General Motors To Prop Up California's Fragile Power Grid With EV Trucks

California has had more than its fair share of power problems over the years; perhaps most notably, blackouts caused by wildfires started by local utility provider Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). There's plenty of appetite in the state for solutions to help keep homes powered when things go awry. As reported by Engadget, a new pilot program in California is exploring the use of GM vehicles as roving backup batteries that can supply homes with power and support the electrical grid. 

GM CEO Mary Barra announced the pilot program on Tuesday, which relies on bidirectional charging technology used in GM vehicles. This allows the grid to charge an electric vehicle, while also allowing the vehicle to feed energy back into the grid, often referred to as vehicle-to-grid or "V2G" technology. The company is including this technology in cars using its Ultium electric vehicle platform, and hopes to sell more than a million such equipped vehicles by 2025.

Read Article