Ford's Most Affordable EV Will Offer Built-In Bidirectional Home Charging

Ford's upcoming $28,350 Fathom electric truck will come equipped with a built-in inverter capable of providing up to 10 kW of AC power to a home, introducing bidirectional charging to a more affordable electric vehicle. While the Fathom will still require additional Ford home hardware for features like outage backup and peak-rate energy management, the company anticipates that these components will be significantly less expensive than the previous-generation system.

CNET reports that the Fathom will be based on Ford's Universal EV Platform, developed in partnership with Auto Motive Power, with bidirectional power integrated into the truck from the start. The hardware needed to convert the battery's DC energy to approximately 10 kW of AC home power will be embedded within the vehicle, eliminating the need for a separate wall-mounted inverter box.

Ford asserts that the Fathom's system will comply with all relevant UL 1741 and IEEE 1547 standards, ensuring safe grid connection. The truck will likely utilize the NACS plug type, adopted by Tesla and other EVs in North America, and will communicate with the wall box using the SAE J3068 software protocol, designed for high-power, heavy-duty AC charging.

However, despite the Fathom's Universal EV Platform, additional hardware will be required to prepare a home for bidirectional power. To utilize features like the Home Power Management system, homeowners will need to install the Ford Home Power Station, which Ford has not yet priced. The automaker expects this component to cost roughly $650, half the price of the first-generation Ford Home Energy system, which originally launched at around $1,300.