Ford unveils two new EV chargers to power homes using the Fathom pickup

Ford is introducing two new electric vehicle chargers designed to let its upcoming Fathom pickup truck act as a battery that can send power back to a home or the power grid. The Fathom truck itself will start at $28,350 and can deliver over 10 kilowatts of power to a house. This output can run essential appliances like a refrigerator and an air conditioner for about half a day during an outage, serving much like a small standby generator.

Charger Options and Costs

The first device is the Home Power Station, priced at around $650, which is roughly 50 percent less than Ford's first-generation bidirectional charger. It helps lower electricity bills by charging the truck when power prices are low and sending energy back home when prices go up. The second option is the Home Backup Power package, which combines the Home Power Station with a Home Backup Panel for about $2,100, costing around 60 percent less than the older version. This package lets the Fathom provide backup electricity to parts or all of a home during a blackout. Neither price includes home installation costs, which can reach up to $10,000 depending on the required electrical work, and Ford has not yet announced installer partnerships.

Grid Support and Virtual Power Plants

Both new chargers allow Fathom owners to join virtual power plants, which use software to manage a network of energy storage devices like electric vehicles. As power grids face heavy strain from artificial intelligence data centers, utility companies are looking at these networks to ease grid congestion. Owners who keep their trucks plugged in can sell extra electricity back to the grid for payouts that can reach over $1,000 a year based on grid demand.

Context

Vehicle-to-everything technology allows electric cars to act as mobile power sources rather than just consumers of electricity. As energy demands rise, automakers are increasingly investing in home energy storage solutions and grid integration features.