Ohme Home Pro 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 charger and a power station walk into a comparison

These two products share a wall-mounting bracket and not much else. The Ohme Home Pro costs £539, weighs 3.5 kg, and does one thing impeccably: charge your EV on the cheapest electricity it can find. The Wallbox Quasar 2 costs £6,100 — £5,561 more — weighs roughly 20 kg, and promises to turn your car battery into a home power reserve and a grid-trading asset.

One is a product you can buy, install, and use this week. The other is a pre-registration page and a bet on the UK energy market catching up with the hardware.

• Ohme Home Pro — £539. 7.4 kW AC, smart tariff integration, solar diverting, works now.
• Wallbox Quasar 2 — £6,100. 12.8 kW bidirectional DC, V2H and V2G capable, UK availability TBC.

Why the price gap is even wider than it looks

The £5,561 difference between unit prices understates the real gap. The Ohme Home Pro carries a standard install cost of £400–£500 and qualifies for the £500 OZEV grant (for eligible renters and flat owners), which covers the unit outright and chips into the install. Total outlay for a grant-eligible buyer: somewhere around £500–£540 all in.

The Quasar 2 needs a specialist installer — one qualified for bidirectional DC — and a G99 application to the DNO, which alone takes 30–60 working days. Installation runs £1,500–£3,000 or more. The OZEV grant does not apply. A realistic installed total is north of £7,600. That is roughly fifteen times the cost of a grant-eligible Ohme install.

For the Quasar 2 to earn that back, it needs to export power at rates that repay the premium over its lifetime. The maths can work — on paper, with the right tariff, a compatible car, and enough daily cycling — but the tariff products and the car compatibility list are both thin in 2026.

The Ohme's actual job — and how well it does it

The Ohme Home Pro exists to minimise what you pay per kilowatt-hour. Its direct API link to Octopus and British Gas means it can chase half-hourly pricing on Octopus Agile or slot into the extended off-peak window on Octopus Intelligent Go at 8p/kWh. On EDF GoElectric — 6.99p/kWh between 23:00 and 06:00 — a simple schedule does the same job, but the Ohme handles it without you opening the app.

It has built-in solar diverting, a 4G SIM that lasts three years, and IP65 weatherproofing. The 5-metre tethered cable is adequate; the 8-metre option costs extra. The three-year warranty is shorter than some competitors — the Simpson & Partners Home 7 offers ten — but for a £539 unit on a smart tariff, the payback period is measured in months, not years.

When the Quasar 2 makes any sense at all

The Quasar 2 is not a home charger that happens to do V2G. It is a bidirectional DC power converter that happens to charge your car. The distinction matters. At 12.8 kW in both directions via CCS2, it can discharge a large EV battery into your home during peak hours or export to the grid for revenue. If you have solar panels, it can absorb daytime generation into the car and release it after dark — a home battery you already own, sitting on the drive.

The catch: your car has to support bidirectional DC. The confirmed UK list starts with the Kia EV9. Most Teslas, most Hyundais, most BMWs — not yet. If your car cannot do it, the Quasar 2 is a £6,100 AC charger with a CCS2 plug, which is an expensive way to add 12.8 kW you probably cannot use on a single-phase supply anyway.

For buyers drawn to V2G but not ready for the Quasar 2's price or the wait, the Zaptec Go 2 at £638 publishes ISO 15118 communication support. That is not a promise of future export by firmware: a certified complete system may need other hardware. The Indra Smart PRO at £395 is a one-way AC charger with no V2G feature.

The verdict

Buy the Ohme Home Pro if:

• You want a charger that works with your Tesla, your tariff, and your solar — today, for £539
• You are on or plan to switch to Intelligent Go, Agile, or another smart tariff
• You are eligible for the £500 OZEV grant and want the lowest possible installed cost

Buy the Wallbox Quasar 2 if:

• You own (or have ordered) a CCS2 car with confirmed bidirectional support — the Kia EV9, for now
• You have a V2G export tariff or a concrete plan to arbitrage peak and off-peak rates
• You understand the G99 process, the install cost, and the reality that you are buying version one of a UK market that barely exists

For the vast majority of readers on this page, the Ohme Home Pro is not just the better value — it is the only product here that is available to buy, eligible for a grant, and compatible with every Tesla on UK roads. The Quasar 2 is fascinating hardware aimed at a future that has not quite arrived. When it does, the economics will change. Until then, the Ohme does the job for £5,561 less.