Your EV Can Work as a Home Battery

Your EV's battery can do more than power your drive. With a compatible vehicle and system, it can store your solar for the evening and back up selected circuits in an outage. Through eligible utility programs, it can also earn you money for sharing energy with the grid, depending on your utility, state, vehicle and equipment.

An isometric model of a home energy system on a white base: a house with solar panels on its roof, an Emporia Pro charger mounted on the garage wall, an electric car parked nose-first at the garage and plugged in, and a utility transmission tower
By day, solar charges the car After sunset, the car runs the home

Choose a scenario to see how it works.

Store the Energy You Generate

During the day, your panels can charge a compatible EV. After sunset, the car covers your home's load without exporting to the grid.

Read the V2H guide

Backup for the Essentials

When utility power is out, your EV can supply selected home circuits, within limits set by battery energy, system output and which circuits are connected.

Read the V2H guide

Energy the Grid Can Call On

Participating vehicle-to-grid programs coordinate energy from eligible EVs to help meet grid needs, and some pay you for it. Your utility, state, vehicle and equipment determine whether, and how, you can take part.

Each use has its own requirements, and grid programs vary by utility, state, vehicle and equipment.

Read the V2G guide

Store the Energy You Generate

Electric car charging in a suburban driveway with rooftop solar panels in the midday sun

A compatible EV parked at home can soak up the solar your panels make during the day, then run your home through the evening while sending none of that energy back to the grid.

The same setup lets you charge your EV at one time and use that stored energy at home later. The value of that flexibility depends on your driving needs, what your system supports and your electricity rate plan.

Read the V2H guide

Backup During an Outage

At night, a home lit warmly during a neighborhood power outage, with its electric car plugged into a wall charger

With a system designed for outage backup, your EV can supply selected home circuits when utility power is unavailable. What it powers, and for how long, depends on the equipment, available battery energy and household demand. Battery energy, measured in kilowatt-hours, shapes how long backup can last, and system output, measured in kilowatts, sets how much can run at once. Your starting charge and the energy you keep for driving change the result too.

Read the V2H guide

Get Paid for Sharing with the Grid

At dusk, a home with its electric car plugged in, with a utility pole and power lines along the street

Participating vehicle-to-grid programs coordinate energy from eligible EVs to help meet grid needs. Through eligible utility programs, sharing that energy can pay you. Your utility, state, vehicle and equipment determine whether, and how, you can take part.

Examples running today: PG&E's V2X program in California offers upfront and performance incentives, with enrollment open through June 30, 2027. Tesla's Powershare Grid Support pays Cybertruck owners in Texas and parts of California for energy shared during grid events. In Massachusetts, Eversource and National Grid are opening their ConnectedSolutions demand response program to bidirectional EVs. Each program sets its own eligibility, amounts and rules, and the details above are as each operator published them in October 2026.

Read the V2G guide

The Difference Between AC and DC Bidirectional EV Chargers

The key difference is where battery power becomes electricity your home can use. An EV battery supplies direct current, or DC. Homes use alternating current, or AC. Bidirectional systems handle that conversion either inside or outside the vehicle.

AC bidirectional charger DC bidirectional charger
How it works The vehicle converts battery power to AC before sending it out. The vehicle must support that function, and the connected equipment must support the intended home or grid use. The vehicle sends DC power to external equipment, where it is converted to AC. This requires a vehicle that supports DC export and equipment designed to work with it.
What it costs, and why The vehicle does the converting, so the wall equipment stays simpler. Tesla's Powershare home backup hardware lists at $1,970. The inverter lives in the wall equipment, which raises the price. GM's vehicle-to-home bundle lists at $8,998 and Wallbox's Quasar 2 at $6,489, all before installation.
Which vehicles A small set today: Tesla's Cybertruck, plus Model 3 and Model Y ordered October 1, 2026 or later, which Tesla says are Powershare-capable. Ford says its 2027 Fathom will convert inside the vehicle too. Most systems shipping today: the Ford F-150 Lightning (2022 to 2025), GM's Ultium EVs, the Kia EV9 with the Wallbox Quasar 2, the Nissan Leaf over CHAdeMO, and the Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 with the dcbel Ara.
When Available now from Tesla. Ford says the Fathom arrives in 2027; that date is Ford's, not a promise of what is for sale today. Available now for the pairings above. Kia says the EV6 and the 2026 EV9 follow in late 2026, and GM lists the 2027 Bolt as eligible.

List prices are each maker's published price as of October 2026, before installation. Some systems, like Sunrun's Home Integration System and the dcbel Ara, are quoted per installation instead.

That design choice affects which vehicles and equipment can work together. Compatibility also depends on communication, home integration and support for the use you intend.

State of the Technology

Some vehicle and equipment combinations are available today, but support varies by model, system, function and location.

Pairings available today include the Ford F-150 Lightning (2022 to 2025) with Ford's and Sunrun's home equipment, GM's Ultium EVs with the GM Energy bundle, the Kia EV9 with the Wallbox Quasar 2, the Nissan Leaf over CHAdeMO, the Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 with the dcbel Ara, and Tesla's Cybertruck through Powershare.

PG&E, whose California program covers most of these pairings, calls the Cybertruck the first AC vehicle-to-grid setup approved for its customers.

A car that can power devices may not support home backup, and a home backup system may not qualify for grid export.

The standards for two-way charging exist.

What lags is adoption: most vehicles on the road still charge one way, certification for systems that convert inside the vehicle is still being developed, and interconnection rules written for solar panels are only now being adapted for vehicles.

Before making plans

Confirm the complete vehicle and equipment combination, the functions it supports, and any software or local requirements with the vehicle maker and equipment provider.

Emporia began with circuit-level visibility and has grown into a home energy management platform that connects energy monitoring, EV charging, batteries, automation and utility programs, now in more than 400,000 homes. Emporia is developing a bidirectional charger and coming to market with a product.

A modern wall EV charger mounted beside a tidy home electrical panel in a bright garage

At a glance

ISO 15118-20
Has covered bidirectional power transfer since 2022.
North American charging standard family
Includes vehicle-to-everything.
UL
Has certified bidirectional chargers since 2020.
A system that discharges only during an outage
Generally installs like backup generation.
A system that shares energy while the grid is up
Needs a formal interconnection agreement.

Explore the Guides

Understand the use case, then explore what it requires.

Frequently Asked Questions

Check the exact model and model year with your vehicle manufacturer, including any required software and supported equipment. Support for one use, such as powering devices, doesn't mean support for home backup or grid export. Look for a confirmed vehicle and equipment pairing that supports your intended use in your location.
It depends on how much battery energy is available and how much electricity your backed-up circuits use. A system supporting a few essential loads may run much longer than one also supplying air conditioning, electric heat, cooking or water heating. Keep a driving reserve, and use the vehicle or system's live estimate when one is available.
Requirements depend on whether you want outage backup, everyday home energy use or grid participation. A qualified installer can assess the equipment, electrical work and approvals your setup would require.
Not necessarily. Home backup and grid export are different functions with different requirements. Grid participation requires a system that supports it and eligibility under your utility's program.

Available Now

If you need hardware today, you can buy these now.

See your solar and your home's energy use.

Emporia Vue 3 Home Energy Monitor →

Store energy and back up your home during outages.

Emporia Home Battery System →

Charge faster at home, and schedule and track every session in the app.

Emporia Pro Level 2 EV Charger with PowerSmart →