General Motors has announced the introduction of new Ultium Home and Ultium Commercial businesses, which will be combined with the existing Ultium Charge 360 unit into a new subsidiary called GM Energy.
The new business unit is said to house a holistic ecosystem of energy management products and services designed to offer cohesive energy management for home, commercial and EV customers.
GM Energy solutions range from bi-directional charging, vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications, to stationary storage, solar products, software applications, cloud management tools, microgrid solutions, hydrogen fuel cells and more.
General Motors says this marks an expansion of the company's business opportunities to include energy management services and drive growth beyond the core vehicle portfolio. Described as a new energy ecosystem, GM Energy will give customers control of their energy needs and help mitigate the effects of power outages, according to the automaker.
GM Energy's services will also enable the sale of energy from EV and stationary storage batteries back to utilities during peak, high energy consumption periods. This will have a double benefit: it will unlock even more potential value for customers and increase resiliency for the electrical grid.
Gallery: GM Energy
"The reliability of the U.S. electrical power grid has never been more important. GM Energy has the opportunity to help deliver sustainable energy products and services that can help mitigate the effect of power outages and provide customers with resilient and cost-effective energy management."
Travis Hester, vice president of GM EV Growth Operations
Through GM's Energy Services Cloud, which will house data and energy management tools and act as a central interface for GM Energy's solutions, customers will be able to manage their energy consumption and connect seamlessly with residential, fleet and commercial energy assets.
GM has already enrolled EV customers in managed charging programs through the Energy Services Cloud, with multiple utilities participating across four US states and growing. The automaker says that several large-scale companies across the US have already agreed to work with GM Energy to provide energy solutions to customers and receive product or service offerings.
Among them is SunPower, one of the nation's leading solar technology and energy services providers. The two companies will develop and offer customers a home energy system consisting of integrated EV and battery solutions, solar panels and home energy storage. The home energy system will be available alongside the retail launch of the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV, expected to enter production in fall 2023.
Another GM Energy collaboration is with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for a V2H pilot project. After initial lab tests, the companies expect to expand the V2H offer to a subset of customers within PG&E's service area, expected to begin in 2023. GM Energy will also work with Con Edison, Graniterock and New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) to help deliver energy solutions to customers.
