General Motors announced that it is moving on to more than just making cars and plans to offer its own solar power and storage system starting late next year.
Key Details
- General Motors (GM) announced that it is introducing a new business model called GM Energy that will compete with Tesla and other solar manufacturers.
- GM Energy is working with solar company SunPower Corp. to create solar panels and energy storage for both residential and commercial use.
- The new venture is similar to Tesla’s energy business, in which panels built by the automaker charge a battery that supplies homes with electricity at night or during blackouts, according to Bloomberg writer David Welch.
Why it’s important
The future is electric, whether it be cars or solar panels both people and businesses are trying to get into the clean energy movement.
By providing the solar panels and energy storage for both residential and commercial use, GM is giving people exactly what they want.
The home-energy system is set to begin rolling out late next year along with GM’s electric Chevrolet Silverado.
The U.S. power grid is known to suffer from blackouts from time to time, but GM is working to allow customers to use the power from their EV during a blackout.
“The reliability of the U.S. electrical power grid has never been more important,” says vice president of GM EV growth operations Travis Hester.
Some U.S. regions have been more suffering from an increase in power blackouts so it is no surprise that more companies are coming forward with power solutions, and will continue to do so.
“We’re going to see major automakers all going down this path,” says Guidehouse Insights research analyst, Sam Abuelsamid. “There may not be enough power in some parts of the country, so people may be more interested in solar. The bigger part of this will be the commercial side with fleet customers.”