While bidirectional charging is still in the hypothetical or development stage for some automakers, it’s almost here for Ford and Electric pickup truck F-150 Lightning. The new partnership between Ford and California utility PG&E is geared toward taking that functionality to the next stage: the grid.
Ford plans to install the first Smart Standby Power hardware for the F-150 Lightning this spring. This feature will turn some electric trucks into Smart backup power bank capable of supplying electricity to the house for up to 10 days.
That would make the Ford electric truck the first EV in the US market capable of such a task, with equipment officially supported by OEMs.
Through what the companies call an “early adoption opportunity” at “a small number of customer homes,” PG&E will explore how that system connects to the grid and how functionality is enabled with the feature. Bidirectional charging can aid resilience during grid outages.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Smart Backup Power
The two companies have yet to release details on additional hardware for this study. For now, Lightning’s configuration requires an 80-amp Charge Station Pro smart charger, and it will use a dark starter battery and a toggle switch, with an inverter, to supply power into the home at up to speed. to 9.6 kw in grid outage events. PG&E also hopes to “learn more about the overall customer experience,” which will inform future partnerships, possibly on a larger scale.
Ford’s preferred installer for hardware is Sunrun, which can potentially install and configure solar at the same time, so it’s possible the actual configuration at home will vary greatly between customers. products that use the Lightning function.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro
Ford may take the lead here, but it’s not the only one working on such a possibility, even with this gadget. GM and PG&E announced a project earlier this week that will allow “a small group” of customers’ homes to to receive power from their EV during a power outage. While that project aims to roll out the related hardware this summer, with a broader testing program later this year, no hardware is currently being made available to customers in such a way. of the Ford system.
PG&E operates in a space that includes many early US EV users. Accordingly, one in five electric vehicles in the US is on the road in the company’s business area, which stretches from Northern and Central California. Support hardware for bidirectional charging has been in the US for a long time and requires the support of utilities, so this project is likely to lead to others around the country when the advantages become clear.
The utility notes that the electricity that powers California’s electric vehicles is one of the cleanest energy mixes in the nation, with 93% of the 2021 mix coming from greenhouse gas-free sources.
