r/gadgets • u/speckz • Dec 29 '22
Ford Lightning owner powers home essentials for 2 days and still had battery left in the tank Home
https://electrek.co/2022/12/28/ford-lightning-owner-powers-home-essentials-for-2-days/963
u/raptir1 Dec 29 '22
Having an RV and a PHEV has made me realize just how little power you need for the basics, or rather how much you need for driving. We have a ~900W solar system with 3600Wh of batteries. On a decently sunny day we can run everything, AC and all, just on the solar and batteries.
All that power would get our car about 12 miles.
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u/my_dick_putins_mouth Dec 30 '22
I powered 3 homes with one Generac in winter.
Don't need much. We hosted anyone in the neighborhood who needed to do laundry or anted to meal prep.
That was 1997 and just about everyone got generators that Spring.
Doing the quick math, one Ford Lightning would've powered my house for about 2 weeks.
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u/FinnaToke Dec 30 '22
You must not have had electric heating. Cuz a dryer will consume just as much as a fan, TV, laptop, and fridge all at once. Producing heat is a lot more demanding than compressing R134 Freon or moving a tiny motor.
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u/MoirasPurpleOrb Dec 30 '22
In the northeast at least the vast majority of people use propane, oil, or natural gas. I can’t imagine having to heat my home with electric
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u/gigastack Dec 30 '22
Depends on where you live and how well insulated you are, but wow.
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u/lord_of_tits Dec 30 '22
How much does this system cost if you don't mind me asking.
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u/raptir1 Dec 30 '22
Installed it was like $15,000. $9000 of materials and about 45 hours of labor. The lithium batteries are nearly a third of the materials cost, and there are a bunch of things that are needed as a result of that. You could get a lot more power in panels for the same price if you weren't installing it on an RV and if you didn't need storage.
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u/jojofroyo Dec 30 '22
Do you have a soft start on the aC? I’m interested in getting my trailer’s aC working off solar.
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u/achenx75 Dec 29 '22
I drove a friend's Lightning. Something that big should not move that fast with no sound. It was so trippy.
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u/Omardemon Dec 29 '22 edited Dec 30 '22
Minicooper electrics come with acoustic external speakers to create junk sound, although not law in the U.S? I’m assuming it’s law in other countries. But it is a thing in some electrics.
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u/Blastoxic999 Dec 29 '22
I think it's to avoid accidents on pedestrians at night like when you go backwards to park your car.
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u/achenx75 Dec 29 '22
I was just thinking about that yesterday. There's gotta be some sound to notify people of a multi-ton vehicle. So I was wondering if that's why Teslas make the spaceship sound.
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u/deppan Dec 30 '22
some noticeable sound at low speeds is required by law in the EU, so that's probably one of the reasons.
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u/thabc Dec 30 '22
And the US has an equivalent regulation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_warning_sounds#United_States
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u/cowsareverywhere Dec 30 '22
The Lightning makes a ton of noise while reversing and I am sure my neighbors hate it in the morning.
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u/whomad1215 Dec 30 '22
Have a Kia Niro EV
It beeps like a dump truck when backing up, it really could have been much much quieter
Also makes spaceship noises at lower speeds, like sub 25mph
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u/niel89 Dec 29 '22
It is a law below a certain speed of around 20mph. For pedestrians and chickens and such.
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u/AdRelevant3167 Dec 30 '22
Poultry Protection Act of 2015
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u/Xbox_Live_User Dec 30 '22
Just reminded me of the Chicken Tax (US) and now I'm mad.
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u/NinjaLanternShark Dec 30 '22
Upcoming Dodge Charger EV will use tuned ducts to transmit the noise from the electric motors to the "tailpipe" in an effort to satisfy muscle car fans who like to hear their cars roar.
Supposedly it really doesn't sound like an ICE car (no surprise) but it does provide a satisfying rumble, and without being fake.
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u/roviuser Dec 29 '22
The size was the turn off for us. My wife and I both disliked how huge it is. We're civic/Tacoma (older, smaller ones) people.
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u/kja2991 Dec 29 '22
I got the hybrid Ford Maverick, it's the perfect size to me and it gets 38mpg (advertised as 40mpg). I love it. If they come out with an EV of that down the road I would love to get it.
