Ford simplifies using your EV as a home battery with the $30K Fathom

This morning, Ford revealed that buyers of the forthcoming Fathom—the company’s sub-$30,000 electric pickup truck due next year—will get more than just a truck.

今天上午，福特汽车公司透露，购买即将于明年推出的 Fathom（该公司售价低于 3 万美元的电动皮卡）的消费者，得到的将不仅仅是一辆卡车。

Until now, vehicle-to-home technology—like the setup Ford developed for the now-discontinued F-150 Lightning—takes DC power from the electric vehicle and runs it through an inverter built into the wallbox to turn it into AC the house can use. But with the Fathom, that inverter is built into the truck from the start. So every Fathom will be able to act as a backup battery for your home.

在此之前，车到家（V2H）技术——例如福特为现已停产的 F-150 Lightning 开发的系统——需要从电动汽车中获取直流电，并通过安装在壁挂式充电盒中的逆变器将其转换为家庭可用的交流电。但对于 Fathom 而言，该逆变器从一开始就内置在卡车中。因此，每一辆 Fathom 都能充当家庭备用电池。

It’s typical: You wait a decade for a cheap electric truck, and then two come along almost at once. And they’re two radically different products from two radically different automakers that I think will reveal a few preferences from the EV-buying public. One is the Blank Slate, from a brand new startup offering a bare-bones two-door that capitalizes on features the Internet says it wants, like no onboard modem, no touchscreens, and no infotainment system. The other is the result of one of Detroit’s big three taking a long, hard look at Chinese EVs and asking itself, “How do we make a car that cheap?”

这很典型：你等了十年才等到一辆便宜的电动卡车，结果两款车几乎同时出现。它们是来自两家截然不同的汽车制造商的两种截然不同的产品，我认为这将揭示电动汽车购买群体的一些偏好。其中一款是 Blank Slate，来自一家全新的初创公司，提供一款极简的双门车型，利用了互联网上人们所追求的特性，例如没有车载调制解调器、没有触摸屏、也没有信息娱乐系统。另一款则是底特律三大车企之一深入研究中国电动汽车后，自问“我们如何制造出如此便宜的汽车”的成果。

Although the Ford Fathom will cost $5,000 more than a Slate, that money does buy an extra pair of doors, modern conveniences like an infotainment system, CarPlay, electric windows, and a vast dealership network to service the car. That may be helpful given how many recalls Ford issues each year.

尽管福特 Fathom 的价格比 Slate 高出 5,000 美元，但这些钱换来了一对额外的车门、信息娱乐系统、CarPlay、电动车窗等现代便利设施，以及一个庞大的经销商网络来提供车辆维修服务。考虑到福特每年发布的召回数量，这可能会很有帮助。

The new take on bidirectional EV charging came about when Ford acquired Auto Motive Power three years ago. The result is the Fathom’s charging module, one of five powerful computers that each handle a different aspect of the Fathom’s functions. (Known as a software-defined vehicle, this handful of domain controllers replace the dozens and dozens of discrete ECUs you’d find in an older design.)

这种双向电动汽车充电的新方案源于福特三年前对 Auto Motive Power 的收购。其成果就是 Fathom 的充电模块，它是五个强大计算机中的一个，每个计算机负责 Fathom 功能的不同方面。（作为所谓的软件定义汽车，这几个域控制器取代了旧设计中随处可见的数十个独立电子控制单元。）

Now, the Fathom won’t need a wallbox with an in-built inverter, like the 80 A unit needed for the Lightning. But you will still need the Ford Home Power Station, which Ford says should cost about half as much as the $1,310 device needed for the older, bigger truck. The management software knows to charge your car when electricity is cheap and uses it to power the house when rates are expensive.

现在，Fathom 不需要像 Lightning 所需的 80 安培装置那样带有内置逆变器的壁挂式充电盒。但你仍然需要福特家庭电源站（Ford Home Power Station），福特表示其成本约为旧款大型卡车所需 1,310 美元设备的一半。管理软件能够识别电价低廉时为汽车充电，并在电价昂贵时利用汽车为房屋供电。

To use the Fathom as an emergency battery during outages, customers will also need Ford’s newer Home Backup Panel. The automaker says this should cost 60 percent less than the first-generation panel, which cost around $5,000. That means adding V2H to your house still isn’t free, but it should be a lot cheaper than before. It’s also the first sub-$30k bidirectional EV with AC power.

为了在停电期间将 Fathom 用作应急电池，客户还需要福特较新的家庭备用面板（Home Backup Panel）。该汽车制造商表示，其成本应比第一代面板（售价约 5,000 美元）低 60%。这意味着为你的房子增加 V2H 功能仍然不是免费的，但应该比以前便宜得多。它也是第一款售价低于 3 万美元且具备交流电输出功能的双向充电电动汽车。

Ford is also working with a number of utilities across the US and Canada to hash out the details needed to begin vehicle-to-grid pilot programs with the Fathom. And it has made sure the system meets existing standards, including the UL 1741 standard for chargers, the IEEE 1547 standard for connecting vehicles to the grid, and SAE J3068, a communications standard.

福特还正在与美国和加拿大的多家公用事业公司合作，敲定利用 Fathom 启动车到电网（V2G）试点项目所需的细节。此外，福特已确保该系统符合现有标准，包括充电器 UL 1741 标准、车辆连接电网的 IEEE 1547 标准以及通信标准 SAE J3068。