The Mazda CX-9 PHEV makes the safety honor roll. Honda, BMW, and Ford get together for looking at how EVs could connect to the grid. And we go hands-on with how the Kia EV9 will help back up the home and smooth the grid. This and more, here at Green Car Reports. 

The upcoming Kia EV9 is noteworthy for many reasons, and one of them is the way the EV9 will allow access to bidirectional charging from the start. With the Wallbox Quasar 2, owners of the EV9 will have an automaker-approved means of tapping into the electric SUV for both home power backup and easing the load on the grid. We recently saw firsthand how this works.

BMW, Ford, and Honda have allied for tech enabling EVs to support the grid. With a company called ChargeScape, the automakers hope to navigate all the details between hardware and electric utilities for “EV-enabled grid services,” so that EV owners can help support the grid and be rewarded in doing so. 

And the 2024 Mazda CX-90 plug-in hybrid has been named a Top Safety Pick+ by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). It’s one of the few PHEVs to make that list, even though critical details regarding this model, such as EPA range and mpg, haven’t yet been released. 

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