Notice from Ford today..."New Ford Intelligent Backup Power experience"

[idahospud]

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[invertedspear]

Does anyone even have a "working as intended" system set up? I feel like I've only ever seen a couple people say they were close.

 

[idahospud]

Does anyone even have a "working as intended" system set up? I feel like I've only ever seen a couple people say they were close.

Rick, I have had my system for about 18 months. The first 9 months were difficult and frustrating to say the least. But, to be fair, everything now appears to be working as designed without issue. I test the system, under load, monthly by turning off the main breaker.

 

[peteratmsr]

I also have a working system. Like Mike, it was frustrating at first. It was working initially, and then stopped, and then a complete reset, and now seems to be working reliably now. I don't test it every month (also by turning off the main breaker), but do so occasionally, mainly to prove to my super-skeptical wife that it actually works.

 

[Marcelo Zanetti]

Hi Mike,
Would you mind sharing your installation experience. I've got my Lightning Lariat ER in 22 and it came with the Charge Station Pro but I never installed it. I have a 50A outlet in my garage that I've being using to charge the truck.
I also would like to know if I need anything else electric wise to power my house with the truck other than the Pro charger.
Please let me know your experience, your input will be greatly appreciated.
TIA
Marcelo

 

[idahospud]

Marcelo,
1st, I needed to find a qualified electrician in Idaho (Sunrun did not have representatives here). That electrician needed to spend a lot of time on the phone with respective Siemens and Sunrun reps and, as an early adapter, this was a painful process.

Regarding the charger: I elected to install a subpanel at the same time the charger was installed (I had enough amperage but wanted to create a sub-panel to segregate all items that I would want to run on the Home Integration System back-up (we isolated items such as hot tub, fountain pumps, etc.) I never had any charging issues, but I did initially have losses of smart communication features - but I believe subsequent software updates in the charger and the Lightning have rectified those issues.

Although many people have "back-up" their home using other means, I chose to use the Sunrun Home Integration system (H.I.S.). I am thinking that in the future, I may add solar or additional wall-mounted batteries to supplement the system.

As for the H.I.S., very few of the reps who answered the phone were qualified in the initiation/authorization process, which ended up being the biggest hurdle to the system's successful continued reliability. According to the electrician, the wiring was reasonably intuitive. Eventually, we were able to obtain some direct phone numbers for some very smart folks at Siemens (the manufacturer of the HIS), which ended up being very useful in the process.

If I were to summarize the biggest issue in the process, it would be that, at least at that time, Sunrun/Ford assumed that Sunrun authorized/experienced techs would be installing these systems. There was no apparent plan for the consumer who would not or could not use Sunrun-trained people—no hotline, no videos, no separate brochures, etc.

 

[invertedspear]

Rick, I have had my system for about 18 months. The first 9 months were difficult and frustrating to say the least. But, to be fair, everything now appears to be working as designed without issue. I test the system, under load, monthly by turning off the main breaker.

I also have a working system. Like Mike, it was frustrating at first. It was working initially, and then stopped, and then a complete reset, and now seems to be working reliably now. I don't test it every month (also by turning off the main breaker), but do so occasionally, mainly to prove to my super-skeptical wife that it actually works.

Thanks for sharing. It's nice to know the system can work. It's a pricey install, so I really needed to see others succeed before I would even consider it. I also have solar, but not from sunrun, so I expect complications. I'm curious if the FCSP can backfill other battery storage systems. My Solar company has their own home battery backup system that I'd consider before the HIS installed by Sunrun.

 

[srspring551]

Because I could not find anyone in my area of Midwest who was willing to be an installer of the Ford/Sunrun system, I found someone who had off-grid experience and installed a home battery back-up system with solar feed enabled to charge it when a grid failure (otherwise solar supplements home and sells to grid, if excess). Then, I (well, they...) installed a 30 amp generator type plug in the garage that is wired to optionally charge the home battery from the Lightning 240V truck bed outlet. Not cheap but this had the most flexibility (esp. because it uses my solar or Lightning if grid down) and I don't need to keep the Lightning trapped at home to keep circuits energized, if I don't want to.

