Ford’s new $30,000 EV truck can power a home during an outage without an external inverter, potentially making backup electricity cheaper

With growing electricity prices in America, electric cars have begun providing some advantages apart from transportation purposes. In particular, the upcoming Fathom electric pickup truck produced by Ford may have another benefit to offer – the ability to generate electricity for a household during a blackout, thus presenting its owners with an alternative to traditional backup generators. This model is supposed to go on sale in the USA next year at the starting price tag of $30,000. One of its features will be the capability of bidirectional charging. It implies that the electricity accumulated in the car’s battery can be returned to use outside of the vehicle.

Ford has elaborated on how the Fathom will vary from its predecessor, the F-150 Lightning, in terms of the way its home-power feature works, as has been revealed in reports from InsideEVs.

For example, while the current vehicle did not have an inverter inside it, the new one will include one, which could help to cut down on expenses and complexity.


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This technology could come in handy during power outages, especially when there is extra strain on power grids due to severe weather conditions. However, the owner would still need the proper home equipment.

Ford Fathom will convert its battery power for home use

In an electric car, the electricity that is stored in the battery exists as direct current, or DC, while at home, the electrical supply system usually operates on alternating current, or AC. The transformation of DC to AC is normally carried out via an inverter.

The inverter is to be installed in the vehicle itself.

As reported by InsideEVs, the inverter will be integrated into one of the five electrical modules of the Fathom known as the E-Box. This system will provide more than 10 kilowatts of AC electricity to the house.

The integration of the inverter in the Fathom will make it easier to use the EV for supplying home electricity, as no additional equipment will be necessary. In the previous F-150 Lightning system of Ford, the inverter was set up differently.

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The Fathom will not be the first EV to come equipped with such an inverter. Another example would be the Tesla Cybertruck, which shows that car manufacturers are increasingly looking into ways of increasing the potential use of their cars.

For the average homeowner, the advantage will be obvious: when the power goes out, you simply need to make sure that your house is prepared and your vehicle has enough energy in its batteries.

Home backup hardware could cost around $2,000

Despite the Fathom having a built-in inverter, the owner will still require extra components in order to transfer electrical energy from the truck to their house.

According to Ford, the required hardware will consist of the Home Power Station and the Home Backup Panel.

InsideEVs wrote that Ford expects the price tag for the Home Power Station to be around half of the first-generation bidirectional charging unit's price, which is the Charge Station Pro that debuted at $1,310 back in 2022.

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The price of the initial F-150 Lightning backup pack, including the bidirectional charger and the Home Integration System, was $5,205. In the case of the new hardware pack, the company expects it to cost about 40% less, making its price around $2,000.

It would mean quite a noticeable drop in the price of necessary equipment for the vehicle-to-home power option. The technology might also become more affordable for those people who do not want to spend money on home batteries and just need a backup power source.

Nevertheless, the price tag of the hardware pack shouldn't be mistaken for the installation price.

Installation costs and battery capacity still matter

Not all houses will be able to take advantage of the Fathom as a backup power system without modifications.

The installation process may involve new conduit work, trenching, and electrical panel upgrades based on the house's electrical system. This additional work might drive up the costs beyond the advertised price of the equipment.

Power capacity is another factor that will affect the amount of load that the vehicle could supply to the household during an outage.

Power output capacity of more than 10 kW would be enough to operate some devices and systems within the house; however, actual loads would depend on the aggregate demand of the systems in the house and the remaining charge in the vehicle's battery.

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Household owners would have to keep track of their energy consumption from the vehicle in order not to drain the battery and to have enough power for driving after the outage. With its drawbacks, bidirectional charging would still give an alternative option to using backup power generators.

In addition to being able to handle emergencies, there is much more that this technology can do.

For systems that work under the vehicle-to-grid concept, EVs that are compatible can return power to the rest of the electricity grid. The ability for individuals to earn money by doing so will depend on the technology itself and other aspects.

Thus, the Ford Fathom, to be released in the future, may be interesting not only because of its electric engine but also because of the possibilities it may provide for its owners to use it as a source of power for backup in case of an emergency.