Thanks for stopping by to wrap up this series!! After much research I knew we could get it to work with the newer GFCI protected style of generators! Was a ton of fun working with you guys on this one.
@@capt_ramius You need a 3 pole transfer panel. You need to transfer the 2 hots and neutral to the truck (and sever the connection to the grid on all 3), most generator interlocks just transfer the 2 hots (like mine) and tie the generator into the neutral and ground.
@@JustinKingOffroad Thanks! Just ordered a Lightning and was going to inlet the 240V bed outlet into my panel with interlock, just like this. Guess it’s more complicated than I thought lol.
I’m an electrician, actually for Xcel Energy out in Colorado and recently setup my new house completely off grid. This 7500 watt inverter is more than enough for a house as long as you keep in mind your high draw items such as electric stove, electric hot water heater, if your method of heating is electric, and electric clothes dryer. All or some of these appliances may run on natural gas or propane for you and in that case they won’t pull much power at all. If they are electric you won’t be able to run more than one of these at a time most likely. In an actual power outage if your having trouble with the generator tripping I recommend turning off your water heater if it’s electric as you can’t control when this decides to cycle on. With all these items on propane at my house I’m typically pulling well under 1000 watts and don’t think I could pull more than 4000 watts if I tried. For people with well water, this should run your pump just fine. Another thing to keep in mind is your house has two different phases running through it for 240v appliances such as your high draw electric appliances mentioned above. If your running into issues but know your under 7500 total watts it’s just because your overloading the capability of the inverter for that specific phase so try and keep your power consumption more balanced.
In short, live conservatively. ;) Power only the essentials 1 at a time or 2 if they are low V items. Gas Hot water, gas stove, gas fire place and the rest is super simple/low V to live off of for days. (I know, I have done it) Just the fridge is the priority once you have natural gas taking care of the bare essentials. And that is IMO subjective as well.
Yeah they could have even added more load if they distributed the load more evenly. There was more of a load on line one than line two. If they had the microwave running off of l2 it would have ran fine. It's 3600 watts per leg of 110v power. Another thing that seems a little disambiguous about the Chevy Silverado EV is they are quoting over 10 kilowatts of onboard power but the way it's worded to me seems like you can't pull 10 KW from one power source like you can on the ford. It seems like there's a bunch of outlets and all combined together you can pull a Max of 10 kw.
I'm skeptical about how well the all electric trucks will fare as a truck. But tbh, I think Ford hits the right balance with this hybrid. The generator mode is huge. It has so much practical use.
Ford needs to build F-250/350 hybrids for truck campers and trailers! These onboard power systems would be perfect for boon-docking and/or full time RV living! Ford should also build a Transit hybrid for van-lifers! GM & Ram needs to build these too!
I love the power on board technology. Wish I could find one locally. I don't need it as I have a generator already, but in a pinch you could lend your truck to provide power in an emergency. Loading and hauling a 10,000-W generator isn't the easiest to ask, so having it built into the truck would be convenient.
except when power is off the local gas stations are out also, so driving your vehicle 100 miles round trip to get fuel isnt the best and shutting off power in between.. hence those of us with propane and natural gas use that for back up generation, I do and im out of power weeks every year due to PGE garbage, and an electric vehicle for me is a fail but a hybrid works great
I bet this video just sold a lot of these trucks. It's got me thinking. Thanks Andre for letting TFL use your truck for so many videos. I love that truck
Just a quick clarification. The interlock switch is so you don’t feed energy back to the utility and electrocute a utility worker trying to fix downed lines etc. Not just so you don’t feed power back to your generator.
I couldn't really tell what you did to bypass the bonded neutral in your panel. Did you install a transfer switch with 6 or 10 circuits? Thanks for the help - don't want to mess this up!
Looks like he turned his main home panel into a sub panel. He separated the neutrals and grounds. The first means of disconnect is now behind his house by the meter.
Power on board was a major factor in my decision to reserve an F-150 Lightning. I have small homes in both the California desert and the Ozark Mountains that are in areas where outages occur more often than I like. Being able to plug the house into the truck is a huge benefit for this aging hermit.
i could've sawer that original marketing papers said a 15kw inverter ( 100kw battery pack size or so ) and not a 10kw for the house mode and i remember a 125amp charger ( and dc fast chargering at 200+ amps for road tripping ) not a pansy 60 ish amps. o well still sounds like a nice truck but as i remembered some of the spec sheets was nicer options
What makes the F150 hybrid different from other electric pickups is that it has an ICE, not just plug-in electric. That’s what makes it able to act as a generator. With the other electric pickups without ICE, you could only consume the battery capacity, not generate electricity.
Hey You guys need to show how we can power a 30Amp travel trailer so it can be totally self contained while say staying off grid for a few days. That would be very cool!! Love your channel guys!!
Yes! I just picked up my camper and own a hybrid. I haven't tried powering it just yet but want to see someone do it before I just plug it in and go for it lol
That's a worst case scenario assuming you're using the full 7.2kw the truck can output. In the real world it would last much longer than that for powering a house.
I remember you charging the i3 and using nearly all 7200 watts. For a few hours! Powering the house overloaded one of the two poles of the trucks 240 @ shutdown while other half of circuit was fine. Ground switching (legit circuit changer) is probably KEY in more ways than one!
The truck shut off the power because only one of the 120V buses was overloaded - the other one still had some capacity. If you had loads that were evenly distributed between the 120V buses you'd be able to power more stuff - the microwave plus the range, etc. Interesting that the LED lights were unhappy. Makes me wonder if the truck doesn't have a "pure sine wave inverter?"
Regardless if the stove was the final straw that tripped the truck , had the loads been better balanced prior to turning on the stove the truck would have handled it just fine. That was the point Mathew was trying to make.
I added the larger inverter onto my Pro order recently. Already have the house wired with a transfer switch, reliance, so assume it's going to be plug and play. With a full charge I should be using about 12 KWH per day in a power outage, which gives me 5 or 6 days power until I hit 20 percent charge or so. I have an inverter generator already, so it is going to be demoted to the back up once my truck order arrives.
Thanks for sharing how this works. Seems like the power boost is better than the lightning in a disaster since it can recharge its self and could still be driven with depleted batteries.
