GM’s PowerBank home battery is now available

GM is launching its new PowerBank home battery unit today, which slots right into the company’s lineup of residential energy management products. The battery lets homeowners collect energy at off-peak times from the grid or a solar panel system and then power the home when energy prices peak or when the lights go out without needing to keep an EV hooked up in the garage.

GM’s home energy company, GM Energy, launched in 2022 to compete in a growing home energy market with competitors like Tesla and its Powerwall and newcomers like EcoFlow and Anker. Home backup solutions are expensive, but they’ll also keep the freezer, CPAP machine, and water pumps running as increasingly severe weather wreaks havoc on the grid. Currently, over 3 million American households are without power after the one-two punch of hurricanes Milton and Helene.

For $12,700, you get the full system with the charger, inverter, home hub computer, and the PowerBank. GM makes two PowerBank sizes, 10.6kWh and 17.7kWh, and if you combine two of the larger ones, you get a 35.4kWh stack that GM says can power the average American home for up to 20 hours.

GM’s system includes a bidirectional EV “PowerShift” charger that lets you power your home with certain GM electric vehicles, such as the Chevy Silverado EV.

GM Energy is now operating in all 50 states. Interested customers can connect with specialists on the GM Energy Live page for an “immersive digital experience” and to learn more about the products. GM doesn’t directly handle solar energy solutions but will refer interested customers to its preferred installer, Qmerit, to set that up.