Ford F-150 Lightning, PowerBoost Hybrid Can Charge Other EVs
Photo: Ford
Yo, dawg. Ford heard you like EVs that do cool stuff. So Ford made a truck that you can charge so that you can charge other EVs.
Shockingly Popular: The Ford F-150 Lightning is sold out for the time being, but you can sign up for updates
Super dated and suuuper slapdash attempt at the Xzibit meme aside — that’s a 14-year-old joke, by the way, like I need any more reason to feel like I’m crumbling into dust — Ford revealed on Tuesday that the all-new F-150 Lightning and F-150 PowerBoost hybrid can both charge other electric vehicles.
Thanks to both trucks’ Pro Power Onboard with a 240-volt outlet, you can essentially “share” mileage with another electric vehicle. Say a friend is stranded without battery power in their Mustang Mach-E. You can just roll on up to them in your truck, connect the Pro Power Onboard to the Mustang Mach-E with the Ford Mobile Power Cord, and let your F-150 work its magic.
“There are hundreds of benefits to Ford Pro Power Onboard — and we’ve added one more,” said Patrick Soderborg, Ford e-powertrain systems engineer. “Taking power on the road or having extra energy at home brings a lot of convenience and security, and using the F-150 Lightning or F-150 hybrid to top off a friend’s electric vehicle or help them during an outage is one of the many new benefits our customers gain from our Built Ford Tough electrified trucks.”
Use your Ford F-150 to recharge your F-150 Lightning? You can totally do that
According to Ford, this feature applies to F-150 PowerBoost hybrids with the optional 7.2-kilowatt Pro Power Onboard or F-150 Lightnings with 7.2 kW or 9.6 kW of output. Per estimates, these would allow the Ford Mobile Power Cord to transfer 20 miles of range per charging hour to a 2022 Mustang Mach-E with rear-wheel drive and an extended-range battery. With a Ford E-Transit low-roof cargo van, the max output is 10 miles of range per charging hour.
Wanna double-truck it? A 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning can transfer up to 13 miles of charge per hour to another Ford F-150 Lightning. And if you want to take pity on someone driving a Tesla or another EV, no worries — the Ford Mobile Power Cord will work as long as the vehicle has an SAE J1772 charge port.
Photo: Ford
You’ll also need some other accessories to pull it off, including an adapter ranging from L14-30P to 14-50R, a coupler and control box, and a 30-amp connector.
Pro Power Onboard yet another F-150-exclusive game-changer
Photo: Ford
By now, you should be well-acquainted with the rad Pro Power Onboard. Originally debuting on the 2021 Ford F-150 with outputs of 2.0 kW, 2.4 kW, and 7.2 kW, this handy-dandy tool comes to the upcoming F-150 Lightning with a standard 7.2 kW output and optional 9.6 kW output. If ya don’t know, now ya know.
“There are so many new opportunities to innovate with features and functions made possible only through electrification,” said Soderborg. “This really hit home during the Texas power crisis last February, which left millions in the cold. F-150 hybrid helped many Texans keep warm and powered up during those difficult times thanks to Pro Power Onboard — and we’re trying to do even more with F-150 Lightning.”
This is but yet another innovation from the Ford F-150 Lightning that has helped make it a runaway hit so popular that it’s basically sold out for the next couple of years. The same power source paired with the optional 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro allows the F-150 Lightning to power a home for up to 10 days with rationing using the Ford Intelligent Backup Power feature. Which is, like, ridiculous.
Don’t forget that Mega Power Frunk
Photo: Ford
Oh, and you can’t touch on ridiculous and the F-150 Lightning without at least mentioning the Mega Power Frunk, which boasts 14 cubic feet of lockable and drainable storage as well as four 120-volt outlets for using Pro Power Onboard. Overall, the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning sports 11 outlets, including two 120-volt outlets in the cab and four 120-volt outlets and a 240-volt outlet in the bed.
When you add all this to just crazy horsepower, impressive range, a bunch of advanced technologies, and that winning Ford style, it’s a wonder 200,000 people have already reserved one. You might even call it shocking. (I wouldn’t because I abhor dumb jokes — please see stupid attempt at Xzibit joke in introduction.)
Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.