Lightning provides more power, and reserves a portion for travel of X distance. I would argue that lightning is superior for my use, as with solar power stored at home it is free for me to power my home and drive as well as less maintenance.
@@makinawake9178 That’s a great point on solar. I live under a decent canopy of trees and was told I don’t have enough sun for solar here. I love my trees, but free electric would be nice.
I would have done a manual transfer switch. You can pick 6 or 10 circuits depending what model you buy. The whole house doesn't need power in an emergency, and when utility comes back on flip it from gen back to line. It is really 300 bucks for 30a 250v 7500w 6 circuit breaker kit.
I’m so happy I saw this. Just got a build date for an F-150 Lightning in May. Have an electrician setup to run a 50amp out for charging and setup a transfer switch for the truck to power home.
Pretty awesome feature. I'm sure GM, RAM, and Toyota are kicking themselves for not thinking of it first. Eventually I'm sure they'll have their own versions. It would have been a huge boost for the new Tundra if they could have done something like this before Ford did.
If I understand the display each of the 2 phases from the generator is 3.6kW. The reason the truck shut off was because the microwave and stove are on the same phase (theoretically if they weren’t it would’ve been fine). I never put much thought into the way all my fuses are balanced, but it’s still interesting thing to see
Good video Andre. You need a grid disconnect and a 220 inverter. Disconnect from the grid, plug into the circuit breaker via a 220 input. Then turn on the loads that you can support with the source. I have a 220 v AC generator and it works great
Great video! I'm in love with the ProPower feature. Would be great not to have to haul a noisy generator to track days. Especially overnight when other campers are sleeping.
You guys breezed right over the major issue for most people which is how to solve the switched neutral situation. Most people have their neutrals and grounds bonded right in the main panel, or the first panel after their meter. In this video, you mention the bond is in the meter box itself, but you would need a 'switched neutral' between the meter box and the main panel to permit you to then plug in the truck and not worry about the truck tripping on it's GFCI protection. This is the aspect of your video that will be most important for people watching this and wondering why they cannot achieve what you have successfully done while using a generator interlock. Long story short, maybe defining that you placed your bond location out in the meter box and that you have a switched neutral (and how you switch your neutral) would be helpful!
The truck did something else that wasn't even mentioned in this video. It showed this house has an unbalanced load. To balance this circuit panel is relatively simple. Just swap some of the heavily loaded breakers to the other leg of the 240 volt panel with some lighter loaded breakers such as lights. The panel may not be able to be perfectly balanced because things like fridge and freezer turn off and on. But fridge should be on one leg and freezer on the other leg.
thanks for posting this video, helped me (an electrician) figure out an issue with a generator back feed I installed that works fine with a regular generator but not one of these trucks.
How did you resolve the Ground Fault Issue? Was it just a matter of disconnecting the Grid, by turning off Main in Panel? Could you use an auto switch without issues?
Tbh, you don't need to power "luxury" items during a short out and therefor is extremely easy. Just run a powercord from the truck to everything you need to power (fridge, freezer etc). I take for granted that everyone living in a house in cold climates have a backup heating system (wood stove for example).
Will a would stove heat an entire suburban house like shown? Honest question. There are pipes in various places throughout the house that need protection from freezing, although trickling them would lessen the chance of that.
Using a break out box you dont have to turn off the MAIN, you can just switch off the circuits you want to go to generator for with the switches in the break out box !!!! Once hooked up, its a piece of cake to select which circuits you want to take off the MAIN,,, simply flip a switch !!!! Basically, every circuit has a double throw switch,,, main or external,,, the box has the plug already in it and its all wired up ready to tie in,,, Home depot sells it and I thing it was like $250 when I got mine,,, each circuit is 30 amp and there are different boxes with more or less circuits, 6, 12, 24 etc.... works for 120 and 240 but less circuits for the 240 than the 120.... You dont have to worry about the MAIN AT ALL since the external circuits you chose are completely disconnected from the MAIN when you flip the switch so if the power comes back on while running a external source,,, nothing happens - its all safe and isolated automatically,,,,, the house power comes back on and the generator circuits stay on generator until you flip the switches back...... this really is the best way and safest way to tie an external power source to a house - YOU CANT MAKE A MISTAKE is what so good about it !!!!! It has meters to show wattage on each leg,,, the thing is great !!!!! Just some info and an idea for ya !!!!
So the hanle prt of cord is your surge protector & semi flex 4/6 way outlets on solid copper line. Then u can attach normal cords onto the semi flex handle line.
That is quite impressive that you can run that house off the truck!!! And run it it in a manner that is really usable - like you are still on the mains for the most part and of course the house max is about 10,000 watts ( + - ) a bit but when would you ever be running everything at the same time - NEVER,,, so 7200 watts is plenty for like comfortable like your are not off grid at all !!! In an emergence, for sure hardly no emergency with that system..... That's Great!!!! I LIKE IT - I LIKE IT A LOT !!!!!!
If the microwave and that inductive "element" are on the same leg, that may explain why it tripped a reset in the truck. I noticed the "left" leg (truck display) jumped up with the addition of the inductive element and microwave. If either were on the other leg, I bet this would not have been an issues. Balancing loads is important either using the truck or a regular generator. I wonder if another "element" on the stove may have been on the other leg.
As much as I love the new lightning, I think the hybrid with the inverter generator is a better choice. In fact, If I could make decisions for the Ford motor Company, every truck starting with the 2024 model year would be a hybrid with a 5KW propower onboard generator as standard equipment. A 10 KW version would be an option for an additional cost.
Nothing wrong with the hybrids you mentioned but I personally think the all electric lightning is the perfect way to go. Still having to purchase gasoline defeats the purpose of an all electric vehicle.
Second time around was MUCH better guys! Always best to do a little research and have someone on hand that knows a thing or two about what you're experimenting with!
