A new way to manage Intelligent Backup Power is up ahead.

[Jim Lewis]

The following Ford announcement arrived Friday, 3/22/24, and got put in my JUNK mail folder. Only noticed it today. Probably was only sent to existing Home Integration System (Intelligent Backup Power) owners, like yours truly...

A new way to manage Intelligent Backup Power is up ahead.

A new Intelligent Backup Power web experience is coming soon for F⁠‑150 Lightning® truck owners, when equipped. The FordPass® App* will no longer support this feature after May 2024, but you’ll continue to be able to access and manage Intelligent Backup Power on your vehicle touchscreen. Then, a new mobile web experience will become available after May to help you access and manage Intelligent Backup Power with even more convenience and flexibility in an online experience with: A clear, mobile‑friendly interface that lets you quickly confirm your home is being powered, the time remaining in your current transfer, the current charge on your battery, and your range reserve. The ability to view your Energy Schedule on the same screen with the option to stop the transfer at any time. You’ll also be able to see when your vehicle will reach the targeted battery charge level. Thank you for being a part of the Ford family of vehicles and helping to lead the way. For questions on this update, please contact the Ford CRC (Customer Relationship Center) at 800⁠‑392⁠‑⁠3673, and they will be happy to help.

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[Dinozero]

Hopefully they can update the web interface faster than the app. Maybe it’ll help?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Is this a clue as to when the new FP app version 5 will become standard, May/June?

 

[RickLightning]

Is this a clue as to when the new FP app version 5 will become standard, May/June?

Soon...

 

[DennisM1]

Hopefully this will also be a resolution to Bluetooth connection issues with the Ford Home Integration System. i’ve had mine for over a year and can’t get it to work reliably

 

[Jeffgtx]

Seems to me that they are just struggling to keep the backup power features going and it is inhibiting the developemnt of the main app so they are parsing it out. There’s no real reason a mobile webpage would be any better or worse. it just lets the fordpass app move forward unincombered for the 99% of people that aren’t using the backup feature anyway.

 

[flux capacitor]

Just as long as it is not tied to some subscription that they will charge you just to have it.

 

[Jim Lewis]

Seems to me that they are just struggling to keep the backup power features going and it is inhibiting the developemnt of the main app so they are parsing it out. There’s no real reason a mobile webpage would be any better or worse. it just lets the fordpass app move forward unincombered for the 99% of people that aren’t using the backup feature anyway.

Unfortunately, that's my thought entirely, too. When 99% of Lightning owners aren't using HIS, it's just an annoying, in-the-way mystery in the FordPass app, particularly when there's a programmed invitation in the FP app last time I checked to set up backup power transfer, etc., check its status, look at the transfer logs, etc., etc.

With Ford's move to more market-competitive smaller EVs (Farley's admission that it was stupid to bank on massive, very high-tech EVs that require massive, very expensive Li-ion batteries that price such vehicles way above most consumers' pocketbooks), you have to wonder what the future of the Home Integration System is. Most people probably don't want to pay $8K to $10K to get it installed by Sunrun, etc.

Some people who are well-connected with Ford and Sunrun have assured me that Ford is committed to making the Home Integration System work well. But unless costs can come down, it may just be an albatross around Ford's neck that Ford hopes will go away in time and slip into the dustbin of history.

 

[luebri]

Unfortunately, that's my thought entirely, too. When 99% of Lightning owners aren't using HIS, it's just an annoying, in-the-way mystery in the FordPass app, particularly when there's a programmed invitation in the FP app last time I checked to set up backup power transfer, etc., check its status, look at the transfer logs, etc., etc.

With Ford's move to more market-competitive smaller EVs (Farley's admission that it was stupid to bank on massive, very high-tech EVs that require massive, very expensive Li-ion batteries that price such vehicles way above most consumers' pocketbooks), you have to wonder what the future of the Home Integration System is. Most people probably don't want to pay $8K to $10K to get it installed by Sunrun, etc.

Some people who are well-connected with Ford and Sunrun have assured me that Ford is committed to making the Home Integration System work well. But unless costs can come down, it may just be an albatross around Ford's neck that Ford hopes will go away in time and slip into the dustbin of history.

