Enphase Energy has taken the wraps off its new IQ Bidirectional EV Charger, a DC device that will offer vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) support. See what’s under the bonnet.
About The DC IQ Bidirectional EV Charger
When paired with an IQ Meter Collar1, which is a grid islanding device, the bi-directional charger lets homeowners charge their EV, power their home during blackouts (Vehicle to Home – V2H), and export to the grid (Vehicle to Grid – V2G); all managed through the Enphase App. No home battery is needed.
“However, pairing with an IQ Battery enables full system flexibility and backup even when the EV is not plugged in,” states the company.
Features include:
- Up to 11.5 kW of bidirectional power with <1% granular control
- Instantaneous home backup with a “Black Start” auxiliary battery inside the charger to establish communication with the EV.
- Contains three IQ10 EV Microinverters.
- AI-powered energy management.
- Expected to be OCPP 2.1 capable.
- 7.6 metre cable, with CCS1 plug.
- Dynamic load balancing.
- Communication via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, CAN, and LTE.
- Operating temperature: −30℃ to 55℃.
- Enclosure dimensions: 650 mm × 400 mm × 180 mm.
- Weight: less than 23 kilograms.
- Field-replaceable microinverters, cables, and related parts.
- 10 year warranty.
Enphase says the device will seamlessly transition between EV charging, home backup and grid export based on site conditions, with no manual configuration needed.
“The IQ Bidirectional EV Charger brings the family car into the home energy system,” said Enphase Energy’s Jayant Somani. “It’s simple to install, easy to control, and designed to deliver backup power and the ability to share energy with the grid for homeowners.”
The V2H and V2G features will only work with electric vehicles that support bidirectional power flow.
“It will not enable backup or export modes with non-bidirectional EVs, but standard, high-power DC charging will still function for compatible EVs.”
The Enphase IQ Bidirectional EV Charger should be available in global markets in the latter part of 2026, so there’s quite a wait. Indicative pricing isn’t available as yet, but as this is Enphase, it likely won’t be cheap. But the warranty duration is pretty impressive for an EV charger as most are just a few years.
A full datasheet is available here, but note that’s a preliminary datasheet for North America. There’s also a whitepaper here; again, with a North America focus. The main product page is here.
Enphase IQ EV Charger 2 (AC) Available In Australia
In May this year, we wrote about the Enphase IQ EV Charger 2, which was to offer *AC* bidirectional functionality. This also requires a vehicle that is bidirectional capable; of which there are still few available here.
Enphase originally said the IQ EV Charger 2 was V2X-capable (Vehicle to Everything), but software-locked and further details of these capabilities were vague. The device is now available in Australia, and on announcing its availability here, Enphase said:
“The IQ EV Charger 2 is equipped with built-in hardware and software to support AC bidirectional charging. While availability depends on EV compatibility, standards, and regional certifications, this feature is built to enable vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) integration – supporting homeowners with resilience and flexibility.”
Back in May, the IQ EV Charger 2 price on the Australian Enphase online store was $2,048, but that pricing has been removed since. There wasn’t any mention if unlocking the bidirectional features involved an extra cost.
While still very new to the Australian market, we’ve set up a customer reviews page for Enphase EV chargers here.
AC Vs. DC Charging
In AC bidirectional charging, the vehicle’s onboard systems handle the two-way power conversion. By contrast, DC bidirectional charging relies on a dedicated DC connection, where the power conversion is managed by external electronics built into the charger rather than the vehicle.
Learn more about AC vs. DC EV Charging.
Is V2G All It’s Cracked Up To Be?
While on the topic, SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock’s latest post discusses V2G, saying the focus shouldn’t be running cars backwards into the grid, but ensuring as many electric vehicles as possible can charge when the sun is shining.
And if you find all these acronyms confusing, check out our explainer: V2L, V2G, V2H, V2X – WTF?
Related: Home EV chargers compared side-by-side.
Footnotes
- I’m not sure if the meter collar is available/permitted in Australia as yet. I haven’t seen it advertised here; but in the USA it costs around AU$ 880. ↩
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