Ford F-150 Lightning Featured In First-Of-Its-Kind Distributed Power Plant
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The federal EV tax credit will meet an early demise on September 30, and automakers are on the prowl for other ways to attract the driving public to a zero-emission ride. In the latest development, three Ford F-150 Lightning pickup trucks play the featured role in a first-of-its-kind distributed power plant, and wait — why only three? What’s the big deal?
Three Electric Pickup Trucks, One Distributed Power Plant
The new distributed power plant is a creation of the leading solar and storage installer Sunrun, operating under the wing of the BGE, the Maryland branch of the leading energy firm Exelon. It builds on the ongoing collaboration between Sunrun and Ford, in which Sunrun is the preferred installer for Ford’s home energy hardware. Sunrun also co-developed Ford’s bidirectional Home Integration System.
“Sunrun, America’s largest provider of home battery storage, solar, and home-to-grid power plants, has activated the nation’s first residential vehicle-to-grid distributed power plant in partnership with BGE, Maryland’s largest natural gas and electric utility,” enthused a joint BGE–Sunrun press release on September 24, which makes it sound like dozens if not hundreds or even thousands of vehicles are involved.
Not so. The press release goes on to explain that the effort is a pilot-level project that deployed just three Lightning trucks. So, what’s the big deal?
In terms of EV sales past the end of the federal tax credit, the pilot project is a very big deal. In accord with the distributed power plant model, Sunrun and Ford have created a seamless household energy management system that enables ordinary ratepayers to sell the electricity stored in their vehicle battery back to their local utility, helping to offset the upfront cost of purchasing an EV more rapidly than otherwise possible.
What Is A Distributed Power Plant?
I reached out to Exelon to confirm that the project involves a distributed power plant, not a virtual power plant. The two systems serve similar purposes but through different means. Adding to the confusion, sometimes VPP and DPP are used interchangeably.
By and large, though, a virtual power plant is called “virtual” because it replaces centralized gas peaker plants with software that coordinates a network of connected appliances, including EVs. The primary goal is to shift demand from peak periods onto off-peak periods.
In contrast, a distributed power plant is called “distributed” because it replaces centralized gas peaker plants with a network of electricity-producing devices, including energy storage systems, which can discharge to the grid.
Advocates for the distributed model also point out that virtual power plants are typically designed to aggregate demand in order to meet the size requirements of wholesale electricity markets, while distributed power plants embody the more granular — some say democratic — principle of adding value to the energy-generating asset of an individual household.
BGE has confirmed that the new press release does not conflate DPPs with VPPs or any other PP. “Sunrun calls it a distributed power plant because it has the ability to dispatch and inject energy into the grid,” a BGE representative explained in an email message.
Distributed Power Plants And EV Sales
The new program demonstrates the commercial application of vehicle-to-grid bidirectional charging. Moving up the ladder to widespread adoption is a work in progress, but if all goes according to plan, the distributed power plant model could help keep the EV sales momentum going for the long run.
Bidirectional charging seemed pretty exotic just a few years ago, but now it is par for the course, enabling EV owners to draw down their car battery to run household appliances during grid emergencies, or to provide power for tools and other electrical equipment. The distributed power plant model adds yet another layer of benefits.
“This groundbreaking program marks a huge milestone for distributed power plants in America and demonstrates that the large batteries inside electric vehicles can do more than power a commute when technology and policies come together,” Sunrun explains. “They can also stabilize the grid, provide backup power to homes, and lower energy costs for everyone.”
The program launched in July and continues into the end of September, tasking the owners of the three F-150 Lightning trucks with discharging to the grid between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on weekday evenings, with allure of up to $1,000 in incentives for the three-month period as motivation.
Assuming the pilot project grows into a full blown utility offering, that may be enough to take some of the sting out of losing the $7,500 federal tax credit. In the US, car owners typically hold on to their cars for a decade or more, and Ford, for example, states that it has designed its EV batteries to last at least 10 years.
“Educating customers that their electric vehicles have the potential to save—and even earn—them money all while parked at home is a game-changer,” explains Ford’s senior director for global charging and energy services, Bill Crider.
“Enabling customers to not only power their homes, but send power directly back to the grid in times of need helps customers with financial incentives, utilities with more power capacity, and society through more grid reliability and sustainable energy practices. It’s a win-win for everyone,” Crider emphasized.
The Changing Face Of The EV Market
Winning or not, it remains to be seen what happens to EV sales in the US after October 1 when the tax credit goes kaput, much to the surprise of any EV-curious car buyer who has not been keeping up with the latest hijinks over in Congress, where the compliant Republican majorities in the House and Senate have been falling all over themselves to carry water for US President Trump’s war on EVs, solar energy, wind energy, and anything else resembling a modern, 21st-century solution to the pressing problems of the day.
If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread. Better yet, find your representatives in Congress and tell them what you think.
In the meantime, both Ford and General Motors have been forging ahead with long-term vehicle electrification plans, based partly on new low-cost battery technology. Alongside the distributed power plant model and other incentives, the emergence of more affordable EVs should help refresh the electrification momentum to last long beyond January 20, 2029, when the current occupant of the White House is scheduled to decamp — peacefully one hopes, this time.
The EV profile of the US will probably look quite a bit different by then. The current and longtime EV sales leader, Tesla, has seen sales fall off a cliff alongside the rise in the political fortunes of CEO and cofounder Elon Musk, while sightings of Rivian, BMW, and Hyundai EVs have become a daily event in my early adopter neck of the woods along with a notable appearance by a Ford Mustang Mach-E in a driveway right down the street.
Photo: Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck via CleanTechnica archive.
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