The Great Grid Export: Inside California's New V2G Milestone

Wallbox and The Mobility House complete the first approved home V2G installation in San Diego, unlocking grid export and bill savings

19 May 2026

California just took a major step toward turning idle electric vehicles into personal cash cows. In San Diego County, the first fully approved residential vehicle-to-grid installation has officially cleared the local utility network. For the first time in San Diego Gas and Electric territory, a home EV charger can push power all the way back into the public grid to earn real money.

This setup pairs a Kia EV9 with a Wallbox Quasar 2 bidirectional charger. While the physical build was straightforward, navigating the bureaucratic red tape usually stalls these projects for years. This time, partners cleared utility approvals and dynamic permitting in under six months, carving out a repeatable blueprint for the rest of the state.

The financial upside goes far beyond simple home backup power during a blackout. An automated aggregator system watches the energy market, charging the car when electricity is cheap and discharging it when demand spikes. 

Similar programs in California show homeowners can make up to 780 dollars annually from grid services alone, even before accounting for in-home savings.

Most vehicles sit parked in driveways for over 90 percent of the day. By treating these massive batteries as active grid assets rather than dead weight, the state can buffer its fragile power grid during heatwaves. With strong backing from the California Energy Commission, this single driveway in San Diego has turned a futuristic energy concept into a working reality.