As the world slowly transitions to electric vehicles, General Motors talks about what EVs could do not just for the future of transportation but also during power outages or a storm.
“There is a very large battery in it that can be used for other things in addition from going from point A to point B,” said Mark Bole, vice president and Head of V2X Battery Solutions at GM.
Bole talks about the new software that could help use electric vehicles to power up a home for up to 3 weeks during power outages, according to KMBC.
“The battery can also be used for storage,” Bole stated.
In addition, the company announced the upcoming Chevy Silverado EV with bidirectional charging that could power a home during an outage due to major weather disasters. The 2024 Chevy Silverado EV will have its retail launch in the fall of 2023.
“So it’s not just charging your battery, it’s actually taking energy from that EV battery and discharging it,” Bole explained.
“You will be able to actually have a battery in your EV full of energy, sitting there in your garage plugged into your wall. If a power outage happens, you’ll be able to flip over and that will be a generator in a sense the battery of your vehicle could charge your home and help you manage your energy needs during a power outage.”
In addition, GM announced a partnership with SunPower Corp. to develop a home energy system capable of powering an entire home and serving as backup power during a power outage via vehicle-to-home (V2H) charging.
Customers can use energy from their vehicles to their homes, lessening electricity costs. It also offers optimization of personal energy consumption, secure energy supply, and homeowners will be able to self-manage power sufficiently and ease strain from the grid.