 

[BF150A]

If you don’t mind me asking where exactly did you find this notice of “A new way to manage Intelligent Backup Power is ready for you”? And have you in fact been able to access this new feature? Any additional information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

[idahospud]

If you don’t mind me asking where exactly did you find this notice of “A new way to manage Intelligent Backup Power is ready for you”? And have you in fact been able to access this new feature? Any additional information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

BF150A, I received an email yesterday that included the notice shown in my original email. Here is the hyperlink that was included: https://energy.ford.com/welcome

When I log on, it shows departure time, charge settings, back-up power range reserve. It also includes a "stop transfer" button which stops the vehicle to home power transfer. The edit portion of the "charge setting" and "departure time" are not yet active.

 

[BF150A]

BF150A, I received an email yesterday that included the notice shown in my original email. Here is the hyperlink that was included: https://energy.ford.com/welcome

When I log on, it shows departure time, charge settings, back-up power range reserve. It also includes a "stop transfer" button which stops the vehicle to home power transfer. The edit portion of the "charge setting" and "departure time" are not yet active.

I’ll check my junk mail file and see if that’s where my notice ended up. No, no email notification found, however, I followed the link you provided and was able to login on the Ford Welcome to Ford Energy Management webpage. Thanks for making this bit of information available.

 

[Ekiehn]

I received the same yesterday and set up... Going to check out operation of my HIS tomorrow and see how it reports... to invertedspear, my HIS works when I reset the FCSP which has to be done every 1 to 2 weeks... Pull off the cover, unplug the darkstart battery, factory reset, reconfigure, then when the FCSP is reset and I pull within a 3' feet of the unit, halfway in and out the garage, it communicates and all works... I have gone the circle with Sunrun and we really identified that the FCSP is the problem... crickets regarding replacement... Sunrun says a Ford update will fix it, Ford indicates it's Sunruns responsibility. Only saving grace is that I haven't had to pay Sunrun for installation for the last year and a half.... I do have to put up with the automated text that my account is past due and that I can click a link to pay online ... maybe that gives you the answer...

 

[Hammick]

I assume this does noting for me as I'm using the bed outlet connected to an automatic transfer switch.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I assume this does noting for me as I'm using the bed outlet connected to an automatic transfer switch.

using that link and your Ford.com credentials will bring up a control panel showing SOC and departure time settings, view only data.

 

[Jim Lewis]

using that link and your Ford.com credentials will bring up a control panel showing SOC and departure time settings, view only data.

If you have the Home Integration System installed, this is what you see when you log into https://energy.ford.com/ :

Presumably, if the system were active in backup power transfer (or you were charging your vehicle), you'd see in the upper right of the web page the power transfer animation from truck to house (or from grid to house to truck, if charging) as you do on the truck SYNC screen when you run the Intelligent Backup Power applet in your truck.

As a side note, I can get this screen even though my truck is "bricked" and locked in Inhibit Mode from a failed OTA update.

I've had the experience everyone else here describes with the HIS system. Frequent cold reboots have been necessary to reset the system to ensure backup power transfer will actually work when grid power goes out. Typically, to do a cold reboot, I turn off all power to the FCSP and the HIS unit, including shutting down the Dark Start battery. But more recently, things got so out of whack I did have to factory reset the FCSP through the FordPass app (a hardware reset through the FCSP didn't work), and also factory reset my truck. So, from my experience, the state of the truck can be part of the problem, too. According to Mike G., for some Lightning owners, until Ford issues a special GWM (ECG) update for the truck, the FCSP won't work properly in backup power transfer (charging with the FCSP should still be fine, which has been my experience through all my HIS troubles).

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/starting-to-get-lvb-12v-warnings.19631/post-400292

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...ming-in-the-fdrs-temporarily-suspended.19409/

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