Great video & the more you educate me about the Ford F-150 the more I like it. Not sure if I missed the video on the off-road capabilities of the F-150, but I would really be interested in how it does. As always thank you for taking the time to share your testing & knowledge.
the cord I purchased was a Gear IT 30-Amp Generator Extension Cord (25 Feet) 4-Prong 120/250-Volt 7500W, NEMA L14-30P/L L14-30R, 10 Gauge SJTW Locking Power Cord for Manual Transfer Switch, Portable Generators, Power Outage 25ft. This powers my home but not my A/C?
can some one please tell me what he was doing at 4:08 of the video in the fuse box to get the truck's inverter to work with the wiring of the house? That's the most important part of the video :(
Plug-in electric vehicles, used to power a house or campsite…question, how do you recharge the vehicle’s battery? They certainly wouldn’t have been any good I-95 while it was closed after a recent ice storm. Hybrid is the way to go.
That's what I thought. Once the battery drained from an EV, you would be dead in the water. This truck could power the house forever as long as you pour gas in it.
How many days was I-95 closed? The F150 Lightning could power a house for at least three day. Keeping the cabin warm for a few days should not be a problem. For a house put solar on your house you could go years.
@@jwelchon2416 Another thing to note is when it is very cold outside, the EV has to be plugged in to maintain battery charge otherwise the truck uses so much power just to keep the batteries from freezing which then after a few days the truck will be drained and unusable.
Dumb question, but how do keep someone from stealing your truck while you use it to power your house or your worksite? In the video, it looked like you had to leave the key or key fob in the truck.
You don't for the models with push start. I powered our house with a Platinum F150 hybrid, and just locked it and took the keyfob back in the house with me. Came in handy when Edison had to replace the transformer for our street.
Questions. What is sound level difference between Honda generator and F-150 when under load? What does the truck do when low on fuel or runs out? What is fuel efficiency vs Honda generator? How well does it work for an RV with 2 AC units?
One of the things I had to deal with is houses before 1996 have three wire 220. Houses after that time use 4 wire 220. My diesel generator has four wire 220 output so I had to build an adapter 4 wire to 3 wire.
So you did at what cost adjustment /rewire to the electrical panel by an electrician to make this work from the 1st video issue. Plus whats the gas cost for the truck running lets say for 4 to 5 hrs. While the power is out
The ground fault issue is where I’m still stuck. I had an electrician put the manual transfer switch on my incoming power box and wiring for the 220 twist lock. I don’t understand how you fixed that error. Thanks.
You don’t run everything in your house all at once the truck will be fine just like a standby generator we hook up to many houses down here in the south this from a license electrician.
So I missed it somewhere in the video. What did they change from last time to solve the Ground Fault problem? It appears to be the same setup as before
This video ALONE indicates the viability AND actual ability to power your ENTIRE HOUSE with the Ford F150 Powerboost! Based upon this demo with the Stove, Lights and Furnace at 5000 to 6500 watts continuous draw, one Tank of Gas should be able to power the ENTIRE HOUSE A MINIMUM of 18 continuous hours at full load depending upon the initial and continuous draw of various appliances! If you do a cyclic six hours per day for all your appliances that is a full three days of power on one tank of gas. That is pretty FANTASTIC !!!! This bodes VERY WELL for the 9600 watt capability of the F150 Lightning which at 150,000 Watts for its Lithium-Ion battery can power 6500 watts of CONTINUOUS DRAW for a solid 23 hours. If you ration electricity usage to only six hours per day of appliance use at 6500 watts continuous draw during that six hour period, that is almost FOUR DAYS of power! I would say THIS IS A VERY VERY VERY BIG DEAL !!! --- ALL trucks should have this power-the-house ability! V P.S. I do understand some of you picky engineer types will point out that the tank of gas in a F150 Hybrid has MORE actual BTU energy than the 150 KW battery of the F150 Lightning ....BUT..... we are then getting into the inversion process AND the energy conversion losses that are part and parcel of a Hybrid engine. Sooooooo, this means that the F150 Lightning, being FULLY electrified, WILL STILL outperform the the Hybrid Powerboost because of its much lower energy conversion losses! We need to account for the differences between the LATENT energy of a liquid fuel that WILL have an energy conversion loss factor versus the ACTUAL IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE energy within a fully charged Li-Ion battery! Basically, this all means that due to losses caused by liquid-fuel-to-piston-to-hybrid-motor/battery-storage energy conversion factors, the F150 Lightning WILL power your house LONGER than the F150 Hybrid-based Powerboost. The only other factor affecting energy output of the F150 Lightning will be excessively cold or excessively hot ambient/outside temperatures affecting Li-Ion battery performance. V
Disappointing video because there is no real explanation how you resolved the initial issue, and then you never got to the bottom of or explained why the lights were flickering. Most households have LED lights now, so it's a real problem if something about the trucks power feed doesn't allow them to work properly.
i temporarily changed the configuration inside the panel to make this work with the truck, when we were done i set it back up to work with my non-GFCI generator.
I disconnected the ground from the 30 amp 240 volt inlet plug and it solved the ground fault on the Truck, I have an interlock on the breaker on the main panel, and all outlets are grounded anyway at the house
If u add a loop of say 18" of thick 12 or better 10 gauge as a built in handle, it ACTs Bible strong/sound(no ac knowledge of any Kind) as AC weigh station for the whole cheap 14 or worse 16 gauge line. Not sure if it nneeds? capasitor loop near plug end as well. So loop 18" long at each side.
Excellent video TFL crew! You guys rock. This hybrid approach is the pragmatic way to saving energy yet giving us truck buyers a versatile and affordable powertrain compared to all electric! TFL do you think Ford and other manufacturers will expand the hybrid or Powerboost offerings and maybe increase battery capacity? We dont want expensive all electric so please please tell the OEMs to listen!!!
I won’t worry about food spoilage if it’s in the fridge or freezer in the middle of the winter with a power outage at zero degrees Celsius or or below ,just put all your contents outside and gives you a chance to clean inside the fridge 😉Just saying
What happens if you try and start a motor like a deep well pump where there's a brief motor starting surge that exceeds 7200 watts. Will that blow the truck's circuit breaker or does it have extra surge capacity above and beyond 7200 watts? (like most portable gas generators do)
V2H technology is a great idea. Having a transfer switch is more than likely to be mandated for safety of both your home and upstream of the meter. Not sure if the source power from the truck is true rms. Doesn't appear to be because of the LED lightning flickering.
