GM Reveals Ultium Home Energy Bundles, But Pricing Remains A Mystery
"Ultium" is the name of General Motors' electric vehicle platform that encompasses cars like the GMC Hummer EV, the Cadillac Lyriq, and the upcoming Chevy Silverado EV. Now, it also encompasses a range of home energy products. According to a press release, GM has launched three bundles for Ultium Home: the Ultium Home V2H (vehicle-to-home) Bundle, the Ultium Home Energy System, and the Ultium Home Energy Storage Bundle.
The vehicle-to-home centric offering gives you the PowerShift Charger, which enables bidirectional charging with any "compatible" GM EV. That system works through the enablement kit, which includes an inverter, and a means to connect your home to the system itself, plus a way to safely disconnect your house from the power grid should the need arise.
The next bundle includes everything from the previous bundle, but adds a stationary power bank that can store energy, much like Tesla's existing Power Wall. GM's power bank comes in 10.6 kWh and 17.7 kWh capacities.
Ultium for your house
The last bundle forgoes the vehicle-to-home charging capabilities of the previous offerings and just includes the home hub, inverter, and power bank. It is more suited for customers who either don't own an EV, or their vehicle does not offer home charging features. GM's announced Ultium home energy products are part of "GM Energy," the new subsidiary of General Motors started back in October of last year — aimed squarely at Tesla's lineup of similar energy products.
In addition to the battery and charging products, GM has teamed up with solar energy company Sun Power to help not only install the hardware, but provide compatibility with solar panels as well.
A choice of home energy products from different companies are all well and good, but here's the issue: GM has not announced a pricing structure for these power products. If backing off reliance of the electrical grid ends up being really pricey, then adoption rates might be low to start for GM, at least until a cheaper option comes along.