GM Energy, the electric vehicle (EV) and home energy company owned by US-based auto company General Motors, is working with US-based power utility company Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to use its vehicles as home energy assets in a pilot programme.
It plans to do this by using bidirectional charging with the company’s EVs plugged into customers homes, focused for communities prone to outages.
GM’s home products would allow for the EV to supply the home, and it claims to balance energy demand, effectively making them home energy assets.
Charging data will be collected and evaluated to allow for both companies to scale bidirectional technology programmes within California, it said.
BEST reported on the initial pilot in Massachusetts.
The pilot is focused on eligible customers in the Northern California, but the company also told Microgrid Knowledge that it is targeting Michigan, Texas, Floria, Washington and New York.
Wade Sheffer, vice president, GM Energy, said: “For Northern California customers looking to take more control of their home energy, this program with PG&E represents a great opportunity. For utilities, legislators, customers and others, this pilot is an opportunity to see the full value of our V2H technology beyond just providing power to a home during power outages. This can be a tool that helps overall grid resiliency and showcases the unique advantages of EVs while, in the future, may even reduce the overall total cost of EV ownership.”
Image: A GM car being plugged into a house. Credit: GM.