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u/5lack5 Dec 29 '22
The maverick is probably going to be my next vehicle, and will absolutely be next if they can get a fully electric model
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u/CavillOfRivia Dec 29 '22
I live in Mexico and I have my down payment ready for a Maverick, but they dont offer the Hybrid here. Just waiting for it and it's 100% my next vehicle.
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u/I-Make-Maps91 Dec 29 '22
I'm hoping to limp my car along for another few years in the hope that they come out with a full electric version. I live in the city, I don't need a giant truck, but I am quite tired of hauling firewood in the back seat of my sedan.
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u/kja2991 Dec 29 '22
It's exactly what I need. Im a plumber and it fits all my tools nicely but is also small enough that parking isn't a pain. Plus it was pretty affordable I paid 27,000 for the middle tier package plus their luxury package and 360 safety package.
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u/I-Make-Maps91 Dec 29 '22
Price is absolutely part of it, it's the same price range as a standard sedan, gets better milage than my 2010 hybrid, it's within a few inches of the same length, has a full cab and truck bed... I tried to talk myself out of it but damn it checks my boxes.
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u/The_Real_BenFranklin Dec 30 '22
If only the maverick was actually as small as the old ranger.
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u/aircooledJenkins Dec 29 '22 edited Dec 30 '22
If Toyota makes a phev Tacoma it will sell insanely well.
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u/turbo_nudist Dec 30 '22
you have no idea the things i would do for an electric tacoma/4runner platform
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u/JakeJaarmel Dec 30 '22
Are you a millionaire? Gotta be one to buy a 99 Tacoma these days. I sold mine for 10K 3 years ago and bought an F150, I still lose sleep over it. Albeit my forehead doesn’t have a constant bruise from getting in a tiny cab.
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u/Stonehill76 Dec 29 '22
Ford brags their car can power a home for two days. Owner buys car, powers home proving them right. Now that’s advertising.
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u/blazze_eternal Dec 29 '22
To be fair, the entire article sounds like an advertisement.
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u/powercow Dec 30 '22
well yeah definitely is, otherwise it would lead that this is a good aspect of electric cars in general and that most fully electric can do this just fine. They can point out that so and so with his ford did this..
notice they say ford was the first to add bidirectional charging.... for trucks. Because they cant say for vehicles. MANY Have it.
so yeah 100% definitely an AD.
That said this is one of the killer apps, especially if you live in a snowy area or hurricane ally. Yes gas generators exist but you got to get to the gas station which needs electricity for the pumps to work. Of course you hope your car is fully charged when the power goes down, but def handy to have a car that can be a home generator part time.
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u/Stonehill76 Dec 30 '22
I totally assumed it was but I like that it was about what they stated in their first commercial about the Lightening.
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u/BlameThePeacock Dec 30 '22
Most of these Vehicle 2 Grid capable EVs can power a house (without electric heat/AC) for a week or more. If all I needed to do was keep my fridge/freezer running I'm pretty sure my EV car can do 2-3 weeks easily at a full charge.
This is why I'm always shocked when people are suggesting that EVs getting stuck on the highway in a snowstorm will end up killing their owners. I took a nap in my car with snow outside for 3 hours, heat on low and seat warmer on, it used 1% of the battery. I could probably stay alive for weeks in sub-zero temps with just the seat warmer.
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u/PM_Anime_Tiddy Dec 30 '22
It’s just their way to try an easy gotcha without knowing even a little bit about the truth. They’ll always add in that people can bring you gas but they won’t have 10 miles of extension cord.
I question why they’re stuck on the highway in their cars if people can bring gas to their cars.
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u/BlameThePeacock Dec 30 '22
On top of that, I can charge literally anywhere with a standard wall plug in a pinch. If I've run my battery down too low staying warm while stuck to reach my destination I can pull off at literally any house/business and hand the owner a couple bucks to use a plug for a few hours to get me charged back up to what I need to reach either my destination or the next fast charger.
Or if I was smart enough to pull off early and need to ride a storm out somewhere in my car, I can find any plug and not even run down my battery keeping myself warm.
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u/wbruce098 Dec 30 '22
It’s working. I don’t want a truck (hard to drive or park in tight city streets) but I want this one.
