Wallbox and Kia team up to try and bring bidirectional charging capabilities to EV9 owners
EV charging and energy management developer Wallbox announced it is working with Kia America to try and bring viable bidirectional charging capabilities to the homes of EV9 owners. This process will begin with Wallbox’s Quasar 2 EV charger.
Wallbox ($WBX) describes itself as a creator of “advanced electric vehicle charging and energy management systems that redefine the relationship between users and the network.” In its eight years since being founded, Wallbox’s portfolio of commercial and public EV charging solutions have expanded to 115 different countries.
Last October, we visited the company’s newest facility in Texas, where it demonstrated a 400kW DC fast charger capable of delivering 100 miles of range in a mere five minutes. Truthfully, most EVs are built to handle such high rates just yet – but some EVs that are close are those atop Hyundai Motor Group’s 800V E-GMP platform, including the Kia EV9 which recently began US deliveries.
Today, Wallbox announced it is working with Kia to give EV9 drivers access to its Quasar 2 home charger, offering the potential opportunity for bidirectional charging.
Can Wallbox make bidirectional charging viable with EV9?
Wallbox announced its new collaboration with Kia America today, sharing it will begin offering EV9 customers the second-generation version of its Quasar 2 home charger in the first half of 2024. The model first debuted at CES in January of 2022 and gained some good press given its bidirectional capabilities.
By using the home charger, owners can essentially turn their EV in a power bank with the capability to send energy from the vehicles battery into their home, also known as vehicle-to-home or V2H. We are seeing this capability to power homes during blackouts, inclement weather, or peak usage times more and more across the EV landscape, but although the technology exists, implementing it takes a lot more effort.
With a less than stellar electrical grid in the US especially, not all homes are built to handle the hardware, not to mention major hurdles EV owners have come across when trying to install a home charger including permits and installation. Not to mention wait times for said equipment.
Regardless, Wallbox is confident it can get the Quasar 2 charging for Kia EV9 owners next year, and empower them to save on energy costs and gain peace of mind during outages. Per Wallbox cofounder and CEO Enric Asunción:
We’re excited to work with Kia America toward our shared vision for accelerating electrification and transforming how we harness and interact with energy. Bidirectional charging can offer long term benefits to users, grid operators, utilities and will accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources. When combined with an EV capable of bidirectional charging, such as Kia’s advanced EV9, Quasar 2 offers one of the most functional and affordable home energy management solutions on the market.
The second-generation Quasar offers bidirectional charge rates up to 11.5kW. Wallbox points out that combined with the EV9’s 76kW or 100kW battery pack, owners can store five-times the amount of standard home storage system – enough to power a home with typical energy consumption for up to four days.
The company also estimates Quasar 2 owners will save over $1,000 annually on energy bills when combined with other time-of-use programs. As mentioned, the Wallbox chargers are expected to begin rolling out in the first half of next year.
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Environment
U.S. could reach deal with Canada that avoids oil and gas tariffs, energy secretary says
HOUSTON — The U.S. could reach an agreement with Canada that avoids tariffs on imports of oil, gas and other energy resources, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday.
Wright said such a scenario is “certainly is possible” but “it’s too early to say” in response to a question from CNBC during a press conference at the CERAWeek by S&P Global. The U.S. is in “active dialogue” with Canada and Mexico, the energy secretary said.
President Donald Trump has paused until April 2 tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports that are compliant with the agreement which governs trade in North America. Trump originally imposed broad 25% tariffs on goods from both countries as well as lesser 10% tariffs on energy imports from Canada.
It’s unclear, however, how much of the oil, gas and other energy that the U.S. imports from Canada is compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Wright declined to provide specifics when CNBC asked how much of those imports are USMCA compliant.
“I’m going to avoid the details for now,” Wright said. The energy secretary said, “We can get to no tariffs or very low tariffs but it’s got to be reciprocal” in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan.
Canada’s energy minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, warned last week that energy prices will rise in the U.S. if the tariffs on energy imports go into full effect.
“We will see higher gasoline prices as a function of energy, higher electricity prices from hydroelectricity from Canada, higher home heating prices associated with natural gas that comes from Canada and higher automobile prices,” Wilkinson told CNBC’s Megan Cassella in an interview.
