⚡️ Edison, Ford and Intelligent Backup Power

Happy Monday. This is the 3rd Edition of Electric Avenue. Not much EV news this week, so we`re keeping it a little more focused - you know, like Will Smith and Margot Robbie.

Here`s what we have for you today:

1 Quote + 2 Thoughts + 3 Links

But first, let’s take a look at the EV & Charging stocks movement over the past week:

This the third straight week of most stocks trading down. Remember, diamond hands everyone. Stock markets in the US will be closed on Monday due to the Labor Day holiday. One less day of bleeding.

1 Quote

This striking quote by Thomas Edison was recorded during an Interview in 1910 - over 110 years ago. It seems very timely as most of the world is currently grappling with both a climate crisis that causes extreme heat and a political crisis in the Ukraine that causes spiking energy prices. The transition to renewable energy sources brings many benefits, people have known this for over a hundred years. It`s time to start acting like we own the place.

Credit for this quote goes to the How to take over the World podcast, which did three great episodes on the life of Thomas Edison. Recommended listening.

2 Thoughts on Ford`s Intelligent Backup Power

I. What is it?

Ford Intelligent Backup Power (FIBP) is Ford`s term for using the electric F150 Lightning pickup truck as a backup energy source during extreme weather events and grid outages. For context, ChaDeMo-equipped electric vehicles in Japan have had this feature for close to a decade now. But in the US, the F150 is really the first EV bringing this feature to market - and not just as a limited-audience research pilot.

II. What do we know so far?

This video interview with Ford`s "Head of Intelligent Backup Power", Ryon O`Gorman, explains the system and answers common questions from customers. Ford also has an interesting mini-site on the feature that shows screenshots of the in-vehicle and mobile app user interfaces.

Ford`s approach has a couple notable things to it:

• It is currently a "closed system", meaning the F150 will only communicate with and discharge through the compatible Ford Charge Station Pro wallbox.

• The wallbox is included for free with "Extended range" (larger battery) versions of the F150, as is the software feature needed for FIBP itself. Buyers of the "Standard range" battery variants will have to buy the wallbox (~$1300) and pay an extra amount via Ford Connected Services to unlock the capability on their vehicle ($unkown).

• Ford`s wallbox (which is actually made by Siemens) has an unusual approach, where an AC (=alternating current) feed of up to 80Amps is used to provide power to the station and the vehicle for CHARGING. However, for DIS-CHARGING the vehicle provides DC (=direct current) to the wallbox, which has a separate DC feed to an external inverter. The inverter then converts the power back to the AC used in our residential grids.

• The external inverter in this case, has to be a very specific model that is provided by Ford`s partner Sunrun - one of the largest solar installers in the US. The benefit of this is, that the inverter can be shared between the vehicle and a residential solar rooftop system, thus reducing cost of the overall system.

• The inverter, plus additional components needed (automatic transfer switch, backup battery for the inverter) are termed as the "Home Integration System" (HIS) and available for ~$3900 through Sunrun and AEEEexpress.

• Ford and Sunrun recently released the installation and commissioning documentation for the whole system. Based on this we can see that while the system is branded as Ford+Sunrun, the HIS hardware components are actually made by Delta Electronics:

Cost Analysis:

Assuming we own a Standard Range variant of the F150 Lightning EV - how much would we need to pay in order to enable Backup Power for our single-family home?

Hardware components:

• Ford Charge Station Pro - $1310

• Sunrun HIS - $3895

Software components:

• Ford Connected Service to Unlock FIBP feature on the vehicle - $ unknown currently

Installation + other Costs:

• It is difficult to estimate how much installation of the Charge Station Pro + HIS on their own would cost, since installation effort and labor costs vary greatly. Most customers are likely to combine the installation of these components with additional solar rooftop modules. This is also advisable from a tax perspective as a 30% solar tax credit can also cover the cost of the other hardware components, when installed together with solar through Sunrun.

• We found one quote online where a customer received a $14k quote for 2.13kW solar, the HIS components + installation. After a 30% tax credit their cost would come down to $9.8k.

Can we see the system in action?

Not yet. While F150 deliveries have started for a few months now, we have not yet seen any independent reviews or demonstrations of the FIBP system. According to a recent interview with Ford`s VP of Electric Vehicle Programs, the first two customers in the US have recently gotten their systems installed. We`ll keep our ears on the ground and hope to hear and see more of these customer installations soon.

What does the future hold?

The current system has two major limitations:

1) While the inverter can run during a grid outage and convert the vehicle`s DC power to AC, it apparently can NOT do the same for DC generated by the rooftop solar system. If it could, that would further increase self-reliance as one could recharge the truck battery off of solar during the day and then use that energy to provide power back at night. It is unclear whether this is a hardware or software limitation by the inverter at this time.

2) The system currently only supports Vehicle-to-home (V2H), not Vehicle-to-grid (V2G). This means that the home needs to be fully "islanded" (=disconnected from the grid via a transfer switch) before the vehicle can discharge. Depending on where one lives and how reliable the local grid is, this functionality may be valuable anywhere between 0 hours per year or several days per year.

BUT, according to Ford statements in this video - V2G is coming. Here`s what we know so far:

• Ford`s branded name for V2G will be "Ford Intelligent Backup Power"

• No additional Hardware will be needed besides the existing V2H pieces (vehicle + Charge Station Pro + Sunrun Home Integration System)

• No timeline given other than "in the future"

• Ford also stays vague when asked about the potential impact on battery lifecycles when using it daily for energy cost arbitrage at home. We`ll have to see if they implement a kWh/hour limit on V2G use like Volkswagen seems to do.

3 Links

• EVGo’s TOU pricing: The Price of electricity fluctuates throughout the day. This is often abstracted away from consumers, who are used to constant prices per kWh throughout the year. A new pilot by EVgo is now introducing up to 3 different prices that vary by time of day, to reflect the actual cost and the strain on the grid at different times. While price can serve as an effective way to steer consumer demand, the tradeoff is a more complex pricing model that can be confusing for customers. From an EVGo station in San Diego:

• Plugsurfing trades hands: One of the major e-mobility service providers (eMSP) in Europe just got a new owner. Finnish utility Fortum sold their subsidiary Plugsurfing and the price is said to be 75M Euros. The eMSP business has historically been a tough one to earn money in, particularly with a B2C-focused brand like Plugsurfing. With the B2B focus of their new owner Fleetcore we could potentially see some strategy changes for the company.

• Where the rubber meets the road: While EVs can completely eliminate tailpipe emissions, there are a lot of non-tailpipe emissions that can have negative health effects (tire particles, brake dust, road particles) and EVs only partially reduce those (less brake particles, but potentially more tire and road particles due to heavier vehicles). While some startups are already working on catching tire emissions, these are still good arguments for more public transit and other shared mobility services in urban environments vs. individual car ownership - even if those individual cars become all-electric.

Meme of the Week

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions.