All of GM’s Ultium EVs Will Be Able to Power Your Home
GM plans to roll out the feature across the full range of Ultium EVs by 2026.
As it stands, many EV owners choose to charge their vehicles at home. A new era is dawning, however, where EVs will also be able to use their batteries to power our homes in turn. GM is now getting in on this technology in a big way.
GM plans to bring Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) bidirectional charging capabilities to the whole range of Ultium-platform EVs by the 2026 model year. This will allow owners to use their EVs as a power supply for their homes, a feature that is particularly useful during extended power outages.
Beyond blackouts, though, the feature will also allow EVs to act as a large home battery. By charging the vehicle in cheaper off-peak periods, and then using it to supply the home with energy at other times, there's potential to use the feature to help reduce electricity bills.
The first vehicles set to receive this feature are already on the way to market. The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST and GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 will both get V2H, along with the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq, and the upcoming Escalade IQ. The 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV and Equinox EV will also get bidirectional charging, democratizing a feature that has until now mostly been talked about for bigger trucks.
Homes will need to be properly equipped to use the feature. GM has prepared the Ultium Home offerings for this purpose. Key to this is GM's 19.2-kW PowerShift AC charger, designed specifically for V2H operation. It's paired with a V2H "Enablement Kit" which includes an inverter, home hub, and a dark start battery. This enables the transfer of up to 9.6 kW of power from the vehicle to the home, while also safely disconnecting it from the grid in the event of a blackout. GM will also offer its PowerBank home battery in 10.6 kWh and 17.7 kWh variants for customers looking for additional energy storage.
Vehicle-to-home charging is a hot feature that many automakers have on their radar. Ford has advertised this as a potential use of the F-150 Lighting since launch, while Volkswagen and Rivian are both exploring the technology, too.
Given that EVs have such prodigious storage capacity, it could become the norm to use them as home batteries to offset energy bills and prevent blackouts. It's a nifty feature to have in a vehicle, and GM has clearly seen enough value in it to make it a priority for its lineup.
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