What if the car sitting in your driveway could become your own personal power plant?

That’s the question Ford aims to answer with its Home Power Management program, the next step in the automaker’s quest to sweeten EV ownership for its customers.

Ford said Tuesday that owners of the electric F-150 Lightning who buy the Ford Charging Station Pro and Home Integration System will be able to charge their truck with lower-cost electricity “in select markets where electricity rates change throughout the day.” Typically that’s overnight, when there’s less demand for electricity. Those users would then be able to use the energy stored in their truck’s battery to power their home when rates are higher.

The automaker is launching a pilot program with DTE Energy, a Detroit-based energy company, to test vehicle-to-home managed charging, starting with 15 Ford employees. DTE will compensate participants for sharing some of their vehicle’s battery capacity.

DTE’s grid will send notifications to ChargeScape, a vehicle-to-grid integration platform backed by Ford and other automakers, which will then communicate with the EV and manage its battery.

“We’re starting to move beyond the obvious perks of EV ownership—like instant torque and ditching gas stations—to potentially unlock new value: turning your F-150 Lightning vehicle into a smart personal power plant that can help you save money on your monthly electricity bills, and earn financial incentives from your participating electricity company,” Bill Crider, Ford’s head of global charging and energy services, wrote in a blog post.

Keep reading here.—JG

Q3 brought a mix of headwinds and tailwinds for the auto industry, from some tariff relief to the sunsetting of federal EV tax credits to a fire at a supplier plant.

Here’s how Ford, Tesla, and General Motors fared financially.

Supply-chain woes: Ford reported profits of $2.4 billion, up from $900 million in Q3 2024. Revenue was up 9% YoY to $50.5 billion. The automaker said that tariffs cost it $700 million in Q3.

Ford Model e, its EV business division, reported an EBIT loss of $1.4 billion, higher than the $1.2 billion EBIT loss it reported in Q3 2024. Its internal combustion engine and commercial vehicle businesses reported earnings of $1.5 billion and $2 billion, respectively.

The automaker is navigating a supply-chain crisis after a fire halted production at a Novelis aluminum plant in New York, a crucial supplier for Ford vehicles including F-Series trucks. Ford said it expects the fire “to be a headwind of $1 billion or less” between this year and next. The company announced plans to add “up to 1,000 jobs to increase F-Series production” to recover losses from the fire.

Keep reading here.—JG

In case you were wondering what problem AI should solve next, Amazon has an answer: helping you decide what to buy next.

On Thursday, Amazon introduced a new AI-powered “Help Me Decide” button that recommends products based on shopper browsing history and preferences. Amazon said the idea is to offer a clear product recommendation with explanations.

The goal is to help shoppers save time and offer confidence in their purchase decisions, Daniel Lloyd, Amazon’s VP of personalization, said in a statement. The tool taps into AWS tech like Bedrock, SageMaker, and OpenSearch to make those calls.

Amazon is not the only company trying to fight decision fatigue. Google’s AI Mode recently upgraded its setup by giving users more visual options. Plus, existing Shopping Graph and Search Generative Experience suggest products based on intent and longer search queries.

Amazon’s Help Me Decide lives inside the Amazon Shopping app to recommend one product once consumers have viewed a few similar items. The button appears on the product page and the recommendation includes an explanation of why it’s the pick for the Amazon customer. Users can also see an “upgrade” or “budget” alternative before checking out.

“Amazon has created this situation of overwhelming shoppers with sponsored listings that don’t necessarily match what they’re looking for, and we see this especially with searches for specific brands or products that aren’t sold on Amazon,” Sky Canaves, principal analyst of retail and e-commerce at eMarketer, told Retail Brew.

Keep reading here.—VC

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