PG&E Adds Electric Cars to Grid-Export Program With Installation Incentives

More electric cars can now participate in Pacific Gas & Electric’s bidirectional charging program, but an eligible vehicle is only one part of the required system. Under the utility’s expansion announced August 24, additional California customers can seek installation incentives and use compatible EV batteries for home backup or electricity exports.

The newly listed combinations include the 2018-2025 Nissan Leaf, 2025 Volvo EX90, 2025 Polestar 3, Kia EV9 from model year 2024 onward and Kia EV6 from model year 2025 onward. PG&E also added General Motors vehicles including the Cadillac Celestiq and Cadillac Escalade IQL. Its broader eligible list covers models such as the Chevrolet Bolt EV, while the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Chevrolet Equinox EV, Ford F-150 Lightning and Tesla Cybertruck were already supported.

That wider vehicle selection addresses one barrier to bidirectional charging, but it does not make the cars interchangeable with ordinary home chargers. Exporting energy requires a supported combination of vehicle, bidirectional charger, building electrical equipment and control software. Capabilities can vary by the specific pairing.

The charger and gateway matter as much as the car

For the Nissan Leaf, Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 combinations identified by PG&E, the required equipment is a dcbel Ara charger. Eligible Kia EV6 and EV9 models use the Wallbox Quasar 2. Other supported systems include General Motors’ PowerShift equipment and Tesla’s Universal Wall Connector paired with a Powershare Gateway.

These components do more than pass electricity through a cable. A bidirectional installation must control power flow, coordinate the vehicle with the building and prevent unsafe backfeed when a home is isolated from the grid. Grid-connected exports add another layer of utility coordination. PG&E is working with Bidirectional Energy, which supplies software connecting vehicles, homes and utility programs, and with PowerFlex to broaden deployment.

This systems requirement explains why a car advertised with bidirectional capability may not automatically qualify. The vehicle, charger, gateway or transfer equipment, software and utility program must all support the same operating configuration. California’s Energy Commission has identified limited interoperability, high upfront costs and complex interconnection requirements as continuing barriers. Its March 2026 bidirectional-charging roadmap notes that many current products are bundled systems that reduce testing complexity but can restrict customers to particular equipment.

Incentives reduce installation cost, not operating uncertainty

Residential customers can receive up to $2,500 toward installation, increasing to $3,000 for customers in disadvantaged communities. The first 250 customers to enroll can also qualify for a separate $1,500 early-adopter incentive. Businesses can receive up to $4,500, or as much as $5,000 in disadvantaged communities. Enrollment remains open through June 30, 2027.

The potential financial benefit after installation depends on when the vehicle charges and discharges. A customer could charge the battery when electricity is less expensive, then use that stored power at home or export it during a higher-priced period. PG&E’s Home Flex pricing chart showed export values ranging from 5 cents to 50 cents per kilowatt-hour on August 23, illustrating how widely hourly compensation can move.

Those rates vary with grid demand, weather, transmission costs and time of day, so participation does not guarantee a cash profit. Savings become net earnings only when the value of exported electricity exceeds the household’s electricity-consumption cost and other relevant expenses. Vehicle availability also matters: energy retained for driving cannot simultaneously serve the home or grid.

Backup power may therefore be the more immediate and understandable benefit for some owners, while grid exports add a more variable economic opportunity. The program’s expansion puts that choice within reach of more California drivers, but the decisive unit is still the complete vehicle-charger-gateway-software system not the EV badge alone.

By Thomas Caldwell — AMI’s senior editor for mechanical and mobility engineering, covering vehicle electronics, systems integration, electrification, chassis systems, propulsion, and safety policy.