Wallbox has successfully completed the first U.S. residential installations of its next-generation bidirectional charger, Quasar 2, in a neighborhood in Menifee, California. This milestone marks a new era of energy independence, proving that the family garage serves as a powerful energy hub.
Wallbox executed the project through a collaboration with Kia America and the University of California, Irvine (UCI), installing six Quasar 2 units. American households now actively power their homes directly from their Kia EV9, showcasing how EVs deliver value far beyond mobility.
The EV as a Home Energy Asset
The Quasar 2 stands as Wallbox’s most advanced home energy solution to date. Unlike conventional EV chargers, Quasar 2 facilitates two-way energy flow, which means compatible vehicles both charge and discharge energy back to the home.
EV drivers leverage the vehicle’s immense storage capacity, effectively eliminating the need for a dedicated home battery. The Kia EV9 specifically stores seven times more energy than the average home battery, allowing homeowners to truly put that power to work even while the car is parked.
In this smart energy design, installing Quasar 2 empowers households to achieve three critical benefits:
- Resilience: The system stays powered for up to three days during outages or emergencies.
- Savings: Homeowners lower their energy bills by actively using stored EV power when grid rates peak.
- Stability: The system strengthens grid resilience by contributing flexible energy back to the local network.
With 12 kW of bidirectional capacity, Quasar 2 transforms the garage into the epicenter of a smart home energy ecosystem, seamlessly integrating with rooftop solar and home energy management systems through the Wallbox App.
Douglas Alfaro, Chief Business Development Officer at Wallbox, states: “More than a technology milestone, this is a glimpse of a future where every EV is an energy asset. Quasar 2 puts homeowners in control of their energy, helping them achieve resilience, independence, and sustainability in their daily lives.”
Menifee: The Living Blueprint for V2H
Set in a newly built all-electric neighborhood, the Menifee project functions as a real-world test for Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) technology and its potential to create microgrid-ready communities.
Solar panels and energy-efficient architecture converge here, but Quasar 2 unlocks the neighborhood’s true potential by actively leveraging the EV as a major energy source. By enabling energy to flow between EVs, homes, and the grid, Menifee demonstrates how integrated clean energy systems benefit both individual households and the wider energy network.
Sujith Somasekharan, Director of Connected Car & Mobility at Kia America, notes: “As we expand our lineup of electric vehicles, projects like this show how EVs deliver value beyond mobility. Partnering with Wallbox and UCI allows us to demonstrate how our vehicles power homes, reduce costs, and create meaningful environmental impact for families.”
Powering the Energy Transition
The challenge with renewables involves not simply generating more energy, but balancing supply and demand in real time. Bidirectional charging offers a scalable, low-investment alternative to costly, large-scale batteries.
By tapping into the massive, underused storage capacity of electric vehicles, Quasar 2 turns millions of parked EVs into a flexible, distributed energy resource that keeps the grid balanced and clean throughout the day. This signals a new era for the EV industry: one where cars are not only part of the energy transition, but actively power the transition itself.
Source: Wallbox