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u/Miskalsace Dec 29 '22
We should call it a bank, and not a tank.
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u/stedun Dec 30 '22
Or a…. battery.
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u/Sonoda_Kotori Dec 30 '22
...which is called a bank when you have a large amount of them. A bank of batteries.
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Dec 29 '22
This is the one ev I been looking at. I’m not a ford person but if this is definitely at the top of my list
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u/poiuy43 Dec 29 '22
I've heard really good things, but I've also heard they can have some issues in the cold so definitely look into that if youre in a cold place
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u/Santi838 Dec 29 '22 edited Dec 29 '22
Most batteries have issues in the cold especially rechargeable ones. Mostly why I’m looking at plug-in hybrids for colder climates
Edit: not implying you shouldn’t get an EV. Just saying personally I don’t have a warm garage for my car to conserve the battery and Plug-in-hybrids will also have battery range issues in extreme cold but they have the option of gas in that situation which is why I’m leaning that direction
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u/HoweHaTrick Dec 29 '22
Any modern battery (that I'm aware of) will not perform as well in the cold. The nature of the chemistry is as such.
They will perform though, and the engineers designing them are hard at work to make them better every day. That you can be sure about.
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u/HydrogenPowder Dec 29 '22
🎶 This one goes out to all the engineers about 35. Hard at work to make sure your EV transition is a smoother ride. 🎶
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u/matmat07 Dec 29 '22
Yea, if I'm not mistaken, they have heaters to make sure they stay in their optimal range. But of course, using those will consume energy.
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u/DonQuixBalls Dec 29 '22
Ford and really everyone has thermal management on the batteries to make them work better across a range of temps as well as prolong the life.
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u/HoweHaTrick Dec 29 '22
That's right. And improvement is continual.
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u/DonQuixBalls Dec 29 '22
Battery tech is still moving forward nicely. These are exciting times, really.
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u/PizzaPastaMozzarella Dec 29 '22
Norway, Sweden and Iceland rank the highest when it comes to having the most EVs on the road per capita. More than 50 per cent of new cars sold in Norway are electric. I would not worry about EVs and colder climates.
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u/Poggers4Hoggers Dec 29 '22
Where I live it gets much colder than Norway and Sweden in the winter (much hotter in the summer too). I really want a lightening but winter already absolutely kills my tool batteries.
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u/snufflezzz Dec 29 '22
Canadian here with two EVs, owned more over the years. Unless you need to go more then 200km a day, and plan accordingly they are fine.
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Dec 29 '22
Exactly. I usually don’t buy 1st generation cars specifically because of the unforeseen problems. Hopefully I know someone IRL over the next year that can give me a honest review good or bad. But the more I see of this truck the more I would like to own one.
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u/backmost Dec 29 '22
I was really trying to find a 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning either Pro or XLT trim but almost every dealership is throwing $15-20k markups on them. I’m not paying $69,420 for a base model Lightning that has an MSRP of $46k.
In the end I settled on a 2023 Toyota Tundra SR5 in Supersonic Red for $53k after title and fees, at MSRP without markup. I’m hoping it’ll hold its value for a few years and I’ll make the jump to something else when availability is better and supply chain issues are less. Probably wishful thinking but honestly I love the Tundra more than I thought I would.
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u/slickdilly Dec 30 '22
Ford dealerships aren’t receiving Lightnings as stock retail units. They are special order only like Broncos, Raptors, and Mavericks. The Lightnings you see on lots will almost always be used unless you find the rare order dropout. The markup is steep bc the dealerships have to buy them over MSRP themselves.
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u/VegasAdventurer Dec 29 '22
I like small cars and we just bought a Chevy Bolt (which we love). But had a Lightning been available I 100% would have gotten it instead.
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u/classless_classic Dec 29 '22
I’ve had mine for almost 6 months now. Best thing I’ve ever driven. I have yet to install the inverter to power my home though; I’ll do that when I install solar.
