General Motors intends to enter the market under the name GM Energy with a range of new energy products. The products are intended to support the company’s electric vehicles and compete with Tesla’s products. Tesla’s energy division had sales of $866 million in the second quarter of 2022.
GM also wants a piece of this cake. GM Chief EV Officer Tavis Hester estimates the market for power generation and storage products at a potential $120 billion to $150 billion, according to The Verge. To participate in this market, GM wants to sell batteries, chargers, solar panels, and software.
Electric car customers are potential energy customers
In Hester’s eyes, customers of GM’s electric cars are also potential customers of its energy products. General Motors currently has four EVs on the market, including the Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq. The goal is to sell one million electric cars by 2025.
So the idea is to deliver the car directly with the right charging infrastructure. For example, GM could supply solar cells, storage for the home, and the wall box with the e-car if the customer so wishes.
From the car to the internet
Additionally, GM wants to use electric cars to stabilize the power grid by selling vehicle-to-grid equipment. This allows customers to feed the energy from the car battery back into the grid. In this way, e-car drivers could sell electricity when it is needed to stabilize the grid.
Hester notes that the Chevy Silverado’s 200kWh battery can power an average home for 21 days. If the general consumption in the power grid falls and with it the prices, the e-car owners can then fully charge the car again.
To get solar cells to customers, GM Energy is working with San Jose-based SunPower. These provide customers with panels and batteries, while GM develops the appropriate software.
GM would like to produce the batteries itself, but it will probably take some time before the production facilities are ready for use. The company has not given a specific date for the start of sales. The vehicle-to-grid products are scheduled to be tested in California in early 2023. Solar products will probably not appear before 2024.
