The Ford F-150 Lightning ute (known as a pickup in the US) is getting a chance to prove the worth of its vehicle-to-grid capabilities.
American utility Duke Energy announced this week that it will launch a research and development program to test and evaluate the role the new Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck can play in providing grid edge resources in Florida.
Ford’s highly anticipated F-150 Lightning has seen increasing demand since it was unveiled in May 2021, but not only from potential consumers but from utilities looking to evaluate the role that electric vehicles (EVs) with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology can play in providing vital grid resources.
Californian utility PG&E announced earlier this year that it would explore the ways in which the F-150 Lightning and its Intelligent Backup Power bidirectional charging capabilities would interact with the grid in addition to providing backup power for customers’ homes in PG&E’s service area.
Now, Duke Energy, another American utility with service areas in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida, will follow suit, in a development pilot program aimed at evaluating the way in which the F-150 Lightning and its V2G technology could act as a grid edge resource.
Duke Energy will add around five F-150 Lightning trucks to its own fleet of vehicles in Florida to perform additional testing of the truck’s V2G technology, with a focus on leveraging homes that have solar and stationary storage.
It will utilise the F-150 Lightning and the Ford Charge Station Pro and Intelligent Backup Power Home Integration System’s bidirectional charging infrastructure in an extensive testing campaign which will draw and feed energy from the power grid.
Duke will look at how the vehicle interacts with other customer-owned distributed energy resources – such as rooftop solar and battery storage – how the truck’s battery performs powering customers’ homes during an outage, how the vehicles can be used to feed the grid during peak usage, and how such usage impacts the trucks’ batteries over time.
“Ford’s electric vehicles are unlocking new possibilities in energy management for our customers, becoming valuable energy storage sources that are changing the game on the benefits an EV can deliver,” said Steven Croley, chief policy officer and general counsel for Ford Motor Company.
“Alongside Duke Energy and our mutual customers, we’re working to fine-tune and expand these capabilities that will not only power their lives, but also accelerate the development of a less carbon-intensive grid.”
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.