The grid in your garage: How GM’s bidirectional charging actually works – AutoMart Canada

Most electric vehicles only take power from the wall to charge their batteries. GM’s electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Equinox EV, GMC Sierra EV, and Cadillac LYRIQ are built with bidirectional capability, meaning electricity can also flow out of the car. This capability allows for two features: Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G).

Vehicle-to-Home (V2H)

V2H¹ can turn your compatible GM EV into a home backup generator. If a storm knocks out your power, the car sends electricity back into your properly equipped house to help run your refrigerator, lights, and air conditioning.

To use this, you need a V2H-capable GM EV and the GM Energy V2H system, which includes a bidirectional charger and an enablement kit. This helps allow the car to safely run your home appliances without sending electricity back down the public power lines where utility crews are working.

Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G)

V2G connects your compatible GM EV to the local power grid through participating utility programs, where available, and allows your vehicle to send energy back to the grid during normal operations, which can potentially save you money and support the local infrastructure.

Electrical grids can face heavy strain during heat waves or winter storms due to an increase in demand. To meet that demand, some utilities run expensive, high-emission backup plants. V2G potentially allows thousands of parked and plugged-in EVs to feed small amounts of power back into the grid, which can help meet local electricity demand without firing up those extra plants².

This can help EV owners lower electricity bills by using less grid power during expensive peak hours, especially in places with time-of-use rates like California². In some areas, participating utilities may also pay customers to send power from their compatible EV back to the grid when demand is high. That option is still limited today, but it’s expected to expand with time.

For utilities, EVs parked in driveways and lots represent a large source of stored energy. V2G can turn that battery capacity into a grid resource that helps reduce peak strain, supports reliability, and could limit the need for costly upgrades or new power plants.

Why Does This Matter Right Now?

The grid is under growing pressure. Extreme weather, rising demand from data centers, and broader electrification are all making reliability more challenging. V2G offers a flexible, distributed way to help ease that strain while also helping to keep power available at a properly equipped home during an outage. And the EV hardware may already be sitting in garages and driveways.

For EV drivers, V2G can add value to a vehicle they already own. For utilities and communities, it can support reliability and resilience. And more broadly, it can help make energy use more efficient.

The Bottom Line

V2G helps unlock more of what an EV can do, and may reduce total cost of ownership for a vehicle that already doesn’t need oil changes or gas stations. It is not just a way to get from place to place. It can also provide backup power at home and, in some cases, support the grid when demand is highest.

_{¹The GM Energy PowerShift Charger and GM Energy V2H Enablement Kit requires an adequately charged V2H-capable GM EV, a properly equipped home, and proper grid interconnection. Weather conditions, life of the battery, vehicle variation and usage, and other external factors may impact the capability and duration of power supply. Power supply may be interrupted. It is not recommended that the following devices be powered with the GM Energy PowerShift Charger and V2H Enablement Kit: Medical Devices.}

_{²Potential savings are not guaranteed and will vary based on utility tariff, time-of-use rate eligibility, electricity usage, charging and discharge behavior, vehicle state of charge, equipment configuration, and other factors. Requires a compatible GM EV, active OnStar services where applicable, GM Energy bidirectionally capable products, a properly equipped home, and utility program availability.}