General Motors is exploring vehicle-to-grid(V2G) capabilities in electric vehicles. The automaker partners with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), where both entities will investigate bidirectional charging into the grid. It would improve energy distribution. This goes along with GM going all in to provide EVs to everyone.
Recently, General Motors CEO Mary Barra also stated that she’s confident that the automaker will catch the current leader, Tesla by 2025. Various highly expected electric models were unveiled to fuel the transformation. It includes Chevy Equinox EV, which starts at $30,000. Alongside, there is a new energy unit, GM Energy. It aims to reimagine the energy system by having new products and dedicated home power. The Energy system includes a network of charging stations as well.
According to the automaker, its energy business will give its customers access to various advanced technologies. They are, bidirectional charging, vehicle-to-home(V2H), vehicle-to-grid(V2G), stationary energy storage, and solar energy and microgrid solutions. After revealing its new energy business, GM said it was already testing V2H applications with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). Now GM and SDG&E are taking it a step further by exploring how EVs, chargers, and batteries can help enhance the energy grid with V2G integrations.
V2G applications
Under the agreement, GM and SDG&E will investigate how they can use EVs with bidirectional charging into the electric grid to enhance stability during peak demand. GM and SDG&E will take a holistic approach, studying solutions needed to accelerate vehicle-to-grid adoption. It includes three major solutions. Documenting best V2H practices so that the benefits are apparent to consumers. Creating systems to help utility providers and automakers tap into cloud-based energy management platforms and distributed energy resources (EVs with V2G) to create Virtual Power Plants. Investigating using EVs to assist in microgrid environments, promoting grid resiliency in communities. Microgrids are designed to use the stored energy in batteries as backup during an outage.
As part of the new partnership, GM and SDG&E will look at three vehicle-to-grid integration abilities, including V2H, V2G, and Virtual Power Plants. GM VP of EV growth operations, Travis Hester, talks about the role this technology can plant in the future. Stated, “As GM continues on its journey towards an all-electric future, expanding the capabilities of EVs represents a significant opportunity to help strengthen grid resiliency and mitigate the impact of disruptions.” Both GM and SDG&E have signed the Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which pools resources from the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) and its partners to accelerate and enable bidirectional EV integration into the energy grid.
