General Motors is releasing a software update that allows some U.S. electric-vehicle owners to pipe power back to the electric grid. The update gives owners of GM’s vehicle-to-home energy system the expanded capability of feeding electricity to the power grid.
Vehicle-to-Grid Access
Vehicle-to-home system owners would be able to sell power back to the utility at times of high demand, with GM getting a cut of those payments. A GM spokesperson said it has thousands of vehicle-to-home users, but declined to provide a specific figure.
GM will need utility cooperation for the vehicle-to-grid access to work. Commercial rollout of the technology will likely happen in the next few months, starting with California and Texas. In Michigan, GM is partnering with utility DTE Energy on a vehicle-to-grid pilot with 30 GM employees.
Utilities have approached the vehicle-to-grid idea cautiously because of the investment needed, the uncertainty of the technology and the number of users. Automakers, including GM’s crosstown rival Ford Motor, have been following Tesla’s lead by trying to build energy businesses.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
