Massive winter storms suffocated most of the central US states, northeastern areas and Canada during the holiday season. Luckily, an Ontario homeowner had an F-150 Lightning EV and used Ford’s truck to power his house and turn on the lights for two days during the power outage.
If you’ve wondered if an electric vehicle could power a home, the answer is yes. While we’re already aware of Ford’s bi-directional charging technology that allows the F-150 Lightning EV’s battery packs to send or receive power, this is a great example of a real-world usage scenario.
Interestingly Reddit users RapsFanLJ doesn’t have Ford’s “Home Integration System” nor the proper wiring that connects to the home electrical panel and grid, but that didn’t prevent the user from taking advantage of the F-150 Lightning’s massive battery cells.
According to a post on Reddit, the owner of the F-150 Lightning EV took action when the power went out in his neighborhood. Even without a proper two-way charging system, this owner used both sockets in the EV’s bed and some splitters to carry essentials home for 44 hours.
The user stated that the F-150 Lightning was running “Our fridges, freezers and WiFi, selected lights and TV ran for almost two full days. AND the battery was only down to 65%.”
This family was able to keep food cool, lights on, and TV entertainment safe for 44 hours while the city worked to restore power. And after all that, the truck still had more than enough juice left. Those running Ford’s official house wiring system may get different results, potentially getting more out of the truck battery and running an entire house.
It’s worth noting that the F-150 Lightning isn’t the only electric vehicle with bi-directional charging or AC outlets on the truck bed, but with a large battery measuring up to 131 kWh in size, it has more than enough power to turn on your lights in an emergency.
Electric cars are no slouch in winter traffic jams, and if you’re stuck inside during a winter storm and the power goes out, get creative and make use of these fully charged battery packs.
via DriveTeslaCanada
This article was previously published on Source link
