Electric Ford F-150 powers man's cooking, lights, fridge, entertainment during Hurricane Ian

[tinrobot]

The F-150 Lightning owner who used his Lightning when his power was out is Westley Aaron Ferguson. He used his electric Ford pickup truck to power his and his family’s refrigerator, lights, fans, TV, electric stove burner, record player, and speakers — and probably more.

Link to tweet

One person asked how long Westley thought he’d be able to run his house on the Lightning, a question many were surely wondering. Naturally, not knowing how long they’d be without power (it could be hours or it could be days or weeks), the most logical thing was to only use the Lightning to power essentials. Also, Westley did not have the vehicle-to-home (V2H) setup Ford is offering in partnership with Sunrun. As you can see below, though, they used ~10% of the truck’s power in one day, so he assumed they could have used the truck like that for 8–9 days if the grid power had stayed out that long.

https://cleantechnica.com/2022/10/02/ford-f-150-lightning-powers-florida-mans-cooking-lights-fridge-entertainment-during-hurricane-ian/

One more reason to adopt EVs. They can act as battery backups during natural disasters.

[FoxNewsSucks]

1. Pretty cool

Running the whole house would have just shortened the battery life anyway. When you don't know how long you'll need to use the vehicle for power, better to just plug in what you absolutely need.

[Sogo]

2. Not aware that other EVs can be used as power backup for the home,

but F-150 (with extended range battery) is capable of it and advertises that as a main feature.

I'm seriously considering getting one, because when power goes out in the dead of winter in the Midwest, that means that likely (and in my case, for sure) we will be without heat. Not good....

[tinrobot]

5. The standards are in place, and car makers are implementing.

The new Hyundai/Kia cars have it. I think the new GM cars will also support it. The good old Nissan Leaf just got an adapter as well.

In a few years, it will be a standard option.

[Sogo]

6. Excellent!

Maybe I'll shop around, then.

Thanks for the info.

[Qutzupalotl]

7. There are portable emergency battery units for around $800-$1500

that can run appliances during a power outage, such as a space heater. Check the wattage requirements you'll need and get a unit that can go about 50% higher than that. Our power goes out a lot, so I got one that can power a microwave for short periods, a refrigerator intermittently, charge our devices and modem, and run a swamp cooler in the summer. Some can be charged by solar panels. It's not a whole-house option that would run our heat pump, but it's far better than nothing.

[Hortensis]

3. Fantastic. Being able to flex-use available resources

can obvious greatly boost sustainability, and eventually at a much lower cost than separate units. This should become more and more valuable and available as humanity settles in to the long haul of dealing with climate change emergencies.

A couple decades ago due to a massive ice storm, power went down across north GA for something like a quarter million people. Hundreds of nice modern subdivisions, including new "luxury" homes, emptied as owners without an alternative heat source were forced to evacuate. Some areas didn't get power back for several weeks.

As Southern California transplants, it was our first winter where one could freeze to death. Bless our son, who'd rented a modest little mobile home for us to come to while we searched for a home to buy. He chose it because it was by a lake, but an alternative heat source (gas-powered cookstove) allowed us to snuggle in comfort and hear about the ongoing catastrophe, displacement and misery from the radio. Lesson taken.

[NickB79]

4. There was a company selling inverters for Prius owners to do the same

As long as your car had fuel to idle, you could plug in. A few Jerry cans of fuel could keep you good for a week or more.

Sadly they appear to no longer be in business.

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/running-our-house-on-prius-power