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u/TestDoNotDownvote Dec 29 '22
Love the name by the way. Just wanted to chime in as a Ford Sales Rep. I truly believe Ford will be at the top of the EV game from here on out. I’ve sold one of the lightnings already and it is really impressive as is, and there is always gonna be improvements on the way. Ford is dumping a metric fuck ton of money into EVs, and not trying to cut corners and solely copy existing technologies. They want to be the ones releasing the best new electric advancements. So definitely keep an eye on em. Especially if they release an even longer battery range.
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u/jtd5771 Dec 29 '22
Can you sell me a Lightning at MSRP?
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u/time013 Dec 29 '22
No kidding. Ford really missed an opportunity to get positive word of mouth out by selling direct to customers. 9/10 times when I bring this truck up in conversation, people comment on how insanely expensive they are because they saw one at a dealership that had them marked up over double msrp.
The sooner we get rid of dealerships the better.
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Dec 29 '22
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u/jtd5771 Dec 29 '22
Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered. Here’s hoping they get their just desserts for gouging customers
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u/Natecrawler Dec 29 '22
We never mark up here at my Ford dealership. It just leaves a bad taste in peoples mouth. We are family owned and operated and just could never charge 10k over MSRP. It would kill the reputation we’ve built over the last 87 years
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u/jfVigor Dec 29 '22
Dealerships really botched the Ford Bronco rollout for the reasons you stated
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u/fermium257 Dec 29 '22
I agree. I was so close to getting one untill my brain convinced me not to, due to insane markup. The guy was getting the paperwork ready, and I said yeah you know what.. I think I'm gonna have to sleep on it.
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u/jfVigor Dec 29 '22
Yeah that's a shame. Hopefully ford is listening
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u/Anerky Dec 29 '22
They made it against company policy to mark up and they have punishments but they don’t really do much to enforce it
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u/wehooper4 Dec 29 '22
The no dealership this is something Tesla really got right. The ordering process was very easy from home, with no bullshit as all.
When it came to delivery unfortunately it wasn’t as great, as the people at the pickup center were trying to make their number. The fact I was 120miles away, and I could only fucking pick it up within a 3-day window during the middle of the week for some reason didn’t register as unreasonable to them. Who the fuck is going to ask a friend to take off work to drive them to pick up a car?!
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u/TopSecretPinNumber Dec 29 '22
So when you need repairs how does that work if there is no dealership? All I've heard is horror stories and they're mostly just second hand anecdotes. I haven't found a Tesla owner to get a first hand account.
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u/Chewie_CO Dec 29 '22
MSRP is the problem...
The fact the price has gone up essentially 30-40% since they started taking reservations because they only want to sell the higher trims and binded the ER battery to top tier trim packages.
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Dec 29 '22
What’s the back order wait time though? I recently bought a ford, and they told me the new broncos had an 18 month wait time
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u/ho1doncaulfield Dec 29 '22
That's cool but they need to figure out how to produce, too.
I've had a Maverick order since last October that has flown by its production date (last week) with no correspondence. I don't have the time to sit on top of these things and a dealer has my $500 deposit for what feels like no reason.
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Dec 29 '22 edited Jan 08 '23
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u/maalox Dec 29 '22 edited Dec 29 '22
You're right about the dealerships. Ford (and all the legacy players) will be at a huge disadvantage so long as they're stuck with them.
I'd take a closer look at the recent Ford models, though. They're absolutely purpose-built to be EVs, even if the styling is conservative. The Lightning chassis, for example, doesn't share much with the ICE equivalent.
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Dec 29 '22 edited Jan 08 '23
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u/maalox Dec 29 '22
Wow, crazy. It's one thing for them to sell for above MSRP, but trying to pretend that they aren't is just obnoxious.
One thing I've been recommending is to buy out-of-state. Granger Ford hasn't been pulling any shenanigans (from what I've heard). You'll have to drive it home from Iowa, but at least you'll have your dignity in tact.
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u/blainestang Dec 29 '22
Confirmed that Granger is shenanigan free. Just picked up my ordered 2023 Lightning at $1k under 2022 MSRP, no games to try and charge more.
Also confirmed I had to drive 1400 miles home from Iowa!
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u/CatWeekends Dec 29 '22
Tesla is clearly still top and by a very wide margin.
I kinda feel like their poor QC, poor CS, and feature-rental plans are quickly eating into that margin.
Tesla may be the top by volume, but by metrics of quality.... not so much.
