EVwire brief: Ford's $28,350 Fathom electric pickup will be able to send more than 10 kW of AC power to a home without a separate wall-mounted inverter, with the power conversion hardware built into the truck itself.
Ford says the inverter sits inside the Fathom's E-box, one of the truck's five main modules, making the Fathom the first EV from a US automaker priced under $30,000 that can power a home without that extra box on the wall.
Owners will still need Ford hardware at home, but far less of it. The next-generation Ford Home Power Station, which handles the bill-saving Home Power Management feature, is expected to cost about half of the $1,310 Charge Station Pro.
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Full backup during an outage needs the Home Power Station plus a Ford Home Backup Panel, at a combined cost of about $2,082 before installation. That's roughly 60% less than the $5,205 Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System setup used with the F-150 Lightning.
Dave McCreadie, Ford's director of grid and energy services, explained how moving the inverter into the truck changes the math:
"With fewer multifunctional parts and the inverter built right into the vehicle's E-box - one of the five main modules in the vehicle - the system is simpler and more affordable, so more EV customers can have bidirectional power."
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Context:
Ford says it started from a clean sheet on the Fathom's bidirectional hardware and software after acquiring Auto Motive Power in 2023, and McCreadie told Canary Media that other vehicles on the Universal EV Platform will also get AC bidirectional capability.
The Fathom is the first of those vehicles, and it is being built at Ford's overhauled Louisville plant ahead of preorders opening in early 2027. Ford confirmed the truck's name and $28,350 price in August, with a $1,595 destination fee on top.
Using the Fathom to cut power bills will also require approval from the owner's utility, and Ford formed a working group in July with American Electric Power, BC Hydro, Consumers Energy, Exelon and PG&E to simplify how utilities sign off on bidirectional EVs. This means that the hardware cost is coming down, but how quickly owners can actually use the feature will depend on their local utility.
Source: Ford From the Road, Ford, Forbes
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