Upcoming all-electric pickup can charge your home—and with a future update, do it whenever it can save you money.
There’s a lot riding on the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning. Ford electrifying its icon presents an important turning point, not just for the industry as a whole but for truck owners. The switch to electric no doubt brings savings with gas prices at record highs, but thanks to something Ford is calling Intelligent Backup Power, the Blue Oval has a plan to save owners money even when the truck is parked in the garage.
Introducing Intelligent Backup Power
Intelligent Backup Power (IBP) is an extension of the thinking behind the Pro Power Onboard system in the F-150 hybrid. The system allows owners to use their pickup to charge their house in the case of a power outage. Two parts are required to run IBP: the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro that comes standard with all extended-range battery F-150 Lightnings, and the Home Integration System. The latter includes an inverter (to accept charge), a transfer switch (to disconnect the house from the grid) and a small battery (for power when the mains go out).
Ford says that at launch (and later in 2022 for Canada), this whole setup can keep the average house running for three days, assuming a full Lightning battery and a daily household usage of 30 kWh. Ration usage, and that window extends to a full 10 days. Using the FordPass app on a mobile device, it’s also possible to set a minimum battery charge level, in remaining percentage or range, at which point the F-150 will automatically stop charging.
But How Does it Save Me Money?
That’s all well and good, but Ford is planning an even more ambitious use of its bidirectional charging. A future update will allow the F-150 Lightning to seamlessly switch from charing up to charging the home automatically, based on a schedule.
For many folks, electricity rates are based on time of day; higher prices “on-peak,” and lower at other times, usually late at night.
You see where this is going. With this future update, the Lightning can theoretically keep the home off the grid during peak hours by providing all the power itself. When lower grid pricing kicks in—or when the house is using the least amount of electricity, like when everyone’s asleep—the flow reverses, and the F-150 starts pulling charge again.
How Much Does This All Cost?
Of course, this does require some upfront spending. The Ford Charge Station Pro is included with all big-battery Lightnings, but will run owners of the standard battery $1,310 ($1,700 CAD). The Home Integration System is priced at $3,895 in the US (before labor), with Canadian pricing still being finalized at the time of writing. In America, Sunrun is the exclusive distributor of the HIS.
The ability to use the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning as a rolling generator is just one of the impressive aspects of this new all-electric truck. Stay tuned for our first drive of the F-150 Lightning tomorrow morning!
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