Ford, Microsoft Extend Partnership Through Hohm

Flush from the success of a years-long partnership that produced the Sync infotainment system in Ford vehicles, the automaker and Microsoft announced an alliance around a new technology platform at the New York International Auto Show.

Microsoft Hohm will help owners of future electric vehicles from Ford recharge more effectively and affordably, Ford CEO Alan Mulally said in announcing the deal.

The idea is that, in some not-too-distant scenario, Hohm will help these electric-vehicle owners decide when is the best time to recharge their battery-powered all-electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid from home outlets that are attached, of course, to the power grid.

And what switches should you turn off on other things at home while the car is recharging? Hohm will help you figure that out as well. Microsoft and Ford said they also would work with municipalities and utilities to help manage usage changes to the electricity grid from electric-vehicle demands.

As a branding gambit, this announcement is a good deal for both companies. Details are sketchy at this point, and no one really knows how “green” vehicle owners actually will deal with having to access the power grid once plug-in hybrids begin to hit the market next year.

But, for one thing, Ford’s involvement plays well into the continued greening of the automotive industry as well as another theme that is prevalent at the New York show this year: the digitization of everything automotive.

And Hohm makes sense as a way to continue a Ford-Microsoft partnership that has produced a big winner in Sync. Under their agreement, the Microsoft platform that undergirds Sync soon will no longer be exclusive to Ford, so Hohm could prove a great way to carry the brands’ cooperation into another proprietary sphere.

Expect a number of such cooperation announcements in coming months, as plug-in hybrids become a reality. Watch the bridge to the auto industry’s greener future take shape. And credit the early birds.