Tesla has switched on Powershare Home Backup for the Model 3 and Model Y. That means its two best-selling cars can now send power back into a house during an outage. Until this week, the Cybertruck was the only Tesla that could.
How it works
Powershare turns the car’s battery into backup power for your home. When the grid goes down, a car plugged into your wall charger feeds the house alongside a Powerwall 3 home battery.
According to Electrek, a Model 3 or Model Y starting at 90% charge can run a home that uses 30 kWh a day for more than two days. The maximum continuous output of the setup is 11.52 kW.
What you need
The requirements are strict:
- A Powerwall 3. Powerwall 2 support is listed as “coming soon.”
- A Wall Connector or Universal Wall Connector from Tesla.
- A car ordered on or after October 1, 2026. That is what Tesla guarantees.
- Location: the US and Puerto Rico only.
Older cars are a mixed bag. The feature relies on a part called the PCS2 Lite inverter, and Tesla says “some, but not all” older Model 3 and Model Y vehicles have it. You can check on the car’s touchscreen under Software. If you already own a Powerwall 3, you have to contact Tesla support to have the feature enabled.
What’s missing
The Model S and Model X are not included. The Powershare Gateway option, which is sold only for the Cybertruck, isn’t available either. And you can’t sell power from the car back to the grid.
Late to the party
Electrek points out that Ford has sold the F-150 Lightning with vehicle-to-home power since 2022, and GM offers it across several models. Tesla makes the cars, the chargers and the home batteries, yet showed up years later.
The Cybertruck version was slow too. In October 2024, Tesla promised Powerwall integration “sometime in 2025,” then in December 2025 pushed it to mid-2026. It shipped on September 10, 2026, according to Electrek.
Is it worth it?
If you already live with outages from storms or wildfires, a car that doubles as a battery is a strong selling point. Pricing for the Powerwall 3 and installation wasn’t part of the announcement, so ask a Tesla energy advisor for a quote. For the bigger picture on ownership costs, see our guide on whether electric cars are worth it, and for the market backdrop, our report on gas cars falling below 50% of global new car sales.
