The Ford Motor Company has chosen Sunrun to serve as the preferred installer of the home charging system for the new all-electric F-150 Lightning truck. The electric truck can serve as a stand-alone battery system in emergencies via its “Ford Intelligent Backup Power” option. Yes — the F-150 Lightning can serve as a home backup energy source during a power outage event, providing 9.6 kW of power.
The backup power is enabled by the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro and home integration system that will be installed by Sunrun dealers.
“Whether sheltering during a storm or trying to stay safe in a heat wave, customers can now use their truck to give themselves power when they need it most,” said Ryan O’Gorman, electric vehicle manager, strategic partnerships, Ford. “F-150 Lightning is built for seamless transitions between charging your vehicle and powering your house when needed – and Ford is the first in the U.S. to offer this capability on an electric truck.”
Through the Sunrun/Ford partnerships, customers will be provided the opportunity to install a solar + storage system on their home.
“Ford is a trusted brand that’s been at the forefront of American innovation for over 100 years, and it is exciting to see them electrifying their most popular truck in company history,” said Lynn Jurich, Sunrun CEO and Co-Founder. “We’re at the beginning stages of a partnership that can bring energy resilience to millions of Americans across the country.”
In the future, Ford said it will introduce Ford Intelligent Power, which would allow the electric truck to power homes during high-cost, peak-energy hours.
Reservations for the F-150 Lightning are open now at ford.com, and deliveries will begin in mid-2022. Sunrun will then provide customers with installation services and access to solar + storage systems.
Comments
The Ford “launch” announcement yesterday, did mention the 9.6kW inverter built into the Ford Lightning, I believe it is the same inverter the Ford F-150 hybrid is using now. So, Ford doesn’t seem to have a problem with V2H connectivity for emergency use and the announcement here that in the future, Ford Intelligent power management may also use the truck for high demand charge and TOU rate times of the day.
TESLA early on had this vision of solar PV and energy storage for each home, (then) a charging connection for a BEV, the vehicle to house proposal was not made. Ford will be the first and it seems will prove or disprove the theory that using the vehicle battery pack to power the home in emergencies will degrade the vehicle pack and it will degrade and not make a 10 year in use battery pack warranty period. After this February in Texas, there might be a lot of folks that would be okay if they had to replace a battery pack in 7 years from emergency use.
