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I’m not kidding when I tell you that GM is going all-in on the Ultium with the battery technology behind the company’s electrification efforts, not to mention an entire generation of Chevy and GMC EVs. On Tuesday, the automaker announced it’s expanding its portfolio into energy management services — think large stationary batteries to store rooftop solar power at home or business — through its new spinoff business GM Energy.
The new venture will consist of three smaller companies: Ultium Home, Ultium Commercial and Ultium Charge 360, which will “provide solutions for bi-directional charging, vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications, for stationary storage, solar products, software applications, cloud management tools, microgrid solutions, hydrogen fuel cells and more,” GM announced Tuesday.
The new company will work in partnership with a number of established organizations and utilities in the energy industry. For example, GM is working with SunPower on an integrated home energy storage system that integrates an electric vehicle with solar panels and battery banks to enable simple vehicle-to-home (V2H) power transfers. GM plans to make that home energy system available for sale next fall, 2023, alongside the release of the EV Silvado.
Additionally, GM Energy is partnering with California Pacific Gas and Electric Utility for another V2H pilot program that lets you run household appliances off your EV battery. Eventually, the company plans to add V2G (vehicle-to-grid) capabilities, which would allow you to sell excess power produced by solar panels to your local utility.
For businesses, Ultium Commercial can help ease the transition to electric fleets. “They’re looking to electrify their fleets of vehicles, but they don’t know how to set up the charging infrastructure, how to manage their energy,” said many existing GM customers. During last week’s press conference, the ban was addressed by GM. “And we come in not only as a hardware and software provider, but also as a strategic advisor to these business customers.”
Travis Hester, vice president of GM EV development operations, added: “There are more energy failures in the US than any other country in the industrialized world. “Last year in California alone, there were 25,000 accidents, over $15 billion in lost business in California alone. So when you look at the numbers, there’s demand — and we’re clearly seeing it from business customers. We’re reaching out and asking for help to address some of these problems.”
GM is transferring its public charging station network Ultium Charge 360 to GM Energy. The Charge 360 launches in Washington, Florida and California in 2021. GM has partnered with Blink Charging, ChargePoint, EV Connect, EVgo, FLO, Greenlots and SemaConnect to provide a shared 60,000-plug network of 350 kW Level 3 DC fast chargers and “more seamless access” to drivers. The automaker built on that network last July, announcing the expansion of a 500-station “coast-to-coast” partnership with EVGO. In total, GM hopes to have 2,700 such EV fast charging stations across the US and Canada by 2025 under the Ultium Charge 360 banner.
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