GM Energy calls for vehicle-to-grid collaboration to cut grid costs by up to $7 billion per year

GM's energy division is pushing utilities, regulators, and automakers to work together on vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, which lets an electric vehicle send power back to the grid through a bidirectional charger, rather than only drawing power from it. GM says 250,000 of its EVs on the road already have this capability, and it plans to include V2G in all future EV models. The company is testing the idea with utilities PG&E in California and DTE Energy in Michigan.

A study done for GM by the consulting firm E3 estimates that V2G-capable EVs could save the U.S. electric grid up to $7 billion a year by 2030, mostly by helping meet peak demand and delaying the need for costly grid upgrades. The savings would be concentrated in the grid regions covering California, Texas, the mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest. E3 projects that if utilities paid EV owners enough to encourage them to participate, an owner could earn between $680 and $2,750 a year per vehicle by 2030 — more than what's typically earned just by charging at off-peak hours, and nearly as much as owning a home battery.

The catch is that these payments mostly don't exist yet. E3's report says current utility programs make it hard for EV owners to get paid for this kind of grid support, and that unlocking the value would require new rules, standardized programs, and easier permitting for installing bidirectional chargers at homes and in parking lots. For now, this is a call for future policy changes, not a program homeowners can sign up for today.