Ford Motor Co. and PG&E Corp. plan to check using a brand new electrical truck to energy houses throughout blackouts because the California utility large seeks to scale back the affect of outages throughout wildfires and storms.
The businesses will take a look at the flexibility of Ford’s new F-150 Lightning EV to ship energy flowing again to a home and join with the grid, Ford CEO Jim Farley and PG&E CEO Patti Poppe mentioned throughout an occasion Thursday night time on the CERAWeek by S&P World power convention in Houston.
Ford’s battery-powered F-150 is the primary of its form that can be utilized as a backup energy supply. PG&E will take a look at 5 vans this yr, Poppe mentioned in an interview.
PG&E has been exploring methods to attenuate preemptive energy cuts to prospects at instances when excessive winds elevate the danger of wildfires. EVs, which have gotten extra frequent in California, might be a method residents preserve the lights on in the course of the shutoffs, Poppe mentioned.
Earlier this week, PG&E mentioned it’ll work with General Motors to check EVs as a backup source of home power.
