March 8, 2022 – General Motors is teaming up with PG&E, one of the nation’s largest utilities, to see if battery-electric vehicles can help address the increasing strain on the country’s electric grid.
A growing number of new battery-electric vehicles are being equipped with “bidirectional charging.” Also known as “vehicle-to-load,” or “V2L,” it allows an electric vehicle to reverse the flow of current, using its current to power lights, appliances, even a whole home. Eventually, energy could be fed back into the grid itself, supplementing traditional energy sources.
With the typical California home using 20 kilowatts of energy per day, a vehicle like the Chevrolet Bolt EV, with a battery pack of about 60 kilowatt-hours, could keep the lights on for up to three days, noted Rick Spina, GM vice president of Electric Vehicle Commercialization.
