Texans Using Ford F-150 Generators To Combat Blackouts

Feb. 19, 2021 7:06 AM ET byIan Wright Trucks /26 Comments

We'll bet Ford never thought the F-150 would save the day like this.

Texans are facing one hell of a rough February as freezing temperatures have caused the state's underprepared electrical grid to fail. Texans have been trapped without heat or light and unable to use stoves for days now, and compounding the issue is frozen and burst water pipes. Some people are managing better than others through either luck or judgment, and, in the case of a retired refinery worker called Randy Jones, a little bit of both. According to Detroit Free Press, Jones replaced his 2015Ford F-150with a brand new hybrid F-150 in early February. Little did he know how opportune his timing was.

https://twitter.com/jimfarley98/status/1362215396892360707

It's anotherterrific advert for the F-150 Hybridand its standard Pro Power Onboard system. The system uses the running engine as a generator that provides power to an inverter so the energy can be used to power appliances. A battery pack acts as a buffer, so the engine doesn't always have to be running and automatically restarts when needed. It'sone of the coolest features of the F-150 Hybrid.

Jones bought his new hybrid F-150 with the larger system optioned, a 7.2-kW system rather than the standard 2.4-kW one - and shared images via f150gen14.com three days into the outage. Along with the photos, he says he "Ran power to some lights, coffee pot, 75" TV, toaster oven, space heater and refrigerator. I ran it for about 10-12 hours per day to keep the freezer food frozen. I guess that's not much load because it only used a few gallons of gas over that time."

It's such a good advert for the Pro Power Onboard system that Ford CEO Jim Farley retweeted Jones's images, saying: "The situation in the SW US is so difficult. Wish everyone in Texas had a new F150 with PowerBoost onboard generator...."

Jones is sharing his forward-thinking and fortunate timing for the power failure in Texas. "I bought the truck specifically because of the generator for my own safety. I'm happy I bought it," he told Detroit Free Press, "Some of my neighbors are too because they could charge their cell phones and iPads off my power supply."