Siemens eMobility announced that together with Ford, it has developed the Ford Charge Station Pro, a custom-built EV charging solution for the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning. The Ford Charge Station Pro is an 80-amp level 2 charging station that utilizes the CCS or "combo" connector, instead of the usual J1172 connector, found on level 1 and level 2 charging stations sold in North America.
The Ford Charge Station Pro is also the first bidirectional-ready EV charging equipment set for release at retail customer scale to receive certification under the newly expanded Underwriters Laboratories 9741 standard.
The reason the Charge Station Pro uses the CCS connector is because of its bidirectional power flow. When it is charging a vehicle, power is flowing from the unit to the vehicle via the J772 portion on the top of the connector. Then, in the case of a power outage and the F-150 Lightning is delivering power to the home, power is only flowing through the two DC pins on the bottom. The Charge Station Pro, as well as additional equipment, is needed to enable Ford's Intelligent Backup Power system.
Charge Station Pro can deliver up to 80-amps (19.2 kW) to an electric vehicle, but the unit can be de-rated all the way down to only 20 amps (4.8 kW). The charging station has internal dip switches that allow the user to set the maximum amperage that it will deliver from 80-amps down to 20-amps. This becomes useful if the home it's being installed in doesn't have the extra electric capacity to allow for the full 100-amp dedicated circuit.
“Together with Ford, Siemens is not only helping accelerate electric vehicle adoption in the residential space but is also empowering drivers to take more ownership of their energy future,” said John DeBoer, head of Siemens eMobility in North America. “The technology behind this charger is helping make charging at home more sustainable, more reliable, and more accessible. We’re incredibly proud to put our experience to work to help usher in a new era for electric vehicles and grid resiliency.”
However, limiting the Charge Station Pro to deliver lower amperage won't restrict Ford's Intelligent Back Power system. That's because the Charge Station Pro has separate power feeds for both charging the vehicle and powering the home.
Therefore, the rate at which the F-150 lightning can charge isn't directly tied to the amount of power that can be supplied to the home during a power outage. Even with the Charge Station Pro derated all the way down to 20-amps, it can still deliver the 40-amps (9.6 kW) to the home when needed.
Ford hasn't released pricing for the Charge Station Pro yet, but the charging station does come free with the vehicle if it has the extended range battery pack. We suspect the unit may retail for as much as $2,500 to $3,000, as other 80-amp charging stations that don't offer bidirectional capability often cost about $2,000.
