Wallbox and Bidirectional Energy, a bidirectional EV energy management startup, announced that Phase 1 of their Bidirectional Residential V2X Demonstration Project had been awarded $2.2 million in funding from the California Energy Commission (CEC) REDWDS grant.

The project will install and operate Wallbox’s bidirectional charger, Quasar 2 (earlier post), in 120 residential locations across California.

The bidirectional chargers will be managed by Bidirectional Energy’s virtual power plant (VPP) platform to provide home energy backup, utility bill reduction, and additional financial rewards.

Bidirectional Energy and Wallbox estimate that Quasar 2 together with the Bidirectional Energy VPP platform can potentially earn users more than $1,000* every year when combined with utility Demand Response programs and time-of-use utility rates.

By taking advantage of time-of-use utility rates in the US, users can enhance the impact of V2X technology by scheduling charging sessions when energy prices are low and discharging their cars to power their homes when prices are high. Users with solar panel installations can also store excess solar energy in their EV during low usage periods and then harness this energy at another time, including usage peak periods, to reduce their reliance on the grid and accelerate the uptake of renewable energy.

These bidirectional chargers will be installed by COIL, a Wallbox company and electric vehicle charging infrastructure installer targeting metropolitan areas with high EV adoption rates such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Quasar 2 is a 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). On average EVs can hold between 76 and 100kWh of energy, more than 5x 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 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.

Quasar 2 uses ISO 15118-20, making it compatible with all bidirectional EVs that utilize this protocol, including the Kia EV9. Wallbox is currently undergoing the certification process for UL 1741 SB and UL 9741 at Underwriter Laboratories.