GM Energy Vehicle to Home

[Chamuit]

Installed this at the end of August. One of the first 5 installed in the US.

Very pleased with it. It's much, much, much more reliable than the Ford setup.

During the one-hour-long inspection, the inspector, who had never encountered a V2H setup before, was intrigued by the operation.

 

[ptonsparky]

That's purty!

How much of a load can it handle?

 

[retirede]

Very clean installation. Interconnecting wiring in the wall?

 

[Chamuit]

Thanks. @ptonsparky

@retirede Yes. Conduits run through to the outside wall and back in. Looks like a cluster. But that's the desired inside look.

The charger is 19.2 kW (80A).

The Home Hub (MID) is rated for 200A. This setup is on a 40A detached garage circuit. The max V2H output. It will run a 2-ton AC. The Ford V2H would not.

 

[Chamuit]

GM Energy V2H Bundle


Specs are at the bottom.

 

[wwhitney]

This setup is on a 40A detached garage circuit.

The specs say the inverter output is 9.6 kW, so you had to dial that back to 7.7 kW because you only had a 40A feeder available?

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Chamuit]

@wwhitney I did not. Consumption won't exceed the output rating.

 

[wwhitney]

@wwhitney I did not. Consumption won't exceed the output rating.

Pretty sure you are required to do that, all of the applicable NEC sections treat the inverter output current as a continuous current and require OCPD sizing of at least 125% of that current, unless you are using 100% rated OCPD (which don't exist at this rating). E.g. 2023 NEC 706.31(B)

https://up.codes/viewer/texas/nfpa-70-2023/chapter/7/special-conditions#706.31_(B)

Cheers, Wayne

 

[tortuga]

Looks interesting, so does the car just output DC and one of those boxes is a special inverter for the car DC?
As an aside I am not sold on the Span panels, or specifically idea of having a circuit board with a bunch of relays acting as the 'bus bar' between the main and the branch breakers.

 

[wwhitney]

Looks interesting, so does the car just output DC and one of those boxes is a special inverter for the car DC?

Yes, on the link in post #2, at the bottom you have to select the second tab (internal to the web page rendering) to see the specs on that inverter.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[tortuga]

Yes, on the link in post #2, at the bottom you have to select the second tab (internal to the web page rendering) to see the specs on that inverter.

Cheers, Wayne

Sorry for the dumb questions, you mean post #5?
These 'specs' don't satisfy my curiosity:


I wonder what the DC voltage / current on the input is?
Whats the output voltage spec? Can it connect to a single phase 208/120 panel?
Seems like it works on a wide range of vehicles.
Does it use the 'standard' (non tesla) SAE J1772 or whatever car plug used for AC charging and run DC backwards?
Another aside @Chamuit 's dog looks adorable.

 

[Chamuit]

I wonder what the DC voltage / current on the input is?
Whats the output voltage spec? Can it connect to a single phase 208/120 panel?
Seems like it works on a wide range of vehicles.
Does it use the 'standard' (non tesla) SAE J1772 or whatever car plug used for AC charging and run DC backwards?
Another aside @Chamuit 's dog looks adorable.

I think the battery voltage is 400V...?

Works with 3 or 4 GM vehicles currently.

It uses the CCS connector.

Thanks @tortuga he's where the name came from. Had him for 15 years. He's laying on a bedsheet we used to cover up the sofa he shredded.

 

[wwhitney]

Sorry for the dumb questions, you mean post #5?

Yes, 3, 5, one of those small primes. : - )

These 'specs' don't satisfy my curiosity:

Some googling turned up this page with various actual installation manuals and spec sheets:

Site Maintenance

Cheers, Wayne

 

[TheCats]

The typical V2G configuration is a fixed base inverter. The vehicle side is almost exactly the same hardware as DC fast charging. After negotiation, the vehicle closes the DCFC contactor, attaching the traction HV battery directly to the DC pins on the CCS1 connector. Instead of expecting charging current, the vehicle supplies high voltage DC to the inverter.

It sounds easy. If it were trivial as it sounds, everyone would be doing it. As you can imagine there is quite a bit of safety checking that has to be exactly right.

The acronym 'V2H' is used when the vehicle has an on-board inverter that can be used in place of a generator. That's considerably easier to design as the inverter is put in the HVDC enclosure, with only current limited AC on the harness to the receptacle.

 

[retirede]

Sorry for the dumb questions, you mean post #5?
These 'specs' don't satisfy my curiosity:
View attachment 2574058

I wonder what the DC voltage / current on the input is?
Whats the output voltage spec? Can it connect to a single phase 208/120 panel?
Seems like it works on a wide range of vehicles.
Does it use the 'standard' (non tesla) SAE J1772 or whatever car plug used for AC charging and run DC backwards?
Another aside @Chamuit 's dog looks adorable.

It will only works with specific GM vehicles. Ford’s only works with the Lightning. There is no V2H standard, so each manufacturer uses their own. The vehicle has to accept a handshake request from the equipment to engage contactors that direct the DC battery voltage to the CCS port. There is presently no adopted standard for that handshake.

 

[tortuga]

It will only works with specific GM vehicles. Ford’s only works with the Lightning. There is no V2H standard, so each manufacturer uses their own. The vehicle has to accept a handshake request from the equipment to engage contactors that direct the DC battery voltage to the CCS port. There is presently no adopted standard for that handshake.

Ok very interesting that there is no accepted standard, probably Tesla will make up one (or has) and everyone else will do something different. It looks like the GM EVSE/V2H makes the car appear as a DC battery to the inverter and the GM inverter looks to support variety other batteries that can talk to it over the RS-485 serial communications port not just a GM car, the specs say RS-485 and Modbus. Hopefully then it is just a matter of a manufacturer making a EVSE/ V2H 'charger' that is compatible with that RS-485 or modbus that the inverter uses and then any car can attach to it. It also looks like it supports a DC PV array.

 

[Elect117]

Hopefully then it is just a matter of a manufacturer making a EVSE/ V2H 'charger' that is compatible with that RS-485 or modbus that the inverter uses and then any car can attach to it. It also looks like it supports a DC PV array.

It is more complicated than that. You need to support the same communication baud rate, data stream and handshaking. You would most likely need to also use the same or similar sensor system and computer to be able to support their internal communication system like equipment failures or sensor faults that would keep a transition from happening. Those standards are just for the physical connections.

I am going to assume that most of these cars will require their own manufacturer inverter. Or they license / make available the handshake and communication requirements. That would most likely not happen since most of these systems should have a security measure keeping the end user from being able to "jailbreak" the OS. They also would want to monopolize their car sale to their inverter. It also helps keep aftermarket non listed parts from being used and Ford getting blamed for any leakage, shock, or fire.

 

[Chamuit]

The acronym 'V2H' is used when the vehicle has an on-board inverter that can be used in place of a generator. That's considerably easier to design as the inverter is put in the HVDC enclosure, with only current limited AC on the harness to the receptacle.

V2G - Vehicle to Grid.
Currently there is only DC V2G. That is why all the wall equipment will be needed when it finally happens. Most V2G that is happening (residential) is part of testing and pilot programs.

They are still working on the AC version.

V2H - Vehicle to Home.
This is what GM, Ford, and few others are doing. No feeding back to the grid. But, the MID is in place when ready.

V2L - Vehicle to Load
This is achieved by using the 30A receptacle in the bed of the EV and tying in to a generator inlet port.