- Participation can All 2025 GM EVs eligible soon; a mix of 2024 and 2025 models eligible now
- Additional incentives if owners opt to suspend charging during high-load times
- Could help lay groundwork for future V2G program
General Motors electric vehicle owners in certain parts of California could receive a $4,500 discount on home-backup power hardware as part of a pilot program with utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).
Announced Thursday, the program aims to evaluate the use of the bidirectional charging capability built into many new GM EVs to help power homes, and potentially help support the grid, applications known as vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G), respectively. Discounted hardware will be one of the participation incentives for GM EV-owning PG&E customers.
The program will provide “incentivized pricing for qualifying GM Energy home energy products” to customers within PG&E’s service area, which includes Northern and Central California, the release said.
Cadillac Escalade IQ and GM Home Energy suite
GM first detailed the hardware it’s using for home power backup in 2023, based around a particular wallbox it calls the PowerShift Charger, plus an Enablement Kit with inverter and “dark start” battery. Then last fall it rolled out its PowerBank home energy storage—although for now this hardware can’t be mixed and matched with hardware on other ecosystems like Tesla.
The automaker has said that all of its latest EVs, previously badged Ultium, are bidirectional-capable, with expanded capabilities to be potentially rolled out via software updates in the future. It expects all 2025-model-year EVs to be eligible for the program “soon,” but so far is only confirming the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV, 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV, 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV, 2024 GMC Sierra EV, and both 2024 and 2025 Cadillac Lyriq models.
Participants can also earn additional incentives by opting into “planned backup power events” and staying enrolled through the end of the program. Participating EV owners must also be registered in PG&E’s Emergency Load Reduction Program, and can earn additional incentives by choosing to stop charging their EVs during coordinated times as well.
Cadillac Lyriq and GM Home Energy suite
GM and PG&E will collect data on participants’ charging patterns to “evaluate the potential for bidirectional technology to provide value to customers, support grid resiliency, and help scale bidirectional technology programs in California,” the release said. While the focus is on using EVs to provide home backup power for now, it could help lay the groundwork for using EVs to support the grid.
Ford has offered a bidirectional system for the F-150 Lightning for several years, although it’s focused on home backup and not the grid aspects highlighted with this announcement. The only manufacturer-approved V2G charger enabled now, beyond pilot programs, is the Fermata FE-20 for the Nissan Leaf.Â
