American legacy automaker General Motors announced plans to add vehicle-to-home (V2H) technology to more of its impending Ultium-based electric vehicles.
This bi-directional charging feature will enable GM owners to utilize their cars as giant power banks that they can rely on to power their homes during emergencies or high electricity demand.
How does it work?
Bi-directional charging, or V2H technology, enables EV owners to accumulate and store energy in their cars’ batteries. They can use the excess energy to power their houses, considering they have the necessary utilities.
“Customers will be able to leverage V2H technology on compatible GM EVs through GM Energy’s available Ultium Home offerings, and the GM Energy Cloud, a software platform which will allow users to manage the transfer of energy between applicable and connected GM Energy assets and the home.”
General Motors
The innovative feature helps customers to save money from paying extra electricity bills. It can also significantly support the power grid during high-demand periods.
In hindsight, GM initially planned to only equip the V2H technology in the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST. Now, the company decided to also include the other five EV models under the Ultium-based lineup.
The recently announced EVs to offer bi-directional charging capability are as follows:
- 2024 Cadillac Escalade IQ
- 2024 Cadillac Lyriq
- 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV
- 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV
- 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition
As mentioned, these six EVs will ride on GM’s Ultium platform. The American automaker aims to offer the V2H technology to all its Ultium-based offerings as a standard feature by 2026.
“GM Energy’s growing ecosystem of energy management solutions will help accelerate GM’s vision of an all-electric future, by further expanding access to even more benefits that EVs can offer. By integrating V2H across our entire Ultium-based portfolio, we are making this groundbreaking technology available to more consumers, with benefits that extend well beyond the vehicle itself, and at a broader scale than ever before.”
Wade Sheffer, GM Energy VP
See Also:
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- General Motors introduces ‘GM Envolve’ to aid fleets electrify
- General Motors’ Cruise to expand its robotaxi service in Texas
- General Motors, Samsung SDI to invest over $3 billion in a US battery plant
- General Motors to halt Chevy Bolt EV/EUV production by the end of 2023
Offering bi-directional charging technology will significantly boost the demand for GM’s electric vehicles. In effect, it will accelerate EV uptake in its key markets. It can also potentially encourage more undecided buyers to join the shift.
However, we should expect that EV models with this kind of advanced feature would sell at a premium price, considering the complexity and infancy of the technology. Apart from that, customers will also need to upgrade the electric system at their houses to support the charging process for approximately $1,500.
