- the 2022 ford f-150 lightning will be able to power a home for up three days when connected to ford's available charge station pro, ford says.
- the wall unit will require a 100-amp circuit, which could prove costly.
- the f-150 lightning will arrive at dealers next spring and will start around $42,000.
when the electric ford f-150 lightning isn't blasting to 60 mph in a claimed 4.5 seconds or doing truck things with up to 10,000 pounds in tow, it will be able to act as a knight in painted aluminum in the event of a natural disaster or power outage by feeding its stored energy back into owners' homes.
in previous experiments, we've powered a house and also fed some juice to a ford mustang mach-e using the 7.6 kw available from the bed-mounted plugs of the f-150 hybrid. similarly, gmc recently announced the 2024 hummer will be capable of bleeding 6.6 kw from its ultium battery pack. the lightning will take it to the next level. ford's 80-amp charge station pro with intelligent backup power features a ccs charging plug, which is the type found at level 3 fast chargers. when connected to the charge station pro, optional with the standard range battery but standard with the extended range pack, the f-150 lightning can feed 9.6 kilowatts of power through the ccs plug's larger bottom ports, through the charge station pro, and back into a home's power panel. when power is restored to the grid, the charge station pro reverts to replenishing the lightning's battery.
ford claims that based on the national average of a home using 30.0 kwh per day, the extended range battery can supply a home for up to three days. ford has yet to release the official capacity of the batteries, but we predict ford will have some baked-in fail-safes to prevent the lightning from being fully depleted while powering your hot tub. at a later date, ford will reveal ford intelligent power, which will use the lightning's stored energy during high-cost and peak energy hours. when there's less strain on the grid during overnight hours and costs are lower, the charge station pro will then recharge the lightning.
with the 80-amp charge station pro comes a yet-to-be-determined cost of installing the trick charging unit. for one, ford has not announced how much the option will be for trucks equipped with the smaller battery pack.
there's also the complexity of actually feeding the station enough power. most modern homes are constructed around a 240-volt and 200-amp feed from the power companies. when factoring in 30-amp draws from an air conditioner, drying machine, water heater, and anything else pulling power, there's not enough juice left to feed the 100-amp circuit required to supply the charge station pro. older homes may only have 100 amps supplied to the entire service panel. a solution for this is costly: upgrade, or add an additional service line supplied by the power company, which can vary wildly depending on location. also, a transfer switch will be required to backfill the home's power supply. ford has announced a partnership with solar supplier sunrun to help with installation and home integration, but details have yet to be released.