With the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup, the historic vehicle manufacturer is providing consumers the opportunity to power their homes with an electric vehicle when the grid goes down, bringing revolutionary new capabilities that improve customers’ energy independence.
Ford and the F-Series, America’s best-selling trucks for 45 years, are teaming up with Sunrun, the nation’s largest solar company, to improve home energy management by using the all-electric F-150 Lightning’s enormous onboard battery capacity.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, Americans endured the greatest power outages on record in 2020, and with the F-150 Lightning, households can keep their routines throughout short or lengthy outages.
“F-150 Lightning brings new innovations to customers, including the ability to power their homes when they need it most. Teaming up with Sunrun leverages their expertise to bring solar power to even more customers, giving them the chance to turn their truck into an incredible energy storage source – and future truck features can help accelerate the development of a less carbon-intensive grid,” said Matt Stover, Ford charging and energy services director.
Sunrun is the preferred installer of Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System home charging solutions for the F-150 Lightning, including the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System, which allows the F-150 Lightning to store and supply power to homes in a variety of ways.
Sunrun will also provide clients in certain locations with residential solar alternatives if they want to use more green energy.
“America’s energy future starts at home, and partnering with Ford illustrates a momentous shift in the way we power our lives. No longer tethered to a carbon-intensive energy system, we’ll be able to offer more paths to greater energy independence by powering homes and vehicles with the sun, while helping rapidly accelerate the transition to a clean, resilient energy future for all,” said Mary Powell, Sunrun CEO.
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The Ford F-150 Lightning as a power source
Customers can utilize bidirectional power technology from their all-electric vehicle to deliver electricity to their homes during an outage, whether sheltering in a storm or staying cool during a heatwave, thanks to Ford Intelligent Backup Power, which makes its premiere on the F-150 Lightning.
Compared to gasoline-powered generators, the F-150 Lightning extended-range battery system can store 131 kilowatt-hours of energy and supply up to 9.6 kilowatts of power in a cleaner, quieter, and more efficient manner, with a higher capacity than many wall battery packs.
The F-150 Lightning can also provide consumers with lower-cost energy storage in a product they already own: their vehicle.
If the grid goes down, the F-150 Lightning uses Ford Intelligent Backup Power and the House Integration System to automatically power your home.
The system automatically switches back to utility power whenever power is restored. Based on a 30-kilowatt-hour-per-day typical U.S. household, the F-150 Lightning with an extended-range battery can supply complete home power for up to three days, or up to ten days when combined with solar power or rationing.
Equipment and installation
Customers must install the Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System, which consists of a power inverter, a dark start battery, and a transfer switch that enables two-way power flow, in order to benefit from Ford Intelligent Backup Power and future energy management options.
The station comes standard with the extended-range F-150 Lightning. Customers who buy a standard-range pickup may get the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro and pay for activation separately. This spring, the selling of the Home Integration System will start, which was created in collaboration with Sunrun.
Ford has teamed up with Sunrun to offer a seamless installation option, with Sunrun engineers installing the exact charging hardware so clients can be certain that their system will function properly. Customers that combine the installation of a Ford station with solar electricity may be eligible for a zero-dollar down payment and discounted installation cost.
More innovative features are coming
Ford will provide further F-150 Lightning technologies in the future to help consumers save money and relieve strain on the electric grid during high consumption times. Customers will be able to power their houses with their vehicle’s battery when energy prices are higher while charging the truck when rates are lower – or from their own solar-powered rooftop, in the case of Ford Intelligent Power.
This load shift may also assist to balance the load on the nation’s grid and minimize the usage of higher-carbon electricity without disrupting daily routines or charging schedules.
Retail customers will need to install the Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System, which was developed in collaboration with Siemens, while standard range consumers will need to buy the same one-time from Ford to utilize the functionality. Ford Pro can help commercial clients develop a proper home charging system.
The F-150 Lightning will be delivered starting in Spring 2022.