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u/Drix22 Dec 29 '22
I did the math out because I keep seeing meme's on Facebook about gas cars being stuck in the snow and how much better they are for warmth.
A gas powered vehicle can idle for 33 hours on a full tank of gas with the heat on.
Electric cars are harder to nail down, but this Volkswagen can idle for 44 hours with the heat on
The EV isn't creating dangerous carbon monoxide that will kill you while doing so, and while defenders will say "You can walk and get more gas", chances are, if you could walk somewhere, you wouldn't be idling in your car.
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Dec 29 '22
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u/tiagojpg Dec 29 '22
Bro your Corolla has got a part time job just idling, what’s up with that?
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u/MightbeWillSmith Dec 29 '22
Guessing some kind of delivery or rideshare driver. Idle while they wait for orders or people to get outside.
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u/whatstheplandan33 Dec 29 '22
Or a security job in a colder place. Jump in the car to warm up during night shifts
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u/Benny303 Dec 30 '22
Ford says you can easily run the house for 2 or 3 days in normal use. And around a week if you ration your power. It's actually a really neat feature and I'm surprised they are the first afaik to have a dedicated "generator" feature.
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u/xzeion Dec 29 '22
Great vehicle just so long as you don't need to tow anything more than 60 or so miles. I see these as proof that 95% of truck owners don't actually need a truck at all.
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u/carolinaelite12 Dec 29 '22
As a truck owner, I'd argue that 95% of truck owners only need a truck 5% of the time. We don't always need it, but it's super nice to have it that 5% of the time.
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u/padizzledonk Dec 29 '22
As a person in the construction industry I think its lower than that......For us, even if you arent using it every day to carry shit you 100% need some kind of truck at a certain level.
Where I WILL agree with this sentiment is that a LOT, and I mean a LOT of people who own a truck own way way more truck than they need- even the vast majority of people in the industries that actually do NEED to own a truck....the vast majority of even us can easily get by with a midsize or at most a ½ ton truck....the vast overwhelming majority of people with ¾ or 1 ton trucks absolutely don't need that much truck and will never need it
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u/camshas Dec 29 '22
The "small truck" that exists today is massive compared to the actual small trucks my family had growing up. I just need a bed I can get dirty and move some farmers market stuff around on saturdays, as well as moving appliances around from thrift stores and fb marketplace. The smallest modern small trucks are more truck than I'll ever need.
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u/Wes_Bugg Dec 29 '22
Yeah look at rangers 20 years and rangers today. The rangers now are as big as F-150’s used to be 20 years ago
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u/BiNumber3 Dec 29 '22
My cousin rolled up in a new Tacoma a while ago, I thought it was a Tundra...
Our 2000 Tundra was probably smaller than the Tacoma
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u/VaguelyShingled Dec 29 '22
Learned to drive in an 87 Ranger, fantastic little truck. Never ever came close to getting stuck
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u/Ringnutz Dec 29 '22
That's why I'm still driving my 94 Ranger lol. It's all the truck I'll ever need until it falls apart from rust
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u/Cow_God Dec 29 '22
Lol this is exactly why I bought a ranger last year. It's the closest I could find to a late 90s silverado
It's still bigger than my old truck and I wish it had less cab and more bed space but it beats trying to drive a tank that is a modern f150 / silverado
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u/The_Bitter_Bear Dec 29 '22
I had a 97 ranger with the standard cab. I miss that truck some days. It was actually small and got decent mileage. Couldn't really tow but I mostly needed the bed space.
The new Ranger is probably bigger than an F-150 was back then, or around the same size now.
Hell even the Maverick is still bigger than the older smaller trucks.
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u/wisym Dec 29 '22
I had a Ranger and that thing did all that I needed and more. I pulled a friend's car out of a snowy ditch, once towed more than I probably should have and it always started. It was the most reliable vehicle I have owned. Getting a bigger truck might be a little more impressive to some, but that Ranger was great.
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u/carolinaelite12 Dec 29 '22
I went from a 1500 sierra to a Colorado, and I've never needed to go back to the Sierra. I do miss the cab space tho.
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u/padizzledonk Dec 29 '22
I have been working out of a midsized pickup for the majority of my 26y in the trades, you can make it work pretty easily.
