EVEC VEC03 vs Wallbox Quasar 2

> V2G boundary: A “V2G-ready” label or ISO 15118 support does not by itself provide bidirectional power conversion, export approval or a live energy service. Confirm the compatible car, genuinely bidirectional hardware, certified complete system, installer, service and network approval before assigning value to the claim. Read the UK V2G explainer.

A £5,751 gap — and almost nothing in common

The EVEC VEC03 costs £349. The Wallbox Quasar 2 costs £6,100. The difference is £5,751. That is not a premium; it is the distance between two entirely different categories of product. One is a budget AC wallbox that pushes 7.4 kW into your car. The other is a bidirectional DC unit that can push 12.8 kW back out of your car and into your house — or, eventually, the grid.

Comparing them on a like-for-like basis is a bit like comparing a kettle to a Thermomix. But the page exists because people search for it, so here is what each one is, what it costs in practice, and who should care.

• EVEC VEC03 — £349, run-out stock, charges your car at 7.4 kW. Built-in RCD and PEN protection. No smart-tariff integration. OZEV-approved.
• Wallbox Quasar 2 — £6,100 (converted estimate; UK sterling price unconfirmed), pre-registration only. Bidirectional DC at up to 12.8 kW. V2H and V2G capable. Not OZEV-approved.

What the VEC03 actually gets you

The VEC03's pitch is simple: it is one of the cheapest OZEV-approved smart chargers on the market, and it comes with Type A RCD (30 mA), 6 mA DC leakage detection, and PEN fault protection built in. That package typically saves £100 or so on installation labour because your electrician does not need to fit a separate consumer unit.

For an eligible renter or flat owner, the £500 OZEV grant covers the £349 unit outright and chips into the install costs too. Installed total — somewhere between £700 and £900 — drops meaningfully after the grant.

The compromises are real. The 5-metre cable is the shortest tethered option on the site. The app, by consistent customer report, is unreliable — scheduled charging sometimes fails to trigger. There is no smart-tariff API: no Intelligent Octopus Go compatibility, no OVO Charge Anytime hook. On a flat-rate electricity deal, that does not matter. On a variable tariff like Octopus Agile, it does — and the Ohme Home Pro at £539 would be the better spend.

The model is also on its way out. EVEC has replaced it with the vecGO 2.0, and the VEC03 is run-out stock. Firmware and app investment will follow the new model. That is worth weighing if you plan to keep the charger for a decade.

What the Quasar 2 is trying to be

The Quasar 2 is not a wallbox in the conventional sense. It is a DC charger with a CCS2 connector that can move energy in both directions — into the car (charging) and out of the car (V2H backup or V2G export). At up to 12.8 kW bidirectional, it treats your EV's battery as a stationary storage unit you happen to drive.

The idea is compelling on paper. A 77 kWh car battery dwarfs any home battery you could buy. If you can arbitrage cheap overnight electricity — charge at 8p/kWh on Octopus Go, discharge during the peak — the economics look attractive. If your supplier offers a V2G export tariff, the car earns money while it sits on the drive.

The reality, as of April 2026, is less settled. The Quasar 2 is on pre-registration in the UK — you cannot buy one yet. The compatible car list is short; the Kia EV9 is the headline vehicle, with more manufacturers expected but not confirmed. Installation requires a DNO G99 application (30–60 working days) and a specialist installer, pushing the installed total to £7,600 or beyond. And the £500 OZEV grant does not apply.

Three years of warranty — the same as the VEC03 — feels thin for a £6,100 unit that sits between your car and your consumer unit doing things most electricians have never encountered.

The V2G question, without the Quasar 2's price tag

If the principle of vehicle-to-grid interests you but the Quasar 2's cost and availability do not, there is a middle path. Several AC chargers on the site are marketed as V2G-ready — built with the protocols and hardware hooks to support bidirectional energy flow once car manufacturers and grid operators enable it on the AC side. The Zaptec Go 2 at £638 and the NexBlue Point 2 at £534 both hold that position. Neither can do V2H or V2G today, but they cost a fraction of the Quasar 2 and charge your car perfectly well in the meantime.

For solar owners who want to use excess generation now, the myenergi Zappi GLO at £599 diverts surplus solar into the car without needing bidirectional DC hardware at all.

Which to buy

Buy the EVEC VEC03 if:

• You want the cheapest compliant install — £349 unit, built-in protection, OZEV grant eligible
• You are on a flat-rate tariff and do not need smart-tariff optimisation
• You accept run-out stock and the software limitations that come with it

Buy the Wallbox Quasar 2 if:

• You own (or are about to own) a CCS2 car confirmed as bidirectional-compatible
• You have a V2G export tariff or concrete plans for one
• You understand that £6,100-plus-install is a bet on an ecosystem that is still forming in the UK

For the vast majority of UK Tesla owners — and EV owners generally — the VEC03 or something in its price band is the rational choice. If £349 feels too compromised on the software side, the Ohme Home Pro at £539 or the VCHRGD Seven Pro at £430 do more for modest extra money. The Quasar 2 is a product for a future that has not quite arrived. When it does, it will be worth revisiting. Today, charge the car.