In a move that places it in even greater competition with Tesla Inc., General Motors Company (GM stock) is expanding beyond the production of automobiles, with plans to offer energy storage and management services to residential and commercial customers through its new GM Energy unit. These services will be offered in the coming years (TSLA stock).
According to a statement released by the company on Tuesday, GM Energy plans to combine its existing Ultium Charge 360 public charging service with two new units known as Ultium Home and Ultium Commercial. These new units will provide stationary storage batteries, solar panels, hydrogen fuel cells, and other services.
General Motors Company (GM Stock) On Getting Into Full Eco of Energy Management
An executive from GM (NYSE:GM) named Travis Hester stated in an interview that the company is “getting into the full ecosystem of energy management.”
“Our competition in this sector on the (carmaker) side is essentially only Tesla, which is a powerful energy management firm,” noted Hester, who heads up EV Growth Operations. Tesla is the only company that competes with us on the automaker side. “There are several parallels that can be drawn with Tesla,” the author writes.
Last year, Tesla’s energy generation and storage division, which has been in operation for seven years and comprises solar panels and stationary batteries, generated sales of $2.8 billion but lost $129 million.
According to Hester, GM estimates that the entire addressable energy storage and management market may be anywhere from 120 to 150 billion dollars. He chose not to give any projections on GM Energy’s future revenues.
The Ultium Home service will provide fixed wall boxes that are analogous to Tesla’s Powerwall units. Sales and installation are slated to begin in late 2023, which is planned to coincide with the introduction of the first Chevrolet Silverado EV trucks aimed at private consumers.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV will have bi-directional capabilities, similar to what Ford Motor Company (FN) does with its F-150 Lightning. This means that it will be able to send electricity back into the home in the event that there is a disruption in the power supply.
Through bigger permanent storage units as well as microgrids coupled to hydrogen fuel cells produced by the carmaker, GM’s commercial service will give a comparable capacity to companies. This will be accomplished through a combination of both. During times of high electricity demand, businesses can turn around and sell excess energy to the relevant utilities.
Customers will have access to solar panels through a partnership between GM and SunPower Corp (SPWR.O), which will increase their ability to generate electricity.
Hester acknowledged that “this is a new arena for us.” “Our primary areas of expertise include cell chemistry and production on a large scale, as well as automobiles and batteries. When you combine that with our extensive knowledge of fuel cells, our extensive dealer network, and the work we have been doing with OnStar and connectivity, it becomes clear that this is the next logical step for us to take.”
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Author Valerie Remorosa