Bidirectional charging is still in hypothetical or developmental stages for many automaker companies. But Ford has already started working with California-based utility company PG&E to take this technology to the next level. These two amazing companies are trying to introduce a functionality where the F-150 lightning electric pickup truck can be able to support the electrical grid.
The new partnership
The partnership between Ford and PG&E might bring an excellent feature to turn electric vehicles into power banks. This collaborative project has already planned to initiate its first installation of Intelligent Backup Power hardware. This modern technology will be executed for the F-150 lightning this spring. The special feature will be capable of powering the home for up to 10 days.
Introduction of new technology
Though the project is still very early, it is creating huge excitement among electric car users. The company mentioned the initiative as “an early adopter opportunity” in “a small number of customers’ homes”. So, the features might be implemented in a few homes as a trial project. Then companies will consider the future of the project based on the result. If everything goes positive they will make the features available to the larger users.
Exploration of the functionality
This intelligent backup power bank-featured truck is the first electric vehicle in the USA that is capable of performing such a great task. It will officially introduce the OEM-supported equipment for the people. PG&E is responsible for exploring the functionality of the system. They will check the interconnections of this bidirectional charging system used to support resiliency during grid outages.
What’s coming next
Ford and PG&E are yet to explore details on additional hardware for this research project. The lighting configuration requires an 80-amp charge station with a dark-start battery and transfer switch. PG&E said they are expecting to learn more about the overall customer experience which can open future collaborations on a larger scale. On the other hand, Ford prefers to use the hardware of Sunrun. So, it is thought that the actual home configurations will vary greatly among Lightning customers.