The upcoming 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck will definitely change the rules of the game. It will be no small feat to promise people's expectations of the best-selling F-150, while introducing the battery's electric performance (and its advantages and disadvantages) to the traditional fan base. However, Ford has a trick that may eventually convince truck owners to use electric vehicles: F-150 Lighting will be able to charge other F-150 Lightning.
When talking with Linda Zhang, chief engineer of trucks at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show, we learned that Ford has gone through a long process to get the maximum performance and practicality from its upcoming pickup trucks. One of these key features revolves around the truck's ability to act as a rolling battery and generator, which allows it to share power with other devices-until recently we did not know that these devices can be anything from camping equipment to an entire house. Now, it turns out that Lightning will have a vehicle-to-vehicle charging function through its main charging port.
"We are [working on] a car-to-car system," Zhang told The Drive. "[Charging other electric cars] will depend on the power cord, and the Mach-E system has not yet been set up for this, but Lightning will set it up."
Zhang went on to say that in theory, F-150 Lightning can charge any electric car, but the compatibility of the charging cable and the electrical architecture is the limiting factor. So at the beginning, this truck can only share charging with other F-150 Lightning.
Zhang explained that this idea really stems from the success of the current hybrid F-150 PowerBoost. It can use its on-board generator to power various external devices. If the family is equipped with an inverter, it includes the entire family (as we have already Explained).
"We have a battery system. In this case, you can provide 9.6 kilowatts of electricity through 22 different outlets around the truck; 220v, 110v, USB and 12v. When we think of this Pro Power Onboard technology, we listen Say from the people who use it [in the hybrid F-150] to back up their refrigerators and houses during power outages, we [in the lightning] developed more themes," Zhang added. "We finally got something called a smart backup power supply. It uses the actual charging port on the side of the truck with lightning, plugs in there for charging, and performs two-way power transmission with the extended range of batteries, turning the truck into a mobile and home inverter. A pair of wheeled backup generators for the entire family ecosystem."
Furthermore, being able to share charging with another compatible EV is indeed a major breakthrough, even if it is currently limited to the same brand and model. Some smartphones have been able to share battery power with other compatible smartphones, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told the outlet in 2019 that his company is planning to charge the R1T, although the technology did not enter production models to launch this fall.
It’s important to be able to help Ford owners because they don’t have enough money to reach their destination (and will definitely help resolve mileage anxiety), but I believe the real advantages of this technology will be in fleets and/or commercial applications. Being able to fill up trucks on site and basically transfer power to vehicles that need it, is very attractive to companies that manage hundreds of vehicles in construction, mining, utilities, and other industries that rely heavily on trucks force.
Zhang did not elaborate on when this capability will be extended to other Ford vehicles, but considering the necessary changes involve hardware and software, it may be a little bit. However, for now, potential Lightning owners can sit back and relax because they know that if they encounter difficulties, they only need another friendly Lightning driver to rescue them.
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