I do recall, you were warned on this very forum that H.I.S. was an expensive debacle… that said I commend you spear heading forward with hopes they’d dial it in. If it was in the 2k to 3k and well actually worked, I think there would be a market, but it is nothing but a poorly executed ridiculously expensive party trick at this point. I am much more intrigued by setups like @TaxmanHog using a delta ecoflow battery (or something similar) setup as an intermediary battery that pro power onboard can charge up when they start getting depleted.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I do recall, you were warned on this very forum that H.I.S. was an expensive debacle… that said I commend you spear heading forward with hopes they’d dial it in. If it was in the 2k to 3k and well actually worked, I think there would be a market, but it is nothing but a poorly executed ridiculously expensive party trick at this point.

Not sure why you are compelled to make ad hominem remarks. My report was just about where Ford as a company might be heading with the Home Integration System (and even with massively big and massively expensive EV trucks - but you don't give that part of my post much attention, and potentially, Ford's screwed up much bigger in that department, lost much more money and many more potential customers than they ever will over the Home Integration System). I wasn't complaining about my own HIS system per se.

In other posts, I've mentioned that I'm satisfied with the Home Integration System (given that Ford makes it work reliably as they've promised me they intend to—if Ford promises aren't worth much, then that's something else again—but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now).

Thanks to my wife being a working M.D. (not retired yet), I'm very well off, and the Home Integration System was only ~10% of the cost of an otherwise very pricey ~$100K vehicle. So it's spare change, as far as I'm concerned. There are folks on the forum sticking their chests out over all the vehicles they owned and have flipped over the years. I imagine that in depreciation, for that pleasure, they've blown many times more money than I spent on the Home Integration System and improving our house wiring. My wife and I keep our vehicles forever and get every penny out of them. I'm 78, and my Home Integration System will probably outlast me. It comes with a 13-year warranty, which I trust if I live that long, Ford will still be around to ensure someone honors it even if Sunrun bites the dust in the interim.

Sunrun made a number of improvements and corrections to the 34-year-old wiring in our house (our original builder shortchanged us on several counts). We got a new main panel and a new subpanel, GFCI/AFCI breakers on almost every circuit (our original builder had multiple circuits on one GFCI, with GFCIs for different house regions). Improperly spliced, wrong-size wiring was removed between our previous main and subpanel, and the new panels were properly wired. They would have moved our new main panel, too, a safe distance away from our gas meter if the first electrician at our house hadn't screwed up (San Antonio had pretty lax rules in the late 80s for the proximity of panels to gas meters). For our backup, it's automatic. We don't have to run extension cords or throw a transfer switch; it's through the FCSP charger, which is almost always plugged into my truck. So, if we fly off somewhere else, the truck can back up the house by itself. And they honored my request to make our subpanel for all lighting and outlets the backup loads panel. So I can totally manage my own power usage.

 

[luebri]

I'm glad its working for you... I may have misconstrued your satisfaction levels based on your many informational messages regarding the struggles you've had getting H.I.S. working and your statements in post 8 regarding poor adoption rates and the system being expensive. If you are still happy with the system, and you got the money to justify it, that is awesome!

 

[neririn]

I did not get this email, nor do I have anyway to 'contact' ford for support of my HiS. I wonder if I never was registered as a HIS owner?

Is there an actual support site for this thing? An 800 number? Fax number?

I have to admit, with a couple of specific exceptions, my HIS experience has felt mostly like a Ponzi scheme. Once they had my money, they were off to find more money rather than provide me what I paid for.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I did not get this email, nor do I have anyway to 'contact' ford for support of my HiS.

Thank you for being a part of the Ford family of vehicles and helping to lead the way. For questions on this update, please contact the Ford CRC (Customer Relationship Center) at 800⁠‑392⁠‑⁠3673, and they will be happy to help.

Perhaps the difference is my FCSP came with my order of my Lariat ER, and upon having my order activated, I immediately called Sunrun and ordered the HIS unit through them and had them install it. If your path differed, maybe that explains the lack of a notice. I've quoted the Ford contact phone number that came in the e-mail that I received. Maybe you should give them a ring?

 

[Steely]

I haven't seen any news regarding this, has anyone got any details on when this will be implemented or is it still just coming soon?

 

[Jim Lewis]

I haven't seen any news regarding this

The website is up and running: Energy App (ford.com). But after logging in, the page refreshes and goes blank. Happens with Edge, Chrome, and Firefox. I haven't tried using it while backup power transfer is running, and AFAIK, I haven't received the GWM update yet that's supposed to fix the bugs in the truck/FCSP relationship (I still occasionally get DTC U019B:00 in Car Scanner, for example).

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