Back in early 2022, The Blue Oval revealed that it would be teaming up with solar company Sunrun to install at-home charging solutions like the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System, which enables the Ford F-150 Lightning to store and supply power to homes via the Intelligent Backup Power feature. Since then, that partnership has expanded, and now, Sunrun has announced that the nation’s first vehicle-to-home power plant is indeed operational.
Sunrun has teamed up with Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) on this effort, a new initiative that is utilizing Ford F-150 Lightning pickups to deliver power to owners’ homes this summer during peak demand times to support Maryland’s power grid. For now, there are three customers participating in the program, who will receive a payment based on the amount of energy they share with the grid – estimated to be around $800 over the four months the program is slated to run.
“This program is a significant proof of concept – no other market player has done this – and the goal is to expand these programs all around the country,” said Sunrun CEO Mary Powell. “This exciting partnership lays the foundation for the power grid of the future where electric vehicle owners can contribute to grid resiliency and utility price stability for everyone. The summer heat can be especially stressful on our power grid, which is why proving the use of stored energy in electric vehicles for capacity is so important.”
This launch is the culmination of years of work between multiple entities, each of which are interested in exploring the idea of using EVs to not only draw power from the grid, but also, to provide it back during peak times of usage in an effort to prevent blackouts and outages. If successful, it may also impact the way homes are built in the future, too.
We’ll have more on Ford’s Intelligent Backup Power system 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
This program as described in the article at least, seems to be a joke. No mention was made about how much or how little electricity is required to be sold back to BG&E, nor what times are involved.
Also not mentioned is whether there is
a different rate to recharge the truck in the first place.
Every new home must be built with two extra items:
1. A 150 amp manual transfer switch wired to the main service panel inside the home.
2. A 150 amp service inlet for this V2H application or any future solar energy system.
Future home can input energy from their F-150 Lightning or go for a total off-grid energy system with photovoltaic panels, batteries, and inverters at the homeowner’s choice.