Ford has a solution for those of you finding yourself in the middle of a real-life range anxiety nightmare. All you need is the helping hand of someone with a capable, 2022 F-150 Lightning F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid nearby. And a list of other things too.
The company announced both the new all-electric F-150 and the F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid (with at least 7.2 kilowatts of Pro Power on board) will be able to charge other EVs at Level 2 speeds. All you will need to get going again is the Ford Mobile Power Cord that comes with any Ford EV, an L14-30P to 14-50R adaptor plug and the kindness of a stranger with all of the above.
To make all of this shared electronic wizardry work, you plug the adaptor into the 240-volt outlet on the F-150 Lightning someone is letting you borrow and then plug the end of the cable into the power adaptor you also bought. Next you plug your EV’s charger into the socket, do a rain dance (not really) and then you should be charging!
Ford says the charging speed depends on the EV, but they estimate a Mustang Mach-E RWD with the extended-range battery will charge around 32 km per hour.
Just recently, a Tesla Model 3 Performance driver in Colorado arrived at an out-of-service charging station with a fully depleted battery. On top of that, the driver had no cell service and it was a crisp 18 degrees outside. That’s not an ideal temperature for EV range.
That’s when the hero of our story – the owner of a new BMW X5 45e PHEV – happened upon the stranded Tesla and jumped to the rescue. You can watch that rescue in the video below.
A nice little EV perk is that you can charge the battery while being towed. The Model 3 driver set his braking regen to 100 per cent in order to get as much electricity into the battery pack as quickly as possible.
After just about three and a half miles of being towed, the Tesla went from zero per cent battery to a whopping nine per cent. It was just enough to get him to a Tesla Supercharger on his own.
Perhaps there is hope for humanity after all during this season of giving. Just for this particular gift, make sure you have the right plug… and cable… and a tow strap… and the right vehicle.