GM and Pacific Gas and Electric test e-vehicles to power homes

GM and Pacific Gas and Electric test e-vehicles to power homes

NewYork, 3/11/2022.

General Motors and utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) will test the use of charged electric vehicles to power homes during power outages.

The tests could confirm that electric vehicles are a stable backup power source during power outages. These occurred when PG&E intentionally cut power to prevent wildfires from starting in California.

A pilot program will be launched this summer in PG&E’s home state of California.

It will rely on bidirectional charging technology that allows power to flow from the grid to the vehicle and vice versa.

Initially, the program will explore bidirectional hardware and „software-defined communication protocols“ that will coordinate the flow of electricity from a charged electric vehicle into a customer’s home. If successful, the companies plan to expand the tests to a small number of PG&E customers before launching a larger trial by the end of the year.

GM expects to have 1 million e-vehicles installed in North America by 2025.