Rivian devises a way for its cars to power up houses and other EVs

Both the Rivian R1T pickup and R1S SUV will soon begin shipping with a bi-directional charging feature enabled, enabling them to share power with other vehicles and even keep households running during blackouts, CarBuzz reports.

It is unclear if the necessary hardware already exists in all Rivian EVs out there. If it does, then the manufacturer may as well release a software update that may add the functionality to all existing cars retroactively.

The company claims that, as long as you use the power sparingly, your home can last a few days on a single battery charge of your car. The implication is that even prolonged blackouts can become a non-issue. As well, owners may save up a bit on charging their EVs at night when the electricity is cheap and then plugging them into their home power grid during the day.