All Tesla vehicles are now capable of bidirectional charging (V2X) thanks to an impressive Powerwall competitor, Sigenergy, which can include a universal bidirectional DC charger.
V2X, or bidirectional charging, is becoming a fairly common feature for electric vehicles.
Whether it’s in a reasonably low capacity to power tools and other equipment on the go (V2X), or with higher capacities to power a home (V2H) or send electricity back into the grid for money (V2G).
As a leader in electric vehicles, Tesla was long seen as being reticent in adopting the technology.
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Today, Cybertruck is the only Tesla vehicle that officially supports bidirectional charging and it only works with Tesla’s own Powershare home solution, which still has limitations years after launching. For example, it still doesn’t work with Powerwalls.
And yet, I was surprised to see yesterday a Tesla Model Y send electricity back into a house for the first time.
My friend Sylvain Juteau, President of Roulez Electrique, was showing me the latest addition to his Trois-Rivieres charging station: the Sigenergy DC charging and ESS system. You can watch our video of our full walkthrough of the system here:
I had already heard a bit about Sigenergy and how they were gaining a foothold in the home energy storage market in countries like Australia.
Tesla has been dominating the home energy storage system for years with the Powerwall, but now its supremacy is being challenged, and I’m starting to understand why.
This device is what the Tesla Powerwall was supposed to be.
Tesla is currently on the Powerwall 3, which features some significant improvements in power capacity and solar inverter integration, but it doesn’t have an integrated EV charger.
Sigenergy’s device combines all components into a single, stackable, and expandable system with an incredible user interface.
For a few years now, the industry has had the ISO 15118 international standard for vehicle-to-grid (V2G), and Sigenergy has built a fully certified bidirectional DC charger module that fits with its modular energy storage system.
The system consists of stackable 8 kWh battery modules, with a top module that includes a solar inverter and serves as the brain of the system.
Between them, you can fit this new bidirectional DC charger module. With 3 battery modules (24 kWh), it looks like this:
The system can provide up to 25 kW DC fast charging, allowing you to charge at a rate of 25 kW at home.
It bypasses the onboard charger in your electric vehicle, just like public DC fast-charging stations.
At 25 kW, which is achievable with 3 battery modules and solar, it is certainly not as fast as most public fast-charging stations, but it is a lot more than the generally ~7 kW capacity of a level 2 home charging station.
And the killer feature is that this module is capable of bidirectional charging so it can not only DC charge an EV, but it can also pull DC power from an EV.
The device is available with both CCS and NASC connectors, but bidirectional charging utilizes the CCS protocol.
It means that even Tesla cars with NASC connectors and CCS modules (2019-2021, depending on the model) can use the bidirectional. To be clear, this is unofficially supported by Tesla – meaning that it works, we have tried it, but it’s not something that the automaker officially supports.
Sylvain tried the system on a dozen electric vehicles, and it works perfectly with most of them.
However, not all automakers have adopted the new bidirectional charging standard. In his tests, he found that Ford’s EVs are the ones that work best with it. Most Tesla vehicles tested performed well, but a few would cut off after approximately 5 minutes.
GM’s vehicles were notoriously hard to make work with the DC charger.
Sigenergy’s system is the first to be fully certified to the ISO standard, and they are a bit ahead of the curve. Now, automakers need to fully support the standard to unlock all that potential energy storage capacity.
Electrek’s Take
Can you imagine the value in energy capacity we could unlock if this were widely available? All battery systems become interconnected between cars, homes, and the grid.
You can always have energy go to where it is needed the most.
I think that’s the future of a decentralized energy infrastructure.
I thought that this was Tesla’s plan for the Powerwall. Elon had hinted at this for a while. It would have made a great deal of sense, given that Tesla is both an automaker and a leader in energy storage, but it never happened.
Kudos to Sigenergy for leading the charge here. This is a fascinating product that enables complete control over your energy assets from your electric car to your solar panels.
Take a look at the user interface in Sigenergy’s app:
This is a treasure trove of stats for energy nerds. The first screen is very similar to the Tesla Powerwall app, but the rest provides much more detail. You can see where the energy in your batteries are coming from and where they are going exactly.
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Trump’s Interior Department halted construction on 704 megawatt (MW) Revolution Wind, the US’s first multi-state offshore wind project that’s already 80% complete. Grid operator ISO New England says the decision is a threat to the grid.
ISO New England released a statement responding to the stop-work order, warning that “delaying the project will increase risks to reliability.”:
As demand for electricity grows, New England must maintain and add to its energy infrastructure. Unpredictable risks and threats to resources – regardless of technology – that have made significant capital investments, secured necessary permits, and are close to completion will stifle future investments, increase costs to consumers, and undermine the power grid’s reliability and the region’s economy now and in the future.
Revolution Wind, a joint development between Ørsted and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, is a 65-turbine project capable of powering around 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut once it’s complete. It was expected to come online next year. The project has created more than 1,200 jobs.
