You’ll have to pay to utilise this function, but it’s cheaper than Tesla’s.
The new Ford F-150 Lightning has a lot to live up to. In the case of a power outage, a vehicle’s non-driving feature is its capacity to provide electricity. One exception, however: in order to use this feature, you will be required to purchase Ford’s “Home Integration System.”
According to Matthew Stover, Ford’s director of charging and energy services, this solution would set you back $3,895. Costly, and that’s even factoring in the $1,310 for Ford’s Charge Station Pro bidirectional charger or the labour costs of installation.
All of this comes out to a total cost of over $5,000. Including what it costs to instal it all. At least $39,947 is required to purchase the F-150 Lightning electric vehicle.
At first sight, the costs seem to be astronomical, yet they aren’t as awful as you may think. As long as you have already decided to acquire an F-150 Lightning truck, the price of the vehicle is unimportant. A total of $5,200 plus installation costs isn’t outrageous when compared to the expense of a specialised backup battery system.
Tesla Powerwall, for example, has a minimum installation cost of $11,000 and a capacity of 13.5 kWh. Its regular range battery contains 98 kWh, while its extended range variant carries 131 kWh… However, even if you don’t need the extra charge for driving, you’ll be glad you have it if there’s a power outage.
When the battery is half full, it still has 49 kWh of stored energy, which is three and a half times the amount of energy that a Powerwall can provide you with. And at a fraction of the cost if you don’t include the cost of the vehicle.
Ford’s technology will activate immediately if the power goes off, according to Stover. In the event of a power outage, your home will be powered entirely by the batteries of your automobile. Future versions of this technology will be able to employ Ford Intelligent Electricity, which uses the car’s battery when power is more costly. That is designed to save money for the owner and reduce the strain on the grid..
Of course, the downside is that EVs also need that electricity in order to operate. The power stored in backup batteries is only ever used to keep your house powered. That would make it much easier for people to establish a limit and prevent their vehicles’ batteries from going below that level.
The Ford F-150 Lightning started production on April 26 and is already being delivered to customers. Oddly, Ford may have under-promised, since the vehicle’s range and performance have exceeded the company’s initial expectations. Although the regular range model still clocks in at about 230 miles, the long-range battery delivers 320 miles of EPA certified range.
Power and hauling capability have been improved on both vehicles. Models in the base range now have 452 horsepower, up from 426, while those in the extended range now have 580 horsepower, up from 563. The 2,000-pound towing capacity provided by both vehicles has been increased to 2,235 pounds.