Most AC systems will pull too much power on startup. If you are careful with what you run in the house you should be able to run up to about a 3 1/2 ton unit if you put an Easy Start on it to keep the in-rush current down (the initial spike when electric motors start he was mentioning about the fan for the heat for example) . Other 220v or high amp draw items would be a probable no though. LED, lights, fridge, freezer, laptops, router and modem... yup... no problem.
I have never hit over 7kW in my house in the 3-4 years I have monitored my power. I have a 5 ton and a 2 ton AC units. The 5 ton actually ran on a 20 amp breaker for about month till the temps rose above 105. When the breaker tripped I quickly figured out the electrician had the breaker swapped between the two units. Most good inverters can output close to double the power for a few seconds for large inrush loads.
Don’t forget interlocks on the panel could save a lineman’s life doing storm restoration! If main breaker isn’t off voltage can back feed on to utilities grid
Only issue is if you did this with a purely electric vehicle is in a prolonged outage. In a long outage then you could have a dead vehicle and a dead home. With a hybrid fuel consumption is low and fuel supplies are easier to store.
I like fords concept of this and i think down the road electric cars/hybrids will be part of microgrids..at the same time im without power for weeks at a time due to living in PGE area I already have a couple of generators that use way less fuel then that for will use providing power and I run them 24x7 for weeks at a time running AC and refer and all necessary equipment sipping fuel..when power is off unless your gas station has a back up generator fuel becomes an issue also, but my natural gas generators run fine as there is always natural gas during power outage..
Believe it or not, your toaster is one of the highest draw items in your house. Electric resistance heating is the heaviest load. Volts x amps= watts. Every item has the amp rating on it, do the math. 120 x amps = watts (what your source is rated for) if you get a higher number here, you don't have a big enough source of power. Refrigerators and deep freezers can be kept cold by only connecting power a few hours a day. You need an internal thermometer in them to verify they are keeping your food cold enough. In winter we've unplugged them both overnigh when running on the generator. Quilts draped over a deep freeze (but not blocking the air exhaust) will help it stay colder
I'm glad I watched this all the way through as my jaw dropped to the keyboard when he said "this is the generator interlock". WTF. No that is not a generator interlock that's a circuit breaker. The interlock was on the cover shown later in the video! The National Electrical Code is very specific about not being able to turn on the "generator breaker" while the main panel breaker is on! Yet he did turn the breaker on (because there was no interlock installed!) and the main breaker could have been turned on. Yes I'm aware that the outside breaker "was" off but seriously you should have NEVER done nor shown that period! IF the power had really been out and someone had "accidently" turned the main breaker on the panel on while you were in the house, you would have back fed the power grid with the possibility to kill or injure a lineman working on the main lines! And really we hooked up our truck to the house, can't turn some lights on and the answer is "which doesn't make any since at all.. but what ever". And oh look "It's freaking out the lights". Glad it wasn't my house with all sorts of expensive electronics! People see stuff like this and then they try it!
This was so awesome to see! The Technological advancements are so astonishing. The same nay sayers about new tech, are the ones who will eventually buy one.
I had an electrician install a sub panel and generator hook up in the garage, but I get the ground fault trip. What do I need to tell him needs to be done at this point?
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You did it the hard way
I got to see this beast today. Had to sub after seeing the back window sticker.
Now that you have a lightning it would be great to see it plugged into this home.
When you're running on the truck it's common sense to limit what you run.
Sunrun is now stating their home integration system will cost around $4000 plus installation costs.
Thanks for stopping by to wrap up this series!! After much research I knew we could get it to work with the newer GFCI protected style of generators! Was a ton of fun working with you guys on this one.
Thank you Justin!
Awesome video!!!!
Can you elaborate about the “neutral transfer panel” that is needed to make the truck outlet work right?
@@capt_ramius You need a 3 pole transfer panel. You need to transfer the 2 hots and neutral to the truck (and sever the connection to the grid on all 3), most generator interlocks just transfer the 2 hots (like mine) and tie the generator into the neutral and ground.
@@JustinKingOffroad Thanks! Just ordered a Lightning and was going to inlet the 240V bed outlet into my panel with interlock, just like this. Guess it’s more complicated than I thought lol.
I’m an electrician, actually for Xcel Energy out in Colorado and recently setup my new house completely off grid. This 7500 watt inverter is more than enough for a house as long as you keep in mind your high draw items such as electric stove, electric hot water heater, if your method of heating is electric, and electric clothes dryer. All or some of these appliances may run on natural gas or propane for you and in that case they won’t pull much power at all. If they are electric you won’t be able to run more than one of these at a time most likely. In an actual power outage if your having trouble with the generator tripping I recommend turning off your water heater if it’s electric as you can’t control when this decides to cycle on. With all these items on propane at my house I’m typically pulling well under 1000 watts and don’t think I could pull more than 4000 watts if I tried. For people with well water, this should run your pump just fine.
Another thing to keep in mind is your house has two different phases running through it for 240v appliances such as your high draw electric appliances mentioned above. If your running into issues but know your under 7500 total watts it’s just because your overloading the capability of the inverter for that specific phase so try and keep your power consumption more balanced.
Hello Travis, thank you for the feedback.
In short, live conservatively. ;) Power only the essentials 1 at a time or 2 if they are low V items. Gas Hot water, gas stove, gas fire place and the rest is super simple/low V to live off of for days. (I know, I have done it) Just the fridge is the priority once you have natural gas taking care of the bare essentials. And that is IMO subjective as well.
What do I need to hook my powerboost up to my house?
Yeah they could have even added more load if they distributed the load more evenly. There was more of a load on line one than line two. If they had the microwave running off of l2 it would have ran fine. It's 3600 watts per leg of 110v power. Another thing that seems a little disambiguous about the Chevy Silverado EV is they are quoting over 10 kilowatts of onboard power but the way it's worded to me seems like you can't pull 10 KW from one power source like you can on the ford. It seems like there's a bunch of outlets and all combined together you can pull a Max of 10 kw.
@@travisb9130 incorrect, the microwave was not the load that overloaded the system, it was the stovetop.
I'm skeptical about how well the all electric trucks will fare as a truck. But tbh, I think Ford hits the right balance with this hybrid. The generator mode is huge. It has so much practical use.
the ford lightning will have a 100 mile range towing a 5000 pound trailer, so plan accordingly
@@uhjyuff2095 I plan to buy something else then. Lol. That's not enough range to take my family and camper anywhere.