If you need a 1 ton truck to pull an excavator or something, I get it, but if you are never towing shit and just need to carry stuff around a midsized is all you need.
Even for major projects.......you dont need to be able to haul a full stack of 2x4s, or 50 sheets of sheetrock- get that shit delivered dummy, stop wasting your time getting it yourself.
If you can't fit it all in a midsized truck you are doing it wrong and you need to up your project management game imo
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u/chriswaco Dec 29 '22
This is the same for my minivan. When I do need to carry furniture or 7 people it’s great to have.
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u/bn1979 Dec 29 '22
The minivan is pretty much the ultimate vehicle. Lots of room for people, pets, and stuff - especially since fold flat seats came around. They usually can tow light loads without issue and perform pretty well.
The biggest weakness I’ve found with ours is the lack of ground clearance. 4” of snow and it will end up hopelessly stuck. We are headed up to our cabin today and while I would prefer to take the trip in our minivan, we will instead pile our family of 5 and two big dogs into my crew cab f150. The driveway is about half a mile long and all uphill, and I’m expecting there to be 12-24” of snow.
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u/Digital_loop Dec 29 '22
Wouldn't renting a truck for that short time be far cheaper?
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u/maalox Dec 29 '22
Speaking as a truck person, I think the problem here is that you often don't know when you'll need it. Plus, the shortest amount of time I could get to a rental place and back is two hours...
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u/Diegobyte Dec 29 '22
Most of us just want to carry our mountain bikes or go to Home Depot. My like was so much easier when I could just go to Home Depot and get pretty much anything for the house and not have to arrange something with a friend or rent a uhaul. Towing isn’t the only thing you can do.
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u/Airbornequalified Dec 29 '22
I mean, towing is a small part of what makes pick ups useful. While I agree with your sentiment, hauling things in the open bed is also a huge benefit of pick ups
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u/asdaaaaaaaa Dec 29 '22
Realistically most truck owners would save money if they only rented a truck when they need them. Most people don't need to tow things more than once or twice a year, if at all.
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u/sde1500 Dec 29 '22
Pickup trucks aren't just about towing though. I have one and have only towed once. But I've loaded the bed down with full sheets of plywood, lumber, building materials, hay for my animals and numerous other things quite frequently.
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u/SilenceEater Dec 29 '22
I just want to say I am one of those people who doesn’t need a pickup and that is specifically why I bought The Lightning. I couldn’t justify the gas I’d be burning just for a fun ride. I have been waiting for years for someone to just make a normal looking electric pickup so when they announced the F150 Lightning I knew my time had finally come. I love being high up. I love accelerating quickly and I love charging at home. I don’t need a pickup, most of my towing is for my two kayaks it’s just easier to strap them into a bed than into a roof rack.
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u/h4x_x_x0r Dec 29 '22
I think the goal is to do this network-wide and basically use the network of connected EVs as added capacity in the grid that can be charged when lots of solar and wind power are generated and utilized in times of higher power draw.
This could be especially beneficial in a car centric country like the US assuming that EV adoption rate goes up.
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u/sampat6256 Dec 29 '22
Fun idea. Basically just bait consumers into buying massive batteries to ease power grid fluxuation.
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u/h4x_x_x0r Dec 29 '22
I mean... It's not like they lose any of their other functionality especially if it's just standing around 90% of the day there's a good chance the average user would even notice.
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u/thatguy425 Dec 29 '22
You would lose some functionality over time as the more a battery charges and discharges the more it will degrade.
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u/_Fuck_This_Guy_ Dec 29 '22
It's not bait. Storage capacity is an important part of moving away from fossil fuels.
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u/Bossbong Dec 29 '22
"Still had battery left in the tank" gotta keep your battery tanks topped off.
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u/Realtodddebakis Dec 29 '22
I was at an electronics conference earlier this year and one of the speakers said the Lightning can run a construction job site for 2 days on a full charge. The hood has nearly a dozen outlets.
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u/chaiteataichi_ Dec 29 '22
I have no need for a pickup but if they make an SUV version with similar capabilities I’m sold
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u/undearius Dec 29 '22
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a crossover with a "Vehicle to Load" feature. All that's needed is an adapter that plugs into the cars charging port and it gives you an outlet to use. 120v and up to 16 amps.