On August 22, the director of Bureau of Ocean Energy Management sent a vague letter to Ørsted commanding it to halt all activities on the fully permitted Revolution Wind, citing “national security interests,” yet providing no details.
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BOEM’s Record of Decision for Revolution Wind, reported in 2023 in Section 4.6, page 185, states that the national security effects of the project would be “negligible and avoidable.”
This latest move echoes Trump’s cancellation in April of New York’s $5 billion Empire Wind 1 project, which was already under construction off New York’s coast. No viable reasons were given for that stop-work order either, and the cancellation was reversed in May.
Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), released the following statement in response to the Revolution Wind order:
The Trump administration’s war on the electricity needed to power the grid continues on all fronts. Halting Revolution Wind is a devastating attack on workers, on electricity customers, and on the investment climate in the US.
New England homeowners will feel this when they tear open their electricity bills and look at the surging costs of keeping the lights on.
This administration has it exactly backwards. It’s trying to prop up clunky, polluting coal plants while doing all it can to halt the fastest growing energy sources of the future – solar and wind power.
It makes no sense to say we have an energy emergency and then make decisions like this. Unfortunately, every American is paying the price for these misguided actions.
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Tesla is teasing a new product release on Friday, August 29th, coming to Europe and the Middle East. It’s likely going to be the Model Y Performance.
On X today, Tesla has teased an upcoming product release coming this friday.
The post is cryptic. It only mentions ‘spoiler alert’ and the date August 29 with what looks like a close up of a vehicle with what appears to be a spoil – hence the “spoiler alert” reference:
There are main suspect is the Model Y Performance due to the spoiler reference.
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Since the Model Y refresh in January, Tesla stopped selling the Model Y Performance. It is due to launch the top performance version under the new design.
When Tesla released the Model 3 refresh in 2024, it took about 4 months for Tesla to launch the new performance version.
Electrek’s Take
The only thing that I find strange with this likely being the Model Y Performance is the fact that they tweeted this from the Europe and Middle East account.
It would be strange for the Model Y Performance to launch there first, but who knows. Maybe Tesla started production at Gigafactory Berlin first.
I don’t think this will have a major impact on Tesla’s business. The Model Y Performance is the least popular version of the best-selling Model Y.
We don’t have the full mix of sales, but I wouldn’t be suprised if it represents less than 10% of Tesla’s Model Y deliveries.
The Model 3 Performance is probably a more popular option within the Model 3 lineup as it is a lot more fun to drive.
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The GV60 Magma will have a distinct look and feel compared to other Genesis vehicles. As the first EV from its new performance sub-brand, the Genesis GV60 Magma will debut with enhanced power, advanced suspension, a sporty new design, and more. For the first time, it was caught on video racing around the Nürburgring, giving us our closest look yet.
Genesis GV60 Magma EV flexes new style at Nürburgring
Magma is “the brand’s expansion into the realm of high-performance vehicles,” Genesis boasted. Among the first vehicles to earn a Magma upgrade is the GV60.
Genesis fine-tuned the electric crossover SUV, giving it a wider and lower stance for improved control. The larger lower air intake contributes to the aggressive new look, while also serving to cool the batteries and motor, both of which have been upgraded for enhanced performance.
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Earlier this year, we got a good look at the GV60 Magma during winter testing in Europe. Although you could see a few new design features, it was mostly covered in camo.
Genesis GV60 Magma testing with other Magma vehicles (Source: Genesis)
After it was recently spotted with less camo at the Nürburgring race track in Germany, we are getting an even better idea of what to expect when it arrives.
The video from CarSpyMedia shows the Genesis GV60 Magma EV with a production body and minimal camouflage.
You can see the high-performance vehicle flexing its power and handling as it rips around the track. Like other Hyundai Motor performance EVs, including the new IONIQ 6 N, you can expect the Genesis GV60 Magma to deliver over 600 horsepower, if not closer to 700.
The current Genesis GV60 Performance delivers up to 429 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque, good for a 0 to 60 mph sprint in 3.7 seconds.
Horsepower
0 to 60 mph (seconds)
Starting Price
Genesis GV60 Performance
429
3.7
$69,900
Genesis GV60 Magma
?
?
?
Porsche Taycan
402
4.5
$99,400
Porsche Taycan Turbo GT (with Weissach Package)
1,092
2.1
$230,000
Tesla Model S Plaid
1,020
1.99
$89,990
Genesis GV60 Magma vs Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S Plaid
Genesis will launch the GV60 Magma EV later this year in Korea, followed by the US, Europe, and other global markets. We will learn prices and final specs closer to launch, but given the Performance models start at $69,900, you can expect a higher starting price tag, likely closer to $75,000.
At that it would be significantly less than the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Tesla Model S Plaid. Will it match the performance?
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