General Motors is now diving further into its residential energy developments with the new "PowerBank" stationary home battery unit, which can power houses like a generator in the event of an outage. This joins the company's home energy subsidiary, GM Energy, which previously introduced at-home solutions for electric vehicle charging, but also offers products that do not involve its EVs.
This new PowerBank features bidirectional charging that users may hook up to their GM electric vehicles to provide their homes with ample energy when needed through its new system bundle.
GM Energy Unveils the 'PowerBank' Home Battery Unit
GM unveiled its latest product from GM Energy called the PowerBank, which serves as a home battery unit, expanding the company's portfolio in terms of clean energy home solutions that store energy from multiple applicable sources. According to GM, this stationary storage unit can store power to and from the grid, but users who have available solar power equipment or are looking to integrate one into it can also do so.
There are two battery variants available from GM Energy, coming in at 10.6 kWh and 17.7 kWh capacities that can deliver energy to homes, depending on what users require for their use. According to GM, two 17.7 kWh PowerBank units can power the average home in the United States for 20 hours, depending on usage.
GM Vice President of GM Energy Wade Sheffer said the product features "modularity," giving it an edge over rivals like the Tesla Powerwall and allows users to integrate it to available technology.
Power Homes Like a Generator, Draw Power From EVs
The new GM Energy PowerBank can power homes like a generator when faced with power outages, drawing from its stored energy stocked during off-peak times from the grid or using the V2H (vehicle-to-home) experience to get energy from EVs.
The company now offers the PowerBank as part of the GM Energy Home System bundle that includes a GM Energy PowerShift charger and GM Energy Vehicle-to-Home Enablement kit, which starts at $12,700.
General Motors' Dive Into Clean Energy
The clean energy and zero emissions goal is something that General Motors set itself when it first ventured into electric vehicles, furthering its development of previous hybrids with fully-electric battery EVs (BEVs). GM rose to prominence with its numerous EV offers under its iconic brands like Chevrolet and Cadillac, previously clinching the second-largest EV manufacturer title in the United States.
However, the company did not stop there as its clean energy and electrification program expanded with its establishment of GM Energy, a division that focuses on at-home solutions that are not exclusive to its EVs. This brand was initially an answer to Tesla Home, a subsidiary of Elon Musk's EV company that offers clean energy for houses, with GM offering charging solutions, solar panels and more.
General Motors may have been controversial for its choice to remove Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from its electric vehicles' infotainment system, but its other focuses bring remarkable experiences to drivers and homeowners. The new GM PowerBank offers a battery that can store energy from solar panels or from the grid, as well as GM EVs, to ensure that power stays on all the time for homes.
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