GM And PG&E Pilot Will Turn Electric Cars Into Outage Saviors

This pilot, with energy company PG&E, will be one of the first major attempts to explore how that battery-on-wheels could be used for backup purposes, and how it might scale significantly beyond that. Over the summer, the two companies aim to design and test new EV and charger technology including “bidirectional hardware coupled with software-defined communications protocols that will enable power to flow from a charged EV into a customer’s home, automatically coordinating between the EV, home and PG&E’s electric supply,” they said in a statement.

That will then be installed in a small number of customers’ homes before larger trials begin by the end of the year. It’s unclear, at this stage, how PG&E and GM will select those households eligible to take part in the pilot.

Bidirectional charging, as the name suggests, adds reverse power flow to the traditional expectations of an electric vehicle charger. It requires special hardware and software, including a so-called transfer switch in the home’s power circuit that can isolate it from the main grid when the EV is providing power. The EV itself needs an upgrade, too, though GM says that’s easier than you might think.

“They’re not enabled to do it at this point,” Spina explains. “Very shortly they will be. It’s primarily software and controls that we need to do.” Multiple GM electric vehicles, including models already on sale, and those fast approaching, will be utilized for the pilot. That suggests GM will be using both its existing platform, as underpins the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, as well as upcoming Ultium-based models such as the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, and Chevrolet Silverado EV.