Quasar: Finalist for Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas
8 minutes
Barcelona, 28 April 2020 — Wallbox today announced that its bidirectional charger Quasar has been selected as a finalist for Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards. The US business magazine recognized Quasar in the Energy category. The bidirectional DC charger also received an honorable mention in the General Excellence and Consumer Products categories.
The awards honor the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that actively contribute to combating the climate crisis, social injustice, or economic inequality. A panel of eminent judges selects winners from a pool of more than 3,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, and more.
To date, Quasar has received a total of six awards, all recognizing the innovative and disruptive potential of the charger, among them Engadget’s prestigious Best of CES Award in the Transport category. Being the world’s first bidirectional charger designed for the home, it not only charges EVs but can also send electricity back to the grid or even power a home. Previously, this bidirectional technology was only available at three times the price in large formats in pilot projects used in fleet depots. Wallbox’s team of engineers developed an innovative way to make this technology available for consumers in a sleek and compact size at a significantly lower price.
“We firmly believe that Quasar’s bidirectional charging possibility is a critical building block on the road to a world powered by renewable energy,” says Enric Asunción, CEO of Wallbox. “It’s an honor for me and the entire Wallbox team that this technology has now been recognized by Fast Company as a world-changing idea.”
Bidirectional charging technology allows the battery of an electric car to serve as a power bank.Having this storage available as an extension of the grid opens up new possibilities for the storage of excess renewable energy.Electricity transferred into the car is no longer confined to the vehicle. In addition to powering the EV, It can be stored in its battery and transferred back into the home or the grid when needed.
Wallbox’s bidirectional charger works with a mobile application (iOS and Android) and an energy management platform that makes it easy for the user to control the charger and all its functionalities. It allows the user to easily set parameters of when they want the battery of their electric vehicle to be charged or used to power their home.
Quasar also features advanced facial recognition and gesture control technology, allowing the security and flexibility to share accounts with friends and neighbors. In addition to facial recognition, the charger can also authenticate using Bluetooth proximity, the MyWallbox app, and RFID.
“There seems no better time to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, resources, and, in some cases, their scale to tackle society’s biggest problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have uncovered some of the smartest and most inspiring projects of the year.”
About Wallbox
Wallbox is a global company, dedicated to changing the way the world uses energy in the electric vehicle industry. Wallbox creates smart charging systems that combine innovative technology with outstanding design and manage the communication between vehicle, grid, building and charger.
Wallbox offers a complete portfolio of charging and energy management solutions for residential and semi-public use in more than 60 countries, and soon will begin commercializing public charging solutions as well.
Founded in 2015, with headquarters in Barcelona, Wallbox’s mission is to facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles today to make more sustainable use of energy tomorrow. The company employs over 500 people in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With a goal of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