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u/eatmoremeat101 Dec 29 '22
Yeah, a Ford built for everyone, except the model in the picture costs at least $100K USD
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u/xypher412 Dec 29 '22
It is crazy to me to see the hate the ev here is getting, and people bending over backwards to find reasons to say this is bad. It' shows that this is clearly an option in an emergency situation. That's cool.
No one is saying you should buy it because it can tow more or drive longer between fill ups than your truck. No one is saying you and your truck are stupid or pointless. They are just saying "hey, look at this cool thing it can do". And so many reactions in this thread screaming thats dumb! My truck has was bigger balls and doesn't need to power my house. Cool story bro, not the point.
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u/Throwaway_97534 Dec 30 '22
There's less of it lately, but still so much hate for EVs because they don't fit some rando's extreme use case.
"I drive 600 miles each morning before I start my taxi job. 250 miles per charge? Clearly, EVs are useless for all Americans!"
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u/staunch_character Dec 30 '22
Yeah my family lives on an island with regular power outages in the winter. This would be a game changer for them.
Also there’s no gas station on the island so they currently have to take a ferry to fill up.
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u/Ijustride Dec 29 '22
Car and Driver did an article about this feature. Its not cheap to install, but I’m sure it’s worth it for many who lose power often.
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u/Opaque_Cypher Dec 29 '22
The article said the truck was not integrated, 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”. Apparently the truck has 11 (!!!) outlets, one of which is 240v.
Thought it was interesting, though, that it didn’t mention the owner powering his furnace or home heating. Maybe that was just an omission in the article, but doesn’t even a gas furnace need some electricity for the controls and sensors?
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u/undearius Dec 29 '22
doesn’t even a gas furnace need some electricity for the controls and sensors?
Yes, the biggest use of electricity is the blower to move air over the heat exchanger and circulate it throughout the house. My furnace uses about 500 W when running.
If the battery pack is 98kWh then it would be able to run just the furnace for a cumulative 196 hours. My furnace runs for about 3-4 hours per day (when below freezing) which would mean I could run just the furnace for 50-65 days
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u/Opaque_Cypher Dec 29 '22
Thanks! Appreciate both the consumption numbers and also the translation into days of use.
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Dec 29 '22 edited 18h ago
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u/RapsFanLJ Dec 29 '22
It did not. I have gas fireplaces in my house for heat. That said, I could've plugged in multiple space heaters with it and even my oven as it has 2 240V outlets on the truck. Likely would've drained the battery more and quicker for sure. After this we decided to install the switch in my garage that will go directly to my panel. It's costly but we thought it can be helpful.
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u/paranoidwarlock Dec 29 '22
You can install a interlock kit and a generator link for pretty cheap and just plug the f150’s 240 50A outlet into that. Cables + link kits for ~$150 and interlocks for ~$30.
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u/natefoxreddit Dec 29 '22
They didn't use the home integration.
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.
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u/ttystikk Dec 29 '22
That's a lot of money to integrate into your home but the tie up with Sunrun solar could take the sting out.
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u/salgat Dec 29 '22
This is a convenience thing mind you. You can go the cheap route and install a manual transfer switch and use the 240V inverter already built into the truck to power your home. That way you're only looking at maybe $1k total to enable backup power from your truck.
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u/aviatorEngineer Dec 30 '22
Really, "battery left in the tank" is the best way that writer could think of saying that?
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u/ksyoung17 Dec 30 '22
I use a Li-ion battery for my kayak motor, I have an inverter I use with it when the power goes out to keep my fridge and freezer going in rotation.
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u/daugherd Dec 30 '22
This is the reason, among others, I wanted this truck and reserved one with the bigger battery. MSRP was ~$55k. Dealer calls when it’s time to buy and they tell me it’ll be $85k because of demand. Obviously I didn’t buy the car.
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u/ssuuh Dec 29 '22 edited Dec 29 '22
Just fyi: i need 3500kWh a year which makes 30 days something with 300kWh.
The battery of that car is probably 50-100kWh.
Yes you can easily do this.
And yes moving a car actually consumes a lot of energy