Ford announced two new EV chargers today that will allow its forthcoming Fathom pickup truck to serve as a battery capable of delivering power to the home or grid.
The new chargers promise to be about half the cost of Ford’sexisting equivalent products, which could make the technology available to more households. Ford said the Fathom itself will start at $28,350.
The Fathom will be capable of delivering “over 10 kW” to a home, Ford said. That would allow the electric vehicle to substitute for a small standby generator. For most U.S. homes, it wouldn’t be enough to power everything, but it could keep a refrigerator and air conditioner operational for about half a day.
Such capability has been touted as an advantage EVs have over fossil fuel vehicles, but not many EVs come properly equipped, and the chargers required to make use of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) services tend to be costly.
Ford’s two devices offer similar but differing capabilities.
The Home Power Station device can help customers shave down their utility bill by charging the Fathom when power prices are low and sending electricity back to the home when prices are high. The automaker says it will cost around $650, about 50% less than its first generation bidirectional charger.
The other option, Home Backup Power, is a package that bundles the Home Power Station with a second device, the Home Backup Panel, to allow the Fathom to also power parts or all of a home when the power goes out. Ford says the package will cost around $2,100, about 60% less than its first generation product.
None of those prices include installation, which for existing V2X chargers can run up to $10,000, depending on how much electrical work needs to be done to prepare the home. Ford did not announce any partnerships with installers, though a spokesperson told TechCrunch that Ford would release more details at a later date.
Which loads the Fathom can power will vary by household and the specifics of each installation. Things like air conditioners and refrigerators, for example, typically require a large surge of power to start up, after which point their load drops. So-called soft start devices can help mitigate the surge, though they add cost to the installation.
Both chargers will allow Fathom customers to participate in virtual power plants (VPPs), which use software to control a fleet of distributed energy storage devices, such as EVs.
As staring on the grid grows due to AI data centers, utilities have been exploring whether VPPs can help alleviate congestion at the edges.
Fathom owners who enroll and keep their truck plugged in can sell electricity back to the grid, often at a premium. Ford did not say how much Fathom owners can stand to make, but the payouts can be upwards of $1,000 per year, depending on the grid’s needs and the level of participation.
Automakers, including Ford, have been diving deep into energy storage as demand for such services surges. The Fathom-powered VPP is Ford’s latest foray into the market, but it’s unlikely to be its last.
Source: techcrunch.com
