I was invited to a GM Event in San Francisco where GM made 3 big announcements: GM activates Vehicle to Grid (V2G) for existing customers with no new hardware required GM expands grid-scale battery storage with a big bet on sodium-ion GM announces Energy Pass — one universal interface for public charging They also let journalists test drive their electric cars and try out the new IONNA charging station in town. I wrote about this car in a recent article, trying to explain why it doesn’t sell better. Driving Impressions Acceleration was good, but didn’t feel as fast off the line as even the slowest Tesla (the RWD Model Y) that I drive regularly, but certainly faster than 90% of gas cars. It did a great job of effortlessly climbing San Francisco’s famously steep hills. The handling was well controlled, but not crisp like a sportier car. The seating room was fine for a 6 foot 2 driver, but I did find the seats firmer than expected. This one had a sunroof, so the headroom was tight for me in the backseat. The cargo room is okay, but if I have to haul a lot, I would need to fold one or both rear seats. Charging and Range Much Improved I parked at the IONNA charger to add a few miles. I didn’t do a battery preconditioning, which may be why the charge rate was below the max 150 kW rate. It also is better at 10% than it is at 33%. Because the Bolt now has an lithium-ion-phosphate (LFP) battery, it can be charged to 100% everyday, which means its whole 262 mile range is longer than my daily range of my Tesla Model Y, which is charged to 80% (of course, for trips I can charge to 100%). The 150 kW max charge means it charges 10% to 80% in a competitive 26 minutes versus a painfully slow 73 minutes for the old Bolt, almost 3 times faster! Tom gives a full charging test if you want to see the whole charging curve: I took this photo just a few seconds after the other photo and it had already increased from a 61 kW to 67 kW charging rate. I didn’t record any other values. Southeast Considerations The LFP battery pack is considered safer, and in the unlikely event it was submerged in salt water, it would be less likely to catch fire. You still should move your EV of any kind to higher ground if a hurricane is coming. I was surprised that all of GM’s cars support their Vehicle to Home (V2H) and Vehicle to Grid (V2G) capabilities, even their most affordable Bolt! Unfortunately, the present cost of professionally installing the ~$8,000 V2H bundle could be run another $2,000 to $7,000 for a total of around $10,000 to $15,000. That is a fair amount of money, but it includes the Level 2 charger and could set you up to save a significant amount of money by taking advantage of time of use rates, and replaces the need to spend $10,000 to $14,000 on a whole home Generac system. Although, you would want to add a GM stationary battery for about $7,000 to $19,000 more if you want to power your home when your car is running errands. I think most buyers won’t do this unless some utility program would help subsidize the costs. This 2027 Bolt was one of 12 vehicles on display at GM’s Empower event featuring V2G, V2H, sodium-ion grid batteries and Energy Pass. Side view of 2027 Chevy Bolt RS. Conclusion The refreshed Bolt itself reflects this progress. Its dramatically faster charging, everyday-usable 100% LFP range, and native support for V2H/V2G capabilities show that GM is delivering tangible improvements where they matter most to real owners. While the full home backup setup carries a meaningful price tag, the foundation is now in place for utilities, incentives, and falling hardware costs to make vehicle-to-home power far more accessible in the coming years. GM still has work to do on awareness and perceived value, but events like this show the technical pieces are coming together. The combination of faster, more practical EVs and the ability for those same cars to give energy back to homes and the grid points to a future where electric vehicles become not just cleaner transportation, but valuable energy assets. That’s a direction worth watching closely. Disclosure: I am a shareholder in Tesla [TSLA] and XPeng [XPEV]. But I offer no investment advice of any sort here.
+43 others
