After one of the updates, can't remember which one, the auto-power-off setting now defaults to 30 minutes, and you have to manually go in and set it to stay on each time you want to use it. Could this be your issue?
Ford Lightning owner powers home essentials for 2 days and still had battery left in the tank
3
Ford Lightning owner powers home essentials for 2 days and still had battery left in the tank
Thousands of Canadian residents awoke Christmas ay with no electricity after a massive winter storm swept across the area. One...
electrek.co
Peter Johnson| Dec 28 2022 - 11:42 am PT70 Comments
Thousands of Canadian residents awoke Christmas ay with no electricity after a massive winter storm swept across the area. One southern Ontario resident was able to keep the lights on for almost two days after plugging in his Ford F-150 Lightning, and still had plenty of battery left after the power came back on.
Ford Lightning powers home after a severe winter storm
When Ford released the F-150 Lightning electric pickup, the company called it “the smartest, most innovative F-150 that Ford has ever built,” referring to it as the truck of the future.
However, as Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, explains:
And that’s exactly what Ford did. Ford was the first in the US to offer bidirectional chargingcapabilities on an electric truck with Intelligent Backup Power, which “provides full-home power for up to three days or as long as ten days,” depending on energy usage.
The Ford Lightning also includes Pro Power Onboard, providing up to 9.6 kW of power spread across 11 outlets, including a 240V outlet in the bed.
After a severe winter storm hit Ontario, leaving thousands without power, Hydro One, an electricity distribution company serving the area, said in a statement:
One Ford Lightning owner used his electric pickup’s powerful battery to power their home essentials for 44 hours. RapsFanLJ posted a picture of his EV pickup on Reddit, saying, “this baby saved us.”
Although it wasn’t wired to the home’s panel, the owner ran two extension cords with a splitter to power the refrigerators, freezers, Wi-Fi, select lights, and TV for nearly two full days. And the best part, when the power was restored, the Lightning still had 65% of its battery left.
Electrek’s Take
Ford’s electric truck is not only fun to drive (instant torque makes it the fastest-accelerating F-150 yet), but it does also help solve “real problems for real people.”
It is foolish to have such a huge resource (EV battery), but not be able to use it as needed. That covers V2L, and V2H. V2G is also a no-brainer, and also pays the battery owner. the future feels pretty obvious here, but there is a large amount of pushback, just as there was on renewables, then EVs, then heat pumps. I've gotten the first 3 right despite the loud yammering that I was wrong/and the endless excuses about how it couldn't/wouldn't work. Good odds I am correct here, as well, but time will tell. Our family will simply not buy an EV that lacks V2G. Hilariously, that means a LEAF is ok, but a Tesla is right out!
Power outages have risen by around 78% in the past ten years, compared to the previous 10, as extreme weather events like the winter storm in Ontario are becoming more frequent.
The Ford F-150 Lightning has already helped people power up after hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and now a winter storm. The electric truck is already proving to be the “truck of the future” Ford envisioned, and customers just began receiving them earlier this year. With over-the-air updates, the Ford Lightning will only continue improving from here with added features and capabilities.
