One of the more attractive aspects of the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning is its vehicle-to-vehicle charging capability, as well as its ability to power an entire home via the new Ford Intelligent Backup Power feature. Last year, Ford announced a sustainable charging program for owners of Blue Oval vehicles that live in the state of California, who will be able to opt into carbon-neutral charging at home, reducing their carbon footprint from the energy used to power their vehicles, and just yesterday, Ford’s chief cross-town rival – General Motors – announced its own bi-direction charging pilot program with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). Now, a new 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning pilot program will also enable the EV pickup to connect to the grid as well, according to Bloomberg.
Like GM’s pilot program, the new Ford pilot will also take place in a partnership with PG&E in California, a state that has experienced its fair share of blackouts in recent years. The idea is also the same – the F-150 Lightning will be used to connect to the grid and send power back when needed in an emergency, such as blackouts caused by wildfires or major storms. A total of five trucks will be tested in the pilot program as PG&E explores ways to prevent cutting power to customers at times when high winds increase the risk of wildfires.
The F-150 Lightning is the very first vehicle of its kind that can be used as a backup power source in this capacity, though Pro Power Onboard has been used recently to power homes following outages caused by a number of natural disasters across the U.S.
Ford Intelligent Backup Power allows owners to store up to 131 kilowatt-hours of energy and retrieve up to 9.6 kilowatts of power when equipped with the F-150 Lightning’s extended range battery pack. Ford Intelligent Backup Power, the Home Integration System, and Ford’s Charge Station Pro team up to provide power automatically when needed, then revert back to the grid once power is restored. An F-150 Lightning equipped with the extended range battery pack can power an average home, which uses around 30 kWh of power per day, for up to three days, or 10 days when paired with solar power.
We’ll have more on this pilot program soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford F-Series news, Ford F-150 news, F-150 Lightning news, and continuous Ford news coverage.
Comments
Oh okay, good idea. Then when your batteries run dead and you have no power and no way to go anywhere. Yeah, awesome idea. Hey, here’s even a better idea, it’s called a back up generator. Oh I know, mind blown, right? Wow, what genius decided this was a good idea? Okay, well you better have a back up plan that includes having a neighbor that has a real vehicle. Better have one nicer than me too. This happens to you, I don’t think I could get over the laughter.
What the article fails to mention is that V2G technology is designed to take very small amounts of energy from a fleet of vehicles. The vehicle will allow you to set minimum battery levels And that the utilities will pay you of credit you for that energy
So is the battery in your EV going to be still covered under it’s warranty when it is discharged and charged excessively being used as a temporary power supply for the local power company, for free, which will reduce it’s life and level of full charge? Or is the EV owner on the hook for a new +$10,000 battery?
Negative Attitudes!!! This is why we trail China in innovation.