General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) is joining the energy storage party, following the likes of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), with a new battery chemistry, Vehicle-to-Grid power, as well as datacenter applications amid rising energy demands.

GM Touts Vehicle-To-Grid Tech

GM, in a series of articles released on Tuesday, said that it already has more than 250,000 GM EVs on the road that can support bidirectional charging, which the automaker sees as a building block for vehicle-to-grid programs.

The company said pairing those vehicles with its home energy products can help supply a residence for multiple days during localized outages, subject to various limitations.

GM also said it is working to make bidirectional functionality a default feature across its lineup, pointing to models ranging from the Chevrolet Equinox EV to the Cadillac Escalade IQ.

The automaker added that it was conducting testing with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (NYSE:PCG), saying that over 52,000 EVs would be participating in grid-balancing programs by 2030.

Sodium-Ion Batteries, Datacenter Applications?

On the grid-storage side, GM said it is expanding beyond vehicles into larger energy storage systems and is developing sodium-ion battery chemistry, touting better thermal management and more charge cycles.

The efforts stationary applications where long life and cost matter more than weight. The company also pointed to battery reuse and recycling as part of its strategy, including a partnership with Redwood Materials focused on building a circular battery supply chain.

GM said its repurposed battery systems are also seeing applications in energy company Crusoe's AI data center in Sparks, Nevada.

Redwood plans to place about 100 repurposed battery packs at a GM plant in Michigan, sized at 1.5 MW/6 MWh, and GM expects the setup to cut the site's electricity costs by more than $3 million over the project's life.

GM’s EV Pullback

The company had earlier announced it was scaling back on EV efforts. The automaker suspended the development of the next-generation Chevrolet Silverado EV Pickup truck.

The company had, last year, recorded a $6 billion charge related to EVs on top of the earlier reported $1.6 billion charge it took to scale its EV efforts.

Notably, GM landed a key NASA contract, with the automaker’s defense set to supply battery-electric propulsion for a new lunar terrain vehicle as the agency’s Moonbase goals take shape.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by a Benzinga editor.

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