Ford needs to build F-250/350 hybrids for truck campers and trailers! These onboard power systems would be perfect for boon-docking and/or full time RV living! Ford should also build a Transit hybrid for van-lifers! GM & Ram needs to build these too!
Diesel 6.7L would make an awesome generator...
@@richfarfugnuven6308 Yep, take my money now :-)
Agreed. A flatbed hybrid would be awesome.
@@richfarfugnuven6308 It would, although for camping purposes especially at night the noise wouldn't be very neighborly if others are nearby.
@Anthony C its shocking how quiet the new diesels are though...
I love the power on board technology. Wish I could find one locally. I don't need it as I have a generator already, but in a pinch you could lend your truck to provide power in an emergency. Loading and hauling a 10,000-W generator isn't the easiest to ask, so having it built into the truck would be convenient.
except when power is off the local gas stations are out also, so driving your vehicle 100 miles round trip to get fuel isnt the best and shutting off power in between.. hence those of us with propane and natural gas use that for back up generation, I do and im out of power weeks every year due to PGE garbage, and an electric vehicle for me is a fail but a hybrid works great
@@lutomson3496 Do you get your propane delivered to you or do you drive 100 miles round trip to get it?
@@uhjyuff2095 I drive a mile..propane is available everywhere but I have natural gas at my house no need to drive
Thank you Justin and Andre for showing it can be done!
Thank you for watching.
@@TFLtruckWhat power cord are you using? Thank you
I bet this video just sold a lot of these trucks. It's got me thinking. Thanks Andre for letting TFL use your truck for so many videos. I love that truck
Thank you for watching.
It certainly sold mine!
Just a quick clarification. The interlock switch is so you don’t feed energy back to the utility and electrocute a utility worker trying to fix downed lines etc. Not just so you don’t feed power back to your generator.
This is so crucial. I still come across people back feeding their houses with a generator by back feeding a dryer or range plug. So dangerous
I couldn't really tell what you did to bypass the bonded neutral in your panel. Did you install a transfer switch with 6 or 10 circuits? Thanks for the help - don't want to mess this up!
Looks like he turned his main home panel into a sub panel. He separated the neutrals and grounds. The first means of disconnect is now behind his house by the meter.
Power on board was a major factor in my decision to reserve an F-150 Lightning. I have small homes in both the California desert and the Ozark Mountains that are in areas where outages occur more often than I like. Being able to plug the house into the truck is a huge benefit for this aging hermit.
i could've sawer that original marketing papers said a 15kw inverter ( 100kw battery pack size or so ) and not a 10kw for the house mode and i remember a 125amp charger ( and dc fast chargering at 200+ amps for road tripping ) not a pansy 60 ish amps. o well still sounds like a nice truck but as i remembered some of the spec sheets was nicer options
What makes the F150 hybrid different from other electric pickups is that it has an ICE, not just plug-in electric. That’s what makes it able to act as a generator. With the other electric pickups without ICE, you could only consume the battery capacity, not generate electricity.
Hey You guys need to show how we can power a 30Amp travel trailer so it can be totally self contained while say staying off grid for a few days. That would be very cool!! Love your channel guys!!
Yes! I just picked up my camper and own a hybrid. I haven't tried powering it just yet but want to see someone do it before I just plug it in and go for it lol
@@hairband80s69 Thank you for that tip. Already have everything I need. I was asking TFL to show others how it could be done and how it might work.
Andre actually did do a video doin* exactly this.
@@marriedGary Very Cool! I can't seem to find it. Can you post short cut?
See here ua-cam.com/video/6uUlsMwxM_0/v-deo.html
Put a 80 gallon auxiliary tank in the bed and you can get 4+ days. Pretty slick setup.
how many miles can you go before running out of fuel?
That's a worst case scenario assuming you're using the full 7.2kw the truck can output. In the real world it would last much longer than that for powering a house.
I remember you charging the i3 and using nearly all 7200 watts. For a few hours! Powering the house overloaded one of the two poles of the trucks 240 @ shutdown while other half of circuit was fine. Ground switching (legit circuit changer) is probably KEY in more ways than one!
I really appreciate TFL for coming back to this issue. I was just wondering earlier this week if you were going to and here it is!
We read your mind.
The truck shut off the power because only one of the 120V buses was overloaded - the other one still had some capacity. If you had loads that were evenly distributed between the 120V buses you'd be able to power more stuff - the microwave plus the range, etc. Interesting that the LED lights were unhappy. Makes me wonder if the truck doesn't have a "pure sine wave inverter?"
incorrect, the microwave was not the load that overloaded the system, it was the stovetop.
Regardless if the stove was the final straw that tripped the truck , had the loads been better balanced prior to turning on the stove the truck would have handled it just fine. That was the point Mathew was trying to make.
I added the larger inverter onto my Pro order recently. Already have the house wired with a transfer switch, reliance, so assume it's going to be plug and play. With a full charge I should be using about 12 KWH per day in a power outage, which gives me 5 or 6 days power until I hit 20 percent charge or so. I have an inverter generator already, so it is going to be demoted to the back up once my truck order arrives.
Good video. I'm surprised Andre didn't pull out his phone app to check power usage from the truck inside the house.
I was thinking the same thing.
When is your video coming out powering a house?
Thanks for sharing how this works. Seems like the power boost is better than the lightning in a disaster since it can recharge its self and could still be driven with depleted batteries.
Lightning provides more power, and reserves a portion for travel of X distance.
I would argue that lightning is superior for my use, as with solar power stored at home it is free for me to power my home and drive as well as less maintenance.
@@makinawake9178 That’s a great point on solar. I live under a decent canopy of trees and was told I don’t have enough sun for solar here. I love my trees, but free electric would be nice.
It would be interesting to compare fuel usage for the truck in generator mode versus a comparable gas generator running at the same load.
I would have done a manual transfer switch. You can pick 6 or 10 circuits depending what model you buy. The whole house doesn't need power in an emergency, and when utility comes back on flip it from gen back to line. It is really 300 bucks for 30a 250v 7500w 6 circuit breaker kit.
I’m so happy I saw this. Just got a build date for an F-150 Lightning in May. Have an electrician setup to run a 50amp out for charging and setup a transfer switch for the truck to power home.
