Bidirectional EVs are here. Let’s invest in them together.

To America's utility executives and energy policymakers:

Every evening, a quiet transformation occurs across the American landscape. Electric vehicles are steered into driveways, plugged into home chargers, and left dormant until morning. Inside these vehicles is a massive opportunity to aggregate energy storage capacity.

The electrical grid is facing unprecedented pressures, from historic heat waves and erratic weather patterns to the surging demands of AI datacenters. When the grid is pushed to its limits, it directly impacts the daily lives and safety of the people who rely on it. It's also an incredibly stressful time for grid operators, and we recognize the immense constraints that they are working against to keep the power on. We're here to help.

EVs with their sophisticated batteries sit largely untapped. GM wants to work collaboratively to make them the dynamic infrastructure assets we know they can be.

The technology to bridge this gap - vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability, built upon standardized communication frameworks - is becoming increasingly accessible. In the vehicle-to-grid technology report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), V2G was identified for its potential to help limit future grid investment by offering the largest hourly energy flexibility of evaluated technologies. GM alone has more than 250,000 bidirectional capable vehicles on American roads today, and IEA projects in its Stated Policy Scenario that 250 million EVs will be on roads globally by 2030. Imagine if those could all be connected to grids.

We've committed to the technology for all planned EVs going forward, growing the population of compatible vehicles in the coming years. Together, they form a potential massive national energy storage asset. Those quarter-million V2G-capable GM EVs on the road today have the energy capacity to help power 120,000 homes for up to one week¹.

To turn this vision into reality, we need a unified, forward-looking commitment from all stakeholders, including automakers. We need a public-private collaboration to leverage these cars as a distributed energy resource. This isn't a challenge anyone can solve alone, but it is one we can absolutely conquer together.

GM is already actively testing this vehicle-grid integration technology. In collaboration with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), we project that by 2030, over 52,000 GM EVs will be systematically participating in grid-balancing protocols. And in Michigan, we are testing with DTE Energy, using GM employee homes, to grow reliable backup capacity together in a way that's built to the preferences of real home and EV owners. This is a win for customers, automakers, and utilities.

Maintaining a safe, reliable, and affordable grid is paramount. This transition won't be easy, and we deeply respect the challenge of balancing day-to-day grid reliability with rapid innovation. Implementing new functionalities, from interconnection processes to safety protocols to rate design, isn't something that can be done overnight. But, we see three collaborative frontiers where utility leaders, regulators, and automakers can simplify the path forward:

1. Customer enrollment in utility programs and rates

GM and industry partners can work together to better educate customers on EV grid support and the value created by utility programs and rates. Building on lessons from early regional pilots, we can streamline the enrollment experience, increase program participation, strengthen grid reliability, and help deliver savings for all utility customers. Programs for managed charging and time of use also serve as an important step to getting customers engaged early.

2. Incentives through modernized tariffs and rate structures

Consumers will be more motivated when given clear, appropriate incentives. Together, we can expand localized, time-of-use tariffs, allowing EV owners to charge cost-effectively during energy surpluses and receive appropriate compensation when supporting the grid during peak strain or in times of need. This creates a rare economic alignment: a car becomes an asset that offsets its own operating costs while actively delivering benefits to the public system.

3. Path to participation

Streamlining paperwork, engineering reviews, and utility interconnection processes builds consumer confidence that their purchase and installation of a bidirectional charger is easy. Simplifying these processes into a more frictionless, automated step ensures that a consumer can buy a bidirectional charger, plug it in, and immediately begin participating in the local energy marketplace.

It's time for us to look at parking lots and driveways across our communities as a massive, distributed power asset waiting to be integrated. By working together, we can help secure an affordable, reliable, and resilient energy future for everyone. This letter is an active operational invitation for collaboration. Utilities have a historic opportunity to utilize a ready asset to support their infrastructure. We believe GM is ready to deploy that asset to American driveways at a scale no other manufacturer can match.

The technology is already parked outside. Let's turn it on together.

Sincerely,

Wade Sheffer, vice president, GM Energy
General Motors

¹Illustrative, theoretical estimate based on the total rated battery capacity of approximately 280,000 GM EVs with available V2H-capability, used with a GM Energy system, and average U.S. household electricity use of 28.8 kWh per day. The household energy usage assumption is based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) regarding average residential electricity consumption. The San Francisco comparison uses 421,342 housing units in San Francisco County (NREL, 2021). Vehicle-to-home functionality requires a V2H-capable GM EV, a properly equipped home, and proper grid interconnection. Weather conditions, battery life, vehicle variation, usage, and other external factors may impact capability and duration of power supply, and power supply may be interrupted. Not recommended for medical devices.