Backup Power

Bidirectional Charging & Vehicle-to-Home in Houston

Equipment that lets a capable EV back-feed the house during an outage, making the truck in the driveway the largest battery on the property.

Pricing
Quoted after load calculation and site assessment
Timeline
Driven by equipment availability and utility interconnection review
Call (346) 406-1223

If you drive a capable electric truck, the largest battery on your property is already parked in the driveway. Vehicle-to-home is the equipment that lets the house draw from it when the grid is down.

The compatibility check comes first

This is the step that decides whether there is a project at all.

Bidirectional capability is not universal across EVs. Among vehicles that have it, the home-side equipment is frequently specific to the manufacturer, and the combination of vehicle, charging equipment and home integration hardware has to be one the manufacturer supports. Mixing components that were not designed to work together is not something we will quote.

So the first call is a compatibility conversation about your specific vehicle. If the answer is no, we will tell you plainly and point you at stationary battery storage instead of selling you something adjacent.

Why the capacity difference matters here

A full-size electric truck’s pack is a large multiple of a typical home battery. That difference is what makes this interesting for Houston specifically, because our outages are not brief.

Uri in 2021 and Beryl in 2024 both ran long. A backup solution measured in hours is a different proposition from one measured in days, and vehicle capacity is what moves you between those categories without buying a second large battery.

The obvious limitation: the vehicle is a vehicle. If you need to leave, the backup leaves with you, and driving depletes what the house was going to use. Households that want backup independent of where the car is end up wanting both systems.

Home integration

The house cannot simply take power from the vehicle. Transfer equipment has to isolate the home from the grid before back-feeding, both because the equipment requires it and because energizing a line during an outage is a hazard to the utility crews working on it.

A critical-load subpanel usually forms part of the design for the same reason it does with stationary storage — deciding which circuits are worth carrying is more useful than trying to carry everything.

Where the serving utility requires interconnection review, we handle that coordination. CenterPoint covers most of the metro; The Woodlands, Conroe and Magnolia are Entergy Texas, a regulated non-ERCOT utility with its own process.

Warranty is worth checking

Discharging the vehicle pack to power a house adds cycles. Battery warranties are generally written around cycles and capacity retention, and manufacturers vary in how they treat back-feeding.

We would rather you knew the terms for your vehicle before installation than discovered them during a claim. Ask and we will check.

What we install

  • Vehicle and equipment compatibility verification before anything is quoted
  • Manufacturer-specified bidirectional charging and home integration equipment
  • Transfer equipment isolating the home from the grid during back-feed
  • Critical-load subpanel scoping
  • Utility interconnection coordination where review applies
  • Permit and inspection by a registered master electrician

Workmanship warranty: [[NEEDS: verified workmanship warranty terms]] Manufacturer coverage on stocked hardware: [[NEEDS: confirmed manufacturer warranty period for stocked hardware]]

One call settles it

Tell us the vehicle. The compatibility answer comes before anything else, and it is quick.

Call (346) 406-1223.

Bidirectional Charging & Vehicle-to-Home in Houston — questions

Can my EV do this?

Not all can. Bidirectional capability depends on the vehicle, and among vehicles that have it, the required home equipment is often manufacturer-specific. The compatibility check is the first step, before any quote, because a no here saves you the rest of the conversation.

How long can an EV power a house?

Longer than most stationary batteries, because vehicle packs are larger — a full-size electric truck carries a multiple of a typical home battery. Actual runtime depends on backed-up circuits, state of charge, and whether you also need to drive somewhere during the outage.

Does using my EV for backup hurt the battery?

Discharging adds cycles, and cycles are the currency battery warranties are written in. How the manufacturer treats back-feeding under warranty varies. Ask us to check the terms for your specific vehicle before you plan around it.

Do I still need a home battery?

Sometimes not. If your vehicle is capable and usually home during storm season, it may cover the need. The gap is that the car is sometimes elsewhere. Households that want backup regardless of where the vehicle is often install both.

(346) 406-1223 Get a quote