Home solar, home storage and use via V2H, and V2G for grid load balance is the “Ultium” goal. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Oct. 11, 2022 GM introduced its Ultium Home and Ultium Commercial systems that will create an all-around energy management system under a new business unit called GM Energy. GM Energy is designed to offer energy management for home, commercial and EV customers, with solutions ranging 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. 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, unlocking even more potential value for customers and increasing resiliency for the electrical grid. Customers will be able to simply manage their energy consumption through GM’s energy software applications. GM has already enrolled EV customers in managed charging programs through the Energy Services Cloud, with multiple utilities across four U.S. states and growing. Several large-scale companies across the U.S. have agreed to work with GM Energy to provide energy solutions including SunPower, one of the nation’s leading solar providers. The two companies will develop and offer customers a home energy system which will consist of integrated EV and battery solutions, solar panels and home energy storage. A primary feature of the home energy system is for owners GM EVs to deliver power to their homes, designed to give them the ability to power their home’s necessities in a blackout or draw from stored energy during peak rate times. SunPower will also install the home energy system(s) while offering their Solar system to their home. The home energy system will be available with the retail launch of the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV, expected to begin production in the fall 2023. Another initiative includes a V2H between GM Energy and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). The plan includes residential customers to use their compatible EVs and bi-directional charger, as backup power for essential home needs during short-term power outages. After initial lab tests, the two companies anticipate expanding the V2H offer to a subset of residential customers within PG&E’s service area, expected to begin in 2023. GM Energy is working with other companies including Con Edison, Graniterock and New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC). As part of GM Energy, Ultium Charge 360 will continue to expand its existing portfolio of integrated public charging networks, integrated mobile apps, and additional product and service offerings over time.
Now that we know the Chevy Bolt (for 2025?) will have an Ultium battery, I am concerned. One blurb I read, said the Ultium Chevy Bolt EV will be more powerful. Will that mean the electric motor might be bigger & the Bolt may be longer? As I've said, one reason I want the Bolt EV is that currently, it qualifies for the Washington state Ferry Service "short vehicle discount". If the new Bolt gets longer & no longer qualifies for the discount, I could lose $1000 in discounts(more?). The 2025 new Bolt EV could be as long as the current Chevy Bolt EUV, which doesn't qualify for the discounts.
Hi Litesong, GM has issued very little about the next gen Bolt announced in July with the following release. There is simply not much more to hang your hat on. Wayne
Some new info.. https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/10/next-generation-chevy-bolt-ev-to-use-lfp-battery-cells/amp/ update: and another.. https://insideevs.com/news/692994/even-better-next-gen-chevy-bolt-get-cheaper-lfp-battery/
I have a feeling PHEVs will go strong for quite a long time. The old "reasoning" of PHEVs as transitional vehicles is being said again, but by diehard ICE users/journalists. The PHEVs are just much better than the original ones with longer EV ranges and total power. The latter gets a lot of attention and may satisfy those with range anxiety. I hope the Tesla and other fast charging networks build out will be fast enough to keep delayed transition to EVs from happening. Battery material constraints still exist, and PHEVs are less demanding of those resources so may help in the interim. I still hope widespread access to L2 and fast chargers will happen more quickly. And the any day now solid state batteries, too.
I do want a car thar can go 350 miles before refueling. If Honda or Toyota can make an Accord or Camry PHEV, I'd strongly consider buying one. Even 40 miles of range is fine.
With improved public awareness of plug in capabilities and their actual needs, I expect PHEV/REx with an EV range of around 100 to 150 miles to become a popular choice in the US future.
What? You didn't like the Honda Clarity PHEV? 47 miles EV range, and alleged 340 miles on a full charge and tank. YOU could go farther. Edit: I assume the latest Prius Prime is too small or not to your liking. You want a BIG sedan.
Thank you Wayne & Bill for this excellent thread with website directions to great discussions! More talk of Hybrids? I can't use Hybrids & need a longer range BEV before charging. As stated previously tho, I don't need to travel 250 to 300 miles before charging, but only about 100(maybe 120) miles. But that 100 or 120 mile travel, HAS to come from the 30%(maybe 25%) to 70%(maybe 75%) "middle" of the battery pack. So, I DO need a 250+ mile battery pack, of which I only plan to use 120 miles of the pack..... to gain the ultimate 300,000+ mile lifetime range of the battery pack. Also, I am a firm believer that some of the EV battery pack fires (in many brands?) were caused by drivers who over-stressed their batteries till they caught fire. I know, I know....many of the drivers, post-fires, said they used the batteries with kid-gloves. Altho I will use the best battery stress-reducing technics, I do plan to ascend to mountain passes. I'll travel at times of least traffic, with as much empty road behind me as possible(so I can drive slow) & will pull off the highways to let go-go traffic pass me. My aim is NOT to get somewhere. My aim is to enjoy all the places where my EV will take me (slowly), whether that be the grandest mountain, canyon or desert views, but even excellent places to walk & look, while the battery is charging (always at a slow L2 rate).
I did kinda like the Honda Clarity. But I'm not sure how many of them actually made it to the Midwest. Ultimately , the Insight seemed to be a better car. I still haven't ruled out getting a two year old Insight.
I wanted the entry-level GM Ultium car, but the Equinox EV is too late in coming and with the latest happenings at GM, I'm not sure it'll come any time soon or at the originally proposed ~$30k cost. I've given up on GM. Motor Trend SUVOTY Blazer EV. Looks nice. I hope it sells well for Chevrolet, though it'll probably just sell to the sport and entry luxury market. And is this another one that loses money for each one they sell? I guess GM isn't committed to the high-volume == lower-cost mantra.
I find most reports of losing money on sales are dishonest accounting. It front loads all the R&D costs, including that which can apply to other models, onto the first year or two of production. That's how it was claimed the Volt cost GM $80k. Using that formula meant Toyota was losing money on the Prius up to the middle of the gen2's run or even the gen3.
re: accounting - I think I'm more interested in seeing the material costs vs. the MSRP, akin to what tear-downs might show... Is there something that shows GM's production costs aren't that bad? (edit: Thanks! )
Yeah. A lot of that reporting, comes from rich management & owners, who can whine how poor they are, giving reasons why worker-bees only make a quarter of one percent of the top henchmen. Such outrageous stealings by the elites, only occurs because they can curtain-off their wealth in this complex plan or those sneaky hidings. Stock options used to be the thing, until hedge funds unleashed even greater, unearned snaggings of the wealth trains. They advertised Martha Stewart going to jail, but the richest shang-highers of wealth, never got highlighted.....until they were dead, & even then....NOT!
I only actual numbers I've were from 2017. The production costs were estimated around $2000 under MSRP. Which is very tight, and maybe GM loses money once the car is shipped to the dealer. But those aren't GM's actual numbers.