Pretty awesome feature. I'm sure GM, RAM, and Toyota are kicking themselves for not thinking of it first. Eventually I'm sure they'll have their own versions. It would have been a huge boost for the new Tundra if they could have done something like this before Ford did.
If I understand the display each of the 2 phases from the generator is 3.6kW. The reason the truck shut off was because the microwave and stove are on the same phase (theoretically if they weren’t it would’ve been fine). I never put much thought into the way all my fuses are balanced, but it’s still interesting thing to see
Good video Andre. You need a grid disconnect and a 220 inverter. Disconnect from the grid, plug into the circuit breaker via a 220 input. Then turn on the loads that you can support with the source. I have a 220 v AC generator and it works great
Great video! I'm in love with the ProPower feature. Would be great not to have to haul a noisy generator to track days. Especially overnight when other campers are sleeping.
You guys breezed right over the major issue for most people which is how to solve the switched neutral situation. Most people have their neutrals and grounds bonded right in the main panel, or the first panel after their meter. In this video, you mention the bond is in the meter box itself, but you would need a 'switched neutral' between the meter box and the main panel to permit you to then plug in the truck and not worry about the truck tripping on it's GFCI protection. This is the aspect of your video that will be most important for people watching this and wondering why they cannot achieve what you have successfully done while using a generator interlock. Long story short, maybe defining that you placed your bond location out in the meter box and that you have a switched neutral (and how you switch your neutral) would be helpful!
It seems they just disconnected the ground to break the loop. Which I assume would be unsafe …
@@sundownstudios502 very unsafe, agreed!
Wonder if you could just add a separate ground bar in the panel and connect the outlet ground to that??
That's one of the most practical new features in a truck. So many use cases for it. Thank you for sharing!
so what wiring did you change in your panel or generator outlet to correct the ground loop?
Just picked mine up Tuesday 🤘🏼
The truck did something else that wasn't even mentioned in this video. It showed this house has an unbalanced load. To balance this circuit panel is relatively simple. Just swap some of the heavily loaded breakers to the other leg of the 240 volt panel with some lighter loaded breakers such as lights. The panel may not be able to be perfectly balanced because things like fridge and freezer turn off and on. But fridge should be on one leg and freezer on the other leg.
thanks for posting this video, helped me (an electrician) figure out an issue with a generator back feed I installed that works fine with a regular generator but not one of these trucks.
Great video. In the near future will be able to power our houses with our vehicles during an outage and that is just super cool.
How did you resolve the Ground Fault Issue? Was it just a matter of disconnecting the Grid, by turning off Main in Panel? Could you use an auto switch without issues?
Tbh, you don't need to power "luxury" items during a short out and therefor is extremely easy.
Just run a powercord from the truck to everything you need to power (fridge, freezer etc).
I take for granted that everyone living in a house in cold climates have a backup heating system (wood stove for example).
Will a would stove heat an entire suburban house like shown? Honest question. There are pipes in various places throughout the house that need protection from freezing, although trickling them would lessen the chance of that.
Using a break out box you dont have to turn off the MAIN, you can just switch off the circuits you want to go to generator for with the switches in the break out box !!!! Once hooked up, its a piece of cake to select which circuits you want to take off the MAIN,,, simply flip a switch !!!! Basically, every circuit has a double throw switch,,, main or external,,, the box has the plug already in it and its all wired up ready to tie in,,, Home depot sells it and I thing it was like $250 when I got mine,,, each circuit is 30 amp and there are different boxes with more or less circuits, 6, 12, 24 etc.... works for 120 and 240 but less circuits for the 240 than the 120.... You dont have to worry about the MAIN AT ALL since the external circuits you chose are completely disconnected from the MAIN when you flip the switch so if the power comes back on while running a external source,,, nothing happens - its all safe and isolated automatically,,,,, the house power comes back on and the generator circuits stay on generator until you flip the switches back...... this really is the best way and safest way to tie an external power source to a house - YOU CANT MAKE A MISTAKE is what so good about it !!!!! It has meters to show wattage on each leg,,, the thing is great !!!!! Just some info and an idea for ya !!!!
So the hanle prt of cord is your surge protector & semi flex 4/6 way outlets on solid copper line. Then u can attach normal cords onto the semi flex handle line.
That is quite impressive that you can run that house off the truck!!! And run it it in a manner that is really usable - like you are still on the mains for the most part and of course the house max is about 10,000 watts ( + - ) a bit but when would you ever be running everything at the same time - NEVER,,, so 7200 watts is plenty for like comfortable like your are not off grid at all !!! In an emergence, for sure hardly no emergency with that system..... That's Great!!!! I LIKE IT - I LIKE IT A LOT !!!!!!
Now do this in summer and run the A/C. Or better yet try it in a RV with A/C. I would really love to know if it could run that!
I love this technology. I would definitely consider buying one of these trucks. I would just make sure I bought the extended warranty. Great video.
Great video and experiment. I have the exact same setup and have a 2024 F150 Hybrid on order can't wait to try it out.
So how did you get around the ground fault issue? I'm having the same problem.
Andre - you are wonderful - thank you for the education!
If the microwave and that inductive "element" are on the same leg, that may explain why it tripped a reset in the truck. I noticed the "left" leg (truck display) jumped up with the addition of the inductive element and microwave. If either were on the other leg, I bet this would not have been an issues. Balancing loads is important either using the truck or a regular generator. I wonder if another "element" on the stove may have been on the other leg.
When I read the vid title I thought...yeah...go to store...buy generator...put in back of truck...bring home... power house...lmao!
As much as I love the new lightning, I think the hybrid with the inverter generator is a better choice. In fact, If I could make decisions for the Ford motor Company, every truck starting with the 2024 model year would be a hybrid with a 5KW propower onboard generator as standard equipment. A 10 KW version would be an option for an additional cost.
Nothing wrong with the hybrids you mentioned but I personally think the all electric lightning is the perfect way to go. Still having to purchase gasoline defeats the purpose of an all electric vehicle.
Wow, that truck is like a Swiss Army Knife
Second time around was MUCH better guys! Always best to do a little research and have someone on hand that knows a thing or two about what you're experimenting with!
