Upcoming 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning It will likely be the first electric truck — and the first in the U.S. market — to be offered with the ability to hit the grid during a power outage.
How? Lightning will be one of the first few models to be enabled for two-way charging, allowing it in the near future backup power broker on wheelshas the potential to add energy independence to owners, helping them work with home solar to shift loads off the grid during peak usage times and save money — and perhaps, reduce what could have caused those outages in the first place.
Not only that, but Ford enabled it in the first place with supporting hardware. As Ford announced last May, with the unveiling of Lightning, it chose Sunrun as its preferred installer for home solar and for its Smart Back-up Power system that allows for a swappable setup. change this game.
Ford Smart Backup Power – F-150 Lightning
Setup starts with the 80 amp Ford Charge Station Pro, which allows for a wide range of smart charging functions, but to make the F-150 a reliable component for home power backup, you’ll need a Smart Charging System. The fully Integrated Home system, which includes an inverter plus a starter battery and a toggle switch — allows energy to flow to the home regardless of the grid connection.
Ford hasn’t revealed pricing details, but it says that customers interested in combining a Charge Station Pro installation with solar power may be eligible for an installation discount and a financing plan. exactly zero. It has emphasized that commercial customers will have access to the same hardware and feature set.
With an extended battery range, Ford notes that the Lightning has 131 kWh of energy storage and can deliver up to 9.6 kW of power — more impressive specs than many wall-mounted battery units.
Ford has released an accompanying image comparing its Smart Backup Power system to the Pro Power Onboard. The second system is essentially a generator system, with 11 outlets directly powering tools and more. The former was all electricity for the house.
Ford Smart Backup Power – F-150 Lightning
The F-150 Lightning is the first of many likely products coming from Ford battery joint venture between Ford and battery supplier SK Innovation, is called BlueOvalSK and will produce 60 gigawatt-hours annually by mid-decade, with 140 GWh of U.S. production by the end of the decade made up by the addition of BlueOvalSK . Battery Park in Kentucky. Based on these features enabled in its first product with the new cells, it is clear that the company has put a lot of faith in them.
Hyundai has said that future electric vehicles, built on the dedicated EV platform E-GMP, will be two-way compatible, and in November it launched a hybrid Hyundai Home Energy Ecosystem That would include charging, solar and energy storage. But given the power outage of the first model, Hyundai Ioniq 5, limited to 1.9 kw (Truck, or V2L) in US versions, it’s still unclear how useful the vehicle itself is in energy storage. The Kia EV6 has similar functionality, but Kia currently has no plans in the US for a home energy system. The Lucid Air is probably the closest product on sale today that can offer Lightning’s two-way charging, with the company’s Connected Home Charging Station serving as the basis for home energy needs or even use. off-grid use such as motels. And VW EVs will, in the near futureprovide such functionality.
But with Tesla potentially losing its Powerwall business with such a move, this isn’t anything we see trigger from the EV trend-setter.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning
The F-150 Lightning’s Home Integration System will go on sale through Sunrun starting this spring, and Ford says there will be provisions for installation of the system prior to delivery. The F-150 Lightning will be first delivered this May.
The Sunrun page that Ford links to says Sunrun is currently operating in 22 states, with “referrals or other mounting options made available to all other regions”. The system does not require Sunrun; you can use your own preferred electrician.
We’ve reached out to Ford for clarification on who installs the system in states where Sunrun doesn’t operate and what kind of home service you’ll need to get the most out of Lightning. Could it also power weekend cabins? Keep stable.
