You might soon be using your Houston Ford F-150 Lightning® to power your home in an emergency outage if a test currently being conducted by Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) in Florida proves successful.
In a groundbreaking pilot program the energy giant which is not selling electricity in Texas but does operate 5 of its 15 windmill farms within the state including the impressively tall Mesteño facility southwest of San Antonio, is testing the viability of the pickup truck for bidirectional electricity Using & producing electricity).
The Ford F-150 Lightning® seems a prime vehicle for the test as it’s the most visible all-electric pickup truck available today. Houston auto Dealerships such as Autonation Ford Gulf Freeway, Baytown Ford, Autonation Ford Katy, and Legacy Ford will be happy to discuss the benefits of an all electric truck, particularly in Houston.
The focus of the test with Duke Energy will be to evaluate the practicality of using the truck to help power your home in conjunction with locally generated power such as solar. The pickup’s battery capability to supplement the other sources of power during an outage and feed the grid (selling or offsetting usage) during high usage dayparts is being analyzed. The test will also evaluate the impact on the battery life (historically a concern and criticism of all electric or hybrid vehicles).
Lon Huber of Duke Energy is quoted as saying, “We’re constantly testing clean energy innovations to gauge how they perform in complex real-life scenarios…” This is especially applicable in Houston where heavy rains and wind from tropical storms or hurricanes (not to mention the occasional freezes) can knock out home power.
Will your Houston Ford F-150 Lightning® soon be powering your home? It just might! The electrified Ford F-150 Lightning®, available at Houston Ford dealerships, replaces an internal combustion engine (gasoline or diesel) with an electric motor that powers the truck. The excess energy generated or from charging is stored in the batteries. In the new test, that generated and stored power can also be used to help power the home.
If you’d like to discover more about the Ford F-150 Lightning®; schedule a test drive; or see any other Ford vehicle, click here to see some of Houston’s best Ford dealerships.
If you’d like to compare the Ford F-150 Lightning® Chevrolet offerings click here. For GMC dealerships click here. If you’d like to see what Houston Dodge dealerships have to offer click here or for Houston Toyota dealerships, click here.