General Motors has joined Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) residential vehicle-to-everything pilot programme, paving the way to turn electric vehicles into home energy assets.

It will provide eligible customers in northern and central California with incentivised pricing for qualifying GM Energy home energy products.

GM Energy is working with utilities such as PG&E to leverage GM’s bidirectional EV charging technology, which allows compatible EVs to supply power back to homes during outages and, in the future, support the grid by helping balance energy demand, with the goal of ultimately helping improve overall grid resiliency.

Customers enrolled in PG&E’s residential vehicle-to-everything pilot programme (www.pge.com/en/clean-energy/electric-vehicles/getting-started-with-electric-vehicles/vehicle-to-everything-v2x-pilot-programs.html) can receive up to $4500 in incentives off the price of qualifying GM Energy home products that enable bidirectional charging, such as its V2H Bundle or Home System. They may also be eligible for additional incentives by participating in planned backup power events and by maintaining enrolment until the end of the pilot programme.

“For northern California customers looking to take more control of their home energy, this programme with PG&E represents a great opportunity,” said GM Energy vice president Wade Sheffer. “For utilities, legislators, customers and others, this pilot is an opportunity to see the full value of our V2H technology beyond just providing power to a home during power outages. This can be a tool that helps overall grid resiliency and showcases the unique advantages of EVs while, in the future, may even reduce the overall total cost of EV ownership.”

Charging data from the programme should help PG&E and GM Energy evaluate the potential for bidirectional technology to provide value to customers and support grid resiliency, helping scale bidirectional technology programmes in California.

“PG&E is leading the way to enable vehicle-grid-integration technology creating a path for EVs to power customer homes, ultimately benefiting all Californians,” said Mike Delaney, vice president at PG&E. “We are proud to continue leading this electric renaissance as we collaborate with automakers and some of the world’s top innovators to pioneer bidirectional charging technology where EVs have the potential to offer greater reliability, resiliency and cost savings.”

GM (gm.com) EVs eligible for the programme at the time of launch include the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado, 2024 Chevrolet Equinox, 2024 Chevrolet Blazer, 2024 Cadillac Lyriq, 2024 GMC Sierra and 2025 Cadillac Lyriq. GM anticipates adding all model year 2025 EVs to the pilot programme soon.

To learn more about the pilot programme or how to enrol, visit gmenergy.gm.com/energy/systems/portal.

PG&E (pge.com) is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than sixteen million people across northern and central California.