F-150 Lightning’s Quiet, Refined Power Play
By Dennis Griffin, EVA Member
Over a recent weekend I had the opportunity to use my 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning as the power source for two food vendors at the annual Encinitas CA Eco-fest. The purpose was to demonstrate the Ford F-150 Lightning’s Pro Power Onboard generator capability.
The expected benefits were:
Provide reliable power to two food vendors for a four hour period of time
The source of the energy stored in the Lightning’s 131 kWh battery came from clean renewable energy from my rooftop solar system
The energy was refined as there was no noise or air pollution, like there would have been with the more familiar gas / diesel portable generator
The demonstration was a success. Here are some of the details of how it worked: Fired Up Popcorn with two popcorn machines had the biggest demand. So they were connected to circuits A & B outlets in the truck bed.The Shaved Ice Vendor (IceBox) had a lower and less frequent demand. They were connected to the Frunk / Cabin outlets.
In preparation for the start of the event, both vendors required the maximum amount of power. This was easily provided by the F-150 Lightning. The four hour event only used a small amount of the battery capacity as noted by a less than 20 mile reduction in range. I’m sure that Lightning owners with the “Pro” model (work truck) may be familiar with the Lightning’s generator capability, but it was especially enlightening for someone who had not used that feature before! V2X and Pro Power Onboard are little used features that potentially have a big future. It shows how versatile EVs have the potential to be.
