Ford F-150 Lightning Is A Rolling Energy Storage Beast, & Sunrun Is Here For It

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The US solar-plus-storage firm Sunrun and the Ford Motor Company have been running a “stealth” vehicle-to-home energy storage experiment this summer, leveraging the powerful battery of the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. So far they like what they see, and a pot-sweetener of $800 per customer should help ensure that the first-of-its-kind trial gains traction among EV drivers around the US.

Ford F-150 Lightning & The Renewable Energy Storage Connection

Viewed from an energy storage perspective, electric vehicles are simply large, mobile batteries. They are source-agnostic, meaning they will take electricity from anyone, anytime, anywhere.

In terms of decarbonization, getting EV drivers to recharge on 100% renewable energy is the next step. That’s a work in progress, but momentum is beginning to pick up as renewable energy stakeholders spot an opportunity to sell drivers on the multi-use capabilities of an electric vehicle.

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Meanwhile, Ford is setting a good example of how automotive stakeholders can promote the multiple benefits of owning a large, mobile energy storage device. Ford launched the new F-150 Lightning EV in 2021, shortly after a major oil pipeline shutdown threw US gasmobile drivers into panic mode.

“F-150 Lightning can power your home during an outage,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley in a launch press statement, drawing attention to the longer-term benefits of owning an EV.

The renewable energy hookup also emerged in 2021. “Last night, the leading solar installer Sunrun let word slip that it is hooking up with Ford to provide two-way EV charging for Lightning F-150 owners, which could put more rooftop solar in the hands of more F-150 fans,” CleanTechnica observed.

By 2022, the outlines of the plan were cemented. “Sunrun is the preferred installer of F-150 Lightning home charging solutions, including the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System, which enables the F-150 Lightning to store and supply power to homes in a variety of ways,” Ford explained.

That can happen whether or not the homeowner has access to 100% renewable energy, but Ford indicated that part of the collaboration involves encouraging solar use, with Sunrun offering a rooftop solar deal to Lightning drivers in selected areas.

Maryland Hops On The Energy Storage Train

Maryland doesn’t get much media attention for its decarbonization journey, but the state has a number of significant table-setting projects in hand that can help jumpstart similar projects around the US. Sunrun and Ford are front and center in the latest venture, which involves a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the Maryland utility and Exelon subsidiary BGE (Baltimore Gas and Electric Company).

That first-of-its kind angle caught the news spotlight and the story has lit the Intertubes on fire. The idea is to enlist F-150 Lightning and Sunrun customers in a stepped-up version of the virtual power plant model.

For those of you new to the topic, a virtual power plant leverages smart grid technology to coordinate and motivate ratepayers to reduce their electricity demand during peak hours, reducing the need to build new gas “peaker” power plants. The virtual concept can also be applied to motivate rooftop solar owners and other small-scale renewable energy resources to feed electricity back to the grid in time of need (see more VPP background here).

The Ford-Sunrun-BGE mashup is being billed as a new iteration of the same concept, motivating whole fleets of vehicle-based energy storage owners to replace their home’s grid-supplied electricity with their EV battery during peak summertime hours.

“This program is a significant proof of concept — no other market player has done this — and the goal is to expand these programs all around the country,” Sunrun CEO Mary Powell explained in a press statement earlier this week.

“This exciting partnership lays the foundation for the power grid of the future where electric vehicle owners can contribute to grid resiliency and utility price stability for everyone,” she added.

Sharing Is Caring: First There Were Three…

Don’t get too excited just yet. The Maryland energy storage project launched in June with just three F-150 Lightning owners on board, who also participate the Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System, for which Sunrun is the exclusive dealer. The project will end on September 30 with the same three.

However, as Powell indicates, these three EV owners are already being credited with launching a vehicle-based home energy storage revolution.

“By discharging F-150 Lightnings’ onboard batteries directly to participants’ homes, the program showcases how electric vehicles can function like stationary batteries to reduce demand on the grid and create a more resilient and reliable energy system for all BGE customers in Maryland,” Sunrun notes.

Sunrun and BGE emphasize that vehicle-to-home energy storage systems are more than just an individual benefit. They create an energy-sharing platform that enables EV owners to benefit their whole community, by helping the local grid avoid brownouts and other interruptions.

“Partnering with Sunrun will allow BGE to unlock and learn the potential of how vehicle-to-grid programs will support increasing grid efficiency and reliability with distributed energy resources,” BGE VP of Regulatory Policy Mark Case explains, adding that individual EV owners will also benefit.

As for how much they can benefit, that’s going to be a pretty substantial amount. BGE is not relying on civic-mindedness to help position the Maryland project for expansion. The three participants are expected to receive $800 each for the four-month program, to compensate them for the energy they share.

Rolling Energy Storage Units & Telematics

As for why Ford and Sunrun picked Maryland to launch a potentially game-changing new wrinkle on their relationship, that’s a good question.

For starters, Maryland is an EV-friendly state with substantial incentives for both EVs and EV charging stations. The state is also among those taking advantage of new federal grants to expand its public EV charging station network.

In addition, BGE has proved itself a willing partner on energy efficiency and electrification. Although the company still has a firm grip on its gas business, BGE is a regular on the Energy Star Partner of the year recognition program administered by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.

The mashup with Sunrun and the Ford F-150 Lightning is also not BGE’s first turn around the cutting edge vehicle-based energy storage block.

In 2022, the EV grid integration firm WeaveGrid issued a press release describing its partnership with BGE’s “EV Smart” residential EV charging program. WeaveGrid called it among the first such programs to glean information on customer charging behavior through the use of telematics, referring to long-distance transmission technology for computerized data.

WeaveGrid also calls it “the very first program to use telematics to support an EV time-of-use (TOU) rate without the need of a utility installed meter for EV charging.”

“The programs use the vehicle’s computer to measure EV-specific electricity usage and offer lower cost off-peak charging to participants, resulting in 96% of charging occurring during off-peak times,” WeaveGrid explains.

The program currently estimates an annual savings of up to $120, offering EV owners yet another reason to appreciate the energy storage power of the vehicle parked in their driveway.

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Photo (cropped): Sunrun and Ford have been running a vehicle-to-home energy storage experiment this summer, leveraging the powerful battery of the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck (courtesy of Ford).