The U.S. has been the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world for years. But many refiners in the U.S. are dependent on heavy crude imported from Canada. The U.S. imported 6.6 million barrels of crude oil per day on average in December, more than 60% of which came from Canada, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Wright acknowledged that the tariffs are creating uncertainty in energy markets as negotiations continue.
“We’re in the middle of negotiations for where things are going to go with tariffs, so that feels frightening and gripping right now but this time will pass,” Wright said. “Deals will be made, we’ll get certainty and we’ll have a positive economic environment for Americans going forward.”
U.S. crude oil fell more than 1% Monday to close at $66.03 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent closed at $69.28 per barrel. Crude oil futures have pulled back substantially as Trump’s trade policy creates uncertainty and OPEC+ has confirmed that it plans to gradually bring back 2.2 million barrels per day of production beginning next month.
Apple is rolling out a notable update to Apple Maps EV Routing for Ford drivers. Starting today, Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning drivers can use Apple Maps EV Routing via CarPlay to plan road trips that include Tesla Superchargers – or any station that uses the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector.
As I’ve explained before, Ford began shipping adapters CCS to NACS adapters that allow Mach-E and Lightning drivers to charge at Tesla Superchargers last year. Until today, however, Apple Maps was unaware of this change. This meant Apple Maps EV Routing would only route Mach-E and Lightning drivers to CCS charging stations, even though a route with Tesla Superchargers might’ve been more efficient.
With today’s change, Apple Maps via CarPlay will now include NACS fast charging stations, such as compatible Tesla Superchargers, in recommended route planning recommendations.
In a blog post, Ford explains:
Apple Maps EV Routing in CarPlay allows drivers to input their route and can view the estimated battery level they will have when they get to a destination, as well as suggested charging stations along the way if charging is needed. Previously, Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning drivers would have to manually open another app, then enter a NACS fast charger as a destination to have it added to their route. Now, with the Apple Maps EV Routing and NACS fast charger integration, the experience will be more seamless.
How to Use Apple Maps EV Routing in CarPlay:
- Connect your Apple iPhone to CarPlay.
- Open Apple Maps, go to Settings, and confirm your preferred charging network(s) – make sure you select a NACS fast charging station, such as Tesla Supercharger. You only have to do this once.
- Enter a destination.
- Apple Maps will then calculate the estimated state of charge you will have when you get to a destination.
- If a charge is required, depending on the fastest route, it will automatically route you to a NACS fast charging station.*
This is a significant update to the Apple Maps EV Routing experience for Ford drivers. Next up on my wishlist is support for battery preconditioning when using Apple Maps EV Routing. Android Auto added this feature last October.
The new feature is available now to iPhone users running iOS 17 or later. No software update is required for your car.
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James Murdoch, a Tesla board member and friend of CEO Elon Musk, has confirmed that he sold about $13 million in stock today as the stock (TSLA) crashed.
There has been a lot of insider trading at Tesla lately, and by trading, we mean selling – cause no insider is ever buying at Tesla.
We recently reported on Kimball Musk, Elon’s brother, and Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Taneja Vaibhav recently selling ahead of a recent drop in the company’s stock price.
Tesla’s chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, also sold $33 million worth of Tesla shares last week and over $100 million in the last 3 months.
Now, it’s James Murdoch’s turn. The Tesla board member just confirmed, through a required SEC filing, that he sold 54,776 Tesla shares for just over $13 million today:
He sold as Tesla’s stock crashed 15% today. It is now down more than 50% from its all-time high just a few months ago.
Murdoch was appointed to Tesla’s board in 2017.
He is better known as the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the former CEO of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019.
Murdoch was one of the Tesla board directors who was forced to return almost $1 billion in cash and stock options to Tesla as part of a settlement for over-compensation.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla insiders are unloading, and those are just the ones we know about. Public companies only have to report insider trading for board directors and listed top executives.
For the latter, Tesla purposefully only lists 3 people: Elon, Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s CFO, and Tom Zhu, whose role at Tesla has bit quite fluid in recent years.
Therefore, we don’t know about the dozens of other top executives potentially selling their shares right now amid a giant correction.
It’s really suspicious because there are clear top leaders at Tesla who are often on Tesla’s earnings calls, and they are not even listed, like Lars Moravy, for example.
But it’s par for the course at Tesla, which has some of the worst corporate governance I have ever seen. It’s truly shameful.
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