Two Silverado EVs and a 150 kWh battery powered this entire concert tour

A concert tour in Quebec this summer ran entirely on batteries instead of the usual diesel generator. Two Chevy Silverado EV pickups powered the stage sound and lighting, while a separate 150 kWh trailer-mounted battery ran the kitchen equipment for a chef cooking meals at each stop. The five-show tour, called "Le goût du paysage," included free outdoor performances in Trois-Pistoles, Saint-Raymond, Mont-Blanc, Berthierville, and Montreal, and organizers say it produced zero emissions from start to finish.

The setup shows what's possible with vehicle-to-load power, the ability to draw electricity out of an EV's battery to run things like tools, appliances, or in this case a whole concert. The Silverado EV can be ordered with a battery pack as large as 205 kWh, one of the biggest in any consumer vehicle, and GM says it can output 7.2 to 10.2 kW of power depending on trim, more than rivals like the Ford F-150 Lightning. That's enough to run stage equipment, though not enough on its own to also handle a full kitchen, which is why the separate battery trailer was needed for cooking.

For a homeowner, the practical takeaway is really about what these vehicles can already do: an EV with strong onboard power output can serve as backup power for tools or appliances, not just a full house, depending on the model and trim. The batteries in this tour were recharged on Quebec's grid, which the local utility says is more than 99% powered by renewable hydroelectricity.