This makes me want one of these trucks so bad. Wish the prices weren’t so crazy right now, hope more companies do something similar to this.
Great video & the more you educate me about the Ford F-150 the more I like it. Not sure if I missed the video on the off-road capabilities of the F-150, but I would really be interested in how it does. As always thank you for taking the time to share your testing & knowledge.
the cord I purchased was a Gear IT 30-Amp Generator Extension Cord (25 Feet) 4-Prong 120/250-Volt 7500W, NEMA L14-30P/L L14-30R, 10 Gauge SJTW Locking Power Cord for Manual Transfer Switch, Portable Generators, Power Outage 25ft. This powers my home but not my A/C?
can some one please tell me what he was doing at 4:08 of the video in the fuse box to get the truck's inverter to work with the wiring of the house? That's the most important part of the video :(
I love his 2020 power wagon in there
LMAO!!
Plug-in electric vehicles, used to power a house or campsite…question, how do you recharge the vehicle’s battery? They certainly wouldn’t have been any good I-95 while it was closed after a recent ice storm.
Hybrid is the way to go.
That's what I thought. Once the battery drained from an EV, you would be dead in the water. This truck could power the house forever as long as you pour gas in it.
How many days was I-95 closed? The F150 Lightning could power a house for at least three day. Keeping the cabin warm for a few days should not be a problem. For a house put solar on your house you could go years.
@@jwelchon2416 Another thing to note is when it is very cold outside, the EV has to be plugged in to maintain battery charge otherwise the truck uses so much power just to keep the batteries from freezing which then after a few days the truck will be drained and unusable.
Dumb question, but how do keep someone from stealing your truck while you use it to power your house or your worksite? In the video, it looked like you had to leave the key or key fob in the truck.
You don't for the models with push start. I powered our house with a Platinum F150 hybrid, and just locked it and took the keyfob back in the house with me. Came in handy when Edison had to replace the transformer for our street.
Maybe just like how thieves cannot make off with an unattended running vehicle that has remote start?
You can leave the truck running with the keyfob inside. Just lock the truck using the code panel on the door
Questions.
What is sound level difference between Honda generator and F-150 when under load?
What does the truck do when low on fuel or runs out?
What is fuel efficiency vs Honda generator?
How well does it work for an RV with 2 AC units?
Check out Alex on Autos video on the F150 Powerboost. He has a homestead and goes far into depth about the power system of the truck.
One of the things I had to deal with is houses before 1996 have three wire 220. Houses after that time use 4 wire 220. My diesel generator has four wire 220 output so I had to build an adapter 4 wire to 3 wire.
True, electrical codes change every 3 years.
Finally I've been waiting to see what the problem and solution
Ford needs to have this feature on the Super Duties!! I'd buy one!
Question ? the power produced by the F150 is it a pure sine wave or modified wave output ?
So you did at what cost adjustment /rewire to the electrical panel by an electrician to make this work from the 1st video issue. Plus whats the gas cost for the truck running lets say for 4 to 5 hrs. While the power is out
Automotive engines are much cleaner than regular generator engines
Good point not yet mentioned by the pro-generator crowd.
The ground fault issue is where I’m still stuck. I had an electrician put the manual transfer switch on my incoming power box and wiring for the 220 twist lock. I don’t understand how you fixed that error. Thanks.
Same... Did you figure this out yet?
Man I love this truck
You don’t run everything in your house all at once the truck will be fine just like a standby generator we hook up to many houses down here in the south this from a license electrician.
Andre watching himself on the TV reminded me of that scene in spaceballs. "when will then be now...!!...right now...!!"
When running a generator/truck for any interlock kit system it is wise to not use any appliances that are 240 V.
sorry for my ignorance, but why would that be? Is there limitations to the xfer/interlock system?
I was googling yesterday if there was a truck that can power a house then this video come out after I've been watch this channel for over a week. Wtf
So I missed it somewhere in the video. What did they change from last time to solve the Ground Fault problem? It appears to be the same setup as before
Such a cool truck, I love my 2017 2.7l, but these Hybrids are where it's at it seems.
Create video I'm glad you finally got this figured out. I have a 2021 Ford Ranger and I'm hoping the next generation will come with the hybrid option.
What did the owner change / install electrically in his panel or outside Disconnect to allow the f150 powerboost to work properly this time ?
Curious if it produces pure vine wave or modified 🤔. This would explain led lights flickering
I doubt its pure sine wave, usually requires a $4k inverter.
@@triedproven9908 Welp ...
This video ALONE indicates the viability AND actual ability to power your ENTIRE HOUSE with the Ford F150 Powerboost! Based upon this demo with the Stove, Lights and Furnace at 5000 to 6500 watts continuous draw, one Tank of Gas should be able to power the ENTIRE HOUSE A MINIMUM of 18 continuous hours at full load depending upon the initial and continuous draw of various appliances! If you do a cyclic six hours per day for all your appliances that is a full three days of power on one tank of gas.
That is pretty FANTASTIC !!!!
This bodes VERY WELL for the 9600 watt capability of the F150 Lightning which at 150,000 Watts for its Lithium-Ion battery can power 6500 watts of CONTINUOUS DRAW for a solid 23 hours. If you ration electricity usage to only six hours per day of appliance use at 6500 watts continuous draw during that six hour period, that is almost FOUR DAYS of power!
I would say THIS IS A VERY VERY VERY BIG DEAL !!! --- ALL trucks should have this power-the-house ability!
V
P.S. I do understand some of you picky engineer types will point out that the tank of gas in a F150 Hybrid has MORE actual BTU energy than the 150 KW battery of the F150 Lightning ....BUT..... we are then getting into the inversion process AND the energy conversion losses that are part and parcel of a Hybrid engine. Sooooooo, this means that the F150 Lightning, being FULLY electrified, WILL STILL outperform the the Hybrid Powerboost because of its much lower energy conversion losses! We need to account for the differences between the LATENT energy of a liquid fuel that WILL have an energy conversion loss factor versus the ACTUAL IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE energy within a fully charged Li-Ion battery!
Basically, this all means that due to losses caused by liquid-fuel-to-piston-to-hybrid-motor/battery-storage energy conversion factors, the F150 Lightning WILL power your house LONGER than the F150 Hybrid-based Powerboost. The only other factor affecting energy output of the F150 Lightning will be excessively cold or excessively hot ambient/outside temperatures affecting Li-Ion battery performance.
