A TRUCK THAT SWINGS BOTH WAYS: GM Now Has the Hardware to Help an Electric Silverado Power Your House. “Power outages cost American businesses about $150 billion annually, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, so having a solution when power goes out is critical. Some electric vehicles allow bi-directional charging, meaning they can receive power to charge their batteries, but can also give power to a home or business when the grid fails. GM Energy, a subsidiary of General Motors, has new hardware that allows customers to charge their electric Chevy or Cadillac, and give power to their home in case there’s an outage, or use stored energy when costs spike.”