General Motors on Wednesday detailed its first bidirectional vehicle-to-home (V2H) charging hardware, allowing EVs to serve as a home backup power source.
The Ultium Home V2H Bundle includes an AC home charger, dubbed the PowerShift Charger, that allows vehicles to discharge power from their battery packs, along with an Enablement Kit that adds an inverter and "dark start" battery. The charger itself is rated for 19.2 kw, but discharge power peaks at 9.6 kw.
GM Ultium Home V2H Bundle
The charger and V2H hardware can be paired with a PowerBank battery energy-storage unit for greater backup power capacity, and use with solar power. GM plans to offer 10.6-kwh and 17.7-kwh options, plus an inverter for solar integration.
GM will refer customers to SunPower, already the automaker's preferred EV charging installer, for installation of Ultium Home V2H hardware. The automaker did not discuss pricing or a timeline for availability, however. It's also unclear which GM models will be compatible with these packages.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV with GM Ultium Home energy system
GM first introduced these forthcoming Ultium Home systems, under a new GM Energy business, last October. At that time it suggested the system might launch with the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV. Ford priced out its system for the rival F-150 Lightning in May 2022, just ahead of first deliveries, and that system potentially costs about $6,000 including installation.
GM has also started to see how its vehicles could do more than provide power to individual homes—by backing up the grid itself—with a California pilot program. Announced in 2022, the program involved residential customers of utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).
