GM Wants Your Electric Car to Power Your House—and Your Neighborhood
Some 250,000 electric vehicles manufactured by General Motors are driving around the US today—right now!—with an oft-secret capability: Their big, powerful batteries can charge other things. Potentially appliances, homes, and now, thanks to a software update pushed by the automaker this week, an electrical grid. Twelve of GM’s EVs have this “bidirectional charging” capability, way more than US competitors’ battery-electrics.
The potential for this tech, known as vehicle-to-grid charging, is exciting. An EVshould not only be able to power a home through a days-long outage. It should also support the wider grid, helping utilities balance out electricity use during periods of high demand, like the moment the heat becomes undesirable and everyone turns on their air conditioning at once. Even better, car owners can charge up their batteries on wheels when demand and prices are low, and discharge it into the wider grid when it's high—making them money...
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