easy Charging Products with Dynamic Signals) grant accelerates the development and deployment of easy-to-use charging products, which helps customers manage EV charging and respond to dynamic grid signals.
In a highly competitive process, Bidirectional Energy and Wallbox have been proposed recipients for awards of US$2.2 million in Phase 1 funding by the CEC Clean Transportation Program. When the awards are confirmed, the partnership between Bidirectional Energy and Wallbox will be able to deploy Quasar 2 bidirectional chargers in California residential homes, as well as offer installation solutions via Coil, a Wallbox company.
Through the Bidirectional Energy platform, EV owners can potentially save money on their monthly utility bill as well as benefit from various utilities’ vehicle-to-grid programs, all while their EV is parked at home. The V2X (vehicle-to-everything) system can also keep the lights on when the grid goes down, providing extra resilience to homeowners. If the project is successful, additional funding will be made available through a second phase to continue deploying bidirectional chargers across California for an additional three years.
“Bidirectional EVs are critical to solving the massive scalability challenges facing the US electric grid,” said Angela Zhang, CEO of Bidirectional Energy. “We are excited to partner with Wallbox to get bidirectional chargers installed in people’s homes and help EV owners earn passive income by selling energy from their idle EV batteries. Together, we’ll leverage EVs to make our power grid more reliable and reduce total carbon emissions on the grid.”
Quasar 2 is a next-generation 11.5kW bidirectional charger that will enable EV owners to charge and discharge their electric vehicle to power their home, vehicle-to-home (V2H) or send energy back to the grid, vehicle-to-grid (V2G). The partnership between Bidirectional Energy and Wallbox unlocks access to the V2G programs, providing additional revenue streams to EV owners. On average EVs can hold between 76 and 100kWh of energy, over five times the amount of energy of a standard 13.5kWh home storage system, and power a typical household’s energy consumption for up to four days, removing the need for expensive home energy storage systems.
Quasar 2’s cutting edge innovation extends to its power recovery feature, which was designed specifically for the acute need for backup power, allowing users to transform their EV into a powerful generator in the event of a power outage or blackout. With the use of the power recovery unit, Quasar 2 automatically switches the user’s power source from the grid to their vehicle, providing a critical load to a home during a potential emergency.
This type of backup service is becoming not only increasingly important, but crucial, given the sheer volume and duration of power outages in the US. Last year, California alone witnessed 39 power outages and more than 414 hours of total outage time. Across the US, unforeseen power outages cost the US economy US$150 billion annually. This feature also illustrates that EV chargers can go beyond energy efficiency and grid services.