V
Disappointing video because there is no real explanation how you resolved the initial issue, and then you never got to the bottom of or explained why the lights were flickering. Most households have LED lights now, so it's a real problem if something about the trucks power feed doesn't allow them to work properly.
Did this work due to the disconnect at the power meter or was some other wires switched around inside the panel?
i temporarily changed the configuration inside the panel to make this work with the truck, when we were done i set it back up to work with my non-GFCI generator.
@@JustinKingOffroad What did you do to the panel to allow the truck to work with it ?
I disconnected the ground from the 30 amp 240 volt inlet plug and it solved the ground fault on the Truck, I have an interlock on the breaker on the main panel, and all outlets are grounded anyway at the house
If u add a loop of say 18" of thick 12 or better 10 gauge as a built in handle, it ACTs Bible strong/sound(no ac knowledge of any Kind) as AC weigh station for the whole cheap 14 or worse 16 gauge line. Not sure if it nneeds? capasitor loop near plug end as well. So loop 18" long at each side.
Hand it to Nathan and Case to bring that extra special touch to a TFL presentation, Nathan that really using your noggin🤣
Impressive. This should be on every truck now.
Excellent video TFL crew! You guys rock. This hybrid approach is the pragmatic way to saving energy yet giving us truck buyers a versatile and affordable powertrain compared to all electric! TFL do you think Ford and other manufacturers will expand the hybrid or Powerboost offerings and maybe increase battery capacity? We dont want expensive all electric so please please tell the OEMs to listen!!!
The powerboost is a city truck and highway mileage is worse compared to the ecoboost!
I won’t worry about food spoilage if it’s in the fridge or freezer in the middle of the winter with a power outage at zero degrees Celsius or or below ,just put all your contents outside and gives you a chance to clean inside the fridge 😉Just saying
What happens if you try and start a motor like a deep well pump where there's a brief motor starting surge that exceeds 7200 watts. Will that blow the truck's circuit breaker or does it have extra surge capacity above and beyond 7200 watts? (like most portable gas generators do)
V2H technology is a great idea. Having a transfer switch is more than likely to be mandated for safety of both your home and upstream of the meter. Not sure if the source power from the truck is true rms. Doesn't appear to be because of the LED lightning flickering.
What they didn't tell you but briefly showed is he removed the bare ground wire from the plug below the breaker box to make the truck happy.
So you had to turn off the main outside to correct ground fault issue?
Great real world demonstration Andre.
Shut up Ford and take my money 🤑💰
Most AC systems will pull too much power on startup. If you are careful with what you run in the house you should be able to run up to about a 3 1/2 ton unit if you put an Easy Start on it to keep the in-rush current down (the initial spike when electric motors start he was mentioning about the fan for the heat for example) . Other 220v or high amp draw items would be a probable no though. LED, lights, fridge, freezer, laptops, router and modem... yup... no problem.
I have never hit over 7kW in my house in the 3-4 years I have monitored my power. I have a 5 ton and a 2 ton AC units. The 5 ton actually ran on a 20 amp breaker for about month till the temps rose above 105. When the breaker tripped I quickly figured out the electrician had the breaker swapped between the two units. Most good inverters can output close to double the power for a few seconds for large inrush loads.
Don’t forget interlocks on the panel could save a lineman’s life doing storm restoration! If main breaker isn’t off voltage can back feed on to utilities grid
Only issue is if you did this with a purely electric vehicle is in a prolonged outage. In a long outage then you could have a dead vehicle and a dead home. With a hybrid fuel consumption is low and fuel supplies are easier to store.
I like the 70's police music you used. Sounds like a Dirty Harry movie...
I like fords concept of this and i think down the road electric cars/hybrids will be part of microgrids..at the same time im without power for weeks at a time due to living in PGE area I already have a couple of generators that use way less fuel then that for will use providing power and I run them 24x7 for weeks at a time running AC and refer and all necessary equipment sipping fuel..when power is off unless your gas station has a back up generator fuel becomes an issue also, but my natural gas generators run fine as there is always natural gas during power outage..
Believe it or not, your toaster is one of the highest draw items in your house. Electric resistance heating is the heaviest load.
Volts x amps= watts. Every item has the amp rating on it, do the math.
120 x amps = watts (what your source is rated for) if you get a higher number here, you don't have a big enough source of power.
Refrigerators and deep freezers can be kept cold by only connecting power a few hours a day. You need an internal thermometer in them to verify they are keeping your food cold enough.
In winter we've unplugged them both overnigh when running on the generator.
Quilts draped over a deep freeze (but not blocking the air exhaust) will help it stay colder
I'm glad I watched this all the way through as my jaw dropped to the keyboard when he said "this is the generator interlock". WTF. No that is not a generator interlock that's a circuit breaker. The interlock was on the cover shown later in the video! The National Electrical Code is very specific about not being able to turn on the "generator breaker" while the main panel breaker is on! Yet he did turn the breaker on (because there was no interlock installed!) and the main breaker could have been turned on. Yes I'm aware that the outside breaker "was" off but seriously you should have NEVER done nor shown that period! IF the power had really been out and someone had "accidently" turned the main breaker on the panel on while you were in the house, you would have back fed the power grid with the possibility to kill or injure a lineman working on the main lines! And really we hooked up our truck to the house, can't turn some lights on and the answer is "which doesn't make any since at all.. but what ever". And oh look "It's freaking out the lights". Glad it wasn't my house with all sorts of expensive electronics! People see stuff like this and then they try it!
very cool , you can use for over landing to use electric cook top etc
I paused at 436 comment still Now showing at 3:16 in video. So new faucets & cords Now, great, thanks Dad.
This was so awesome to see!
The Technological advancements are so astonishing. The same nay sayers about new tech, are the ones who will eventually buy one.
I had an electrician install a sub panel and generator hook up in the garage, but I get the ground fault trip. What do I need to tell him needs to be done at this point?
DON'T FORGET TO INSTALL A TRANSFER SWITCH TO DISCONNECT THE UTILITY POWER FOR ALL YOU CANADIAN CONSUMERS! Love that the Ford can do this!