We have written in this newsletter about the Ford-150 Lightning, the electric version of the best-selling pickup truck in US history, which many believe is set to be the major driver of change toward electromobility in that country. The tests being carried out by Ford with automotive specialists have brought to light another aspect of this vehicle: its ability to function as a large battery to power a home in an emergency or feed electricity into the grid, where regulations allow.

The F150's lithium-ion battery pack offers 10 times the capacity of the Tesla Powerwall, an $11,000 battery sold as a backup for homes that, as the Bloomberg article says, can't take you to the supermarket. 

"The Lightning is a small power plant for a home that can supplement the grid on extremely hot days when we have peaks in demand," Jason Glickman, executive vice president of engineering, planning, and strategy at PG&E Corp., told Bloomberg., the California electricity distributor. PG&E is conducting tests to evaluate how to integrate the F-150 Lightning into its grid management.

The Lightning is the first electric vehicle in the USwith bidirectional charging capability. If the vehicle is connected to the grid and a power outage occurs, the home it is connected to begins using electricity from the F-150's battery, which can power a home's needs for three days.

The F-150 with this capability comes from the extended-range model, or as a $1,310 supplement to the standard version with a 230-mile battery capacity. In addition, it is necessary to purchase a home connection integration system, which costs $3,850.

You can view the Bloomberg report HERE