Just last month, a windstorm in northwest Indiana left nearly 375,000 homes without power. Some customers were without electricity for over two weeks. In the future, your home's backup energy supply will be sitting in your driveway.
Speakers at Newsweek’s Pillars of Stability event during Climate Week NYC 2026 suggested this future is nearer than it sounds as vehicles become part of the energy system. Electric vehicles are already a widely recognized path to sustainable transport, and the transition is well underway. But the shift has not been completely seamless.
Department of Energy describes the country's power grid as aging and heavily stressed. Energy Information Administration expects that 2026 and 2027 will be years of record energy consumption due to the new data centers coming online. Yet, there is an unrealized potential that could turn demand into supply.
Every General Motors EV now has this capability, and combined with its home energy system, a car can power a house through a blackout for a week or longer. With the right infrastructure in place, an EV is “something much more than a device for transportation. It’s a mobile energy asset,” Garber said.
According to Markets and Markets, The bidirectional charging market is projected to reach $844.1 million by 2035, up from $70.0 million in 2025. Transport extends beyond cars. New York’s subway trains already capture energy when they brake and turn the motion back into electricity.
The MTA is also exploring how to turn the subway’s heat problem into a solution. A cooling system would be unfeasible, but it’s not the only option. It’s an innovative solution that would turn the problem on its head.
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