Power outage? Automakers want you to use your EV as a backup source

Winter Storm Uri, the multiday freeze that slammed Texas in February 2021 and pummeled the state’s power grid, has been on Kenneth Kovar’s mind ever since. Though the resident of New Braunfels, northeast of San Antonio, didn’t lose power at the time, he wasn’t able to run his septic tank—it is independent from local systems. He had to fill his toilets with water from his backyard pool. So when Kovar, 64, bought a Ford F-150 last fall, his hope was to be better prepared for any new crisis. “I…