Ford Lightning owner powers home essentials for 2 days and still had battery left in the tank
Thousands of Canadian residents awoke Christmas ay with no electricity after a massive winter storm swept across the area. One southern Ontario resident was able to keep the lights on for almost two days after plugging in his Ford F-150 Lightning, and still had plenty of battery left after the power came back on.
Ford Lightning powers home after a severe winter storm
When Ford released the F-150 Lightning electric pickup, the company called it “the smartest, most innovative F-150 that Ford has ever built,” referring to it as the truck of the future.
However, as Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, explains:
We’re not here to make an electric truck for the few – Ford is committed to building one that solves real problems for real people.
And that’s exactly what Ford did. Ford was the first in the US to offer bidirectional charging capabilities on an electric truck with Intelligent Backup Power, which “provides full-home power for up to three days or as long as ten days,” depending on energy usage.
The Ford Lightning also includes Pro Power Onboard, providing up to 9.6 kW of power spread across 11 outlets, including a 240V outlet in the bed.
After a severe winter storm hit Ontario, leaving thousands without power, Hydro One, an electricity distribution company serving the area, said in a statement:
As the winter storm continues to affect the province, we urge our customers to prepare for possible outages. Our skilled team is working tirelessly to make repairs and restore power in areas that have been affected.
One Ford Lightning owner used his electric pickup’s powerful battery to power their home essentials for 44 hours. RapsFanLJ posted a picture of his EV pickup on Reddit, saying, “this baby saved us.”
Although it wasn’t wired to the home’s panel, the owner ran two extension cords with a splitter to power the refrigerators, freezers, Wi-Fi, select lights, and TV for nearly two full days. And the best part, when the power was restored, the Lightning still had 65% of its battery left.
Electrek’s Take
Ford’s electric truck is not only fun to drive (instant torque makes it the fastest-accelerating F-150 yet), but it does also help solve “real problems for real people.”
Power outages have risen by around 78% in the past ten years, compared to the previous 10, as extreme weather events like the winter storm in Ontario are becoming more frequent.
The Ford F-150 Lightning has already helped people power up after hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and now a winter storm. The electric truck is already proving to be the “truck of the future” Ford envisioned, and customers just began receiving them earlier this year. With over-the-air updates, the Ford Lightning will only continue improving from here with added features and capabilities.
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Environment
U.S. crude oil falls below $60 a barrel to lowest since 2021 on tariff-fueled recession fears
A view shows disused oil pump jacks at the Airankol oil field operated by Caspiy Neft in the Atyrau Region, Kazakhstan April 2, 2025.
Pavel Mikheyev | Reuters
U.S. oil prices dropped below $60 a barrel on Sunday on fears President Donald Trump’s global tariffs would push the U.S., and maybe the world, into a recession.
Futures tied to U.S. West Texas intermediate crude fell more than 3% to $59.74 on Sunday night. The move comes after back-to-back 6% declines last week. WTI is now at the lowest since April 2021.
Worries are mounting that tariffs could lead to higher prices for businesses, which could lead to a slowdown in economic activity that would ultimately hurt demand for oil.
Oil futures, 5 years
The tariffs, which are set to take effect this week, “would likely push the U.S. and possibly global economy into recession this year,” according to JPMorgan. The firm on Thursday raised its odds of a recession this year to 60% following the tariff rollout, up from 40%.
Fueled by incentives from the Illinois EPA and the state’s largest utility company, new EV registrations nearly quadrupled the 12% first-quarter increase in EV registrations nationally – and there are no signs the state is slowing down.
Despite the dramatic slowdown of Tesla’s US deliveries, sales of electric vehicles overall have perked up in recent months, with Illinois’ EV adoption rate well above the Q1 uptick nationally. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the number of new EVs registered across the state totaled 9,821 January through March, compared with “just” 6,535 EVs registered in the state during the same period in 2024.
Those numbers represent more than 50% growth in EV registrations – far beyond the expected 12% first-quarter increase nationally being projected by Cox Automotive. (!)
What’s going on in Illinois?
While President Trump and Elmo were running for re-election, they campaigned on the threat promise of canceling the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs. Along with California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois’ Governor JB Pritzker made countermoves – launching a $4,000 rebate for new electric cars and up to $1,500 for the purchase of a new electric motorcycle.
At the same time, the state’s largest utility, ComEd, launched a $90 million EV incentive program featuring a new Point of Purchase initiative to deliver instant discounts to qualifying business and public sector customers who make the switch to electric vehicles. That program has driven a surge in Class 3-6 medium duty commercial EVs, which are eligible fro $20-30,000 in utility rebates on top of federal tax credits and other incentives (Class 1-2 EVs are eligible for up to $7,500).
We covered the launch of those incentives when the program was announced at Chicago Drives Electric last year, but the message here is simple: incentives work.
SOURCES: Chicago Business, Ray Cunningham; featured image by the author.
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The electric construction equipment experts at XCMG just released a new, 25 ton electric crawler excavator ahead of bauma 2025 – and they have their eye on the global urban construction, mine operations, and logistical material handling markets.
Powered by a high-capacity 400 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery capable of delivering up to 8 hours of continuous operation, the XE215EV electric excavator promises uninterrupted operation at a lower cost of ownership and with even less downtime than its diesel counterparts.
XCMG is delivering on part of that reduced downtime promise with the lower maintenance and easier repair needs of electric equipment, and delivering on the rest of it with lickety-quick DC fast charging that can recharge the machine’s massive battery in 1.5-2 hours … but that’s not the slick bit. The XCMG XE125EV can be powered up without leaving the job site thanks to its BYD battery swap technology.
We first covered XCMG and its battery swap technology back in January, and covered similar battery-swap tech being developed by MOOG Construction offshoot ZQUIP, as well – but while XCMG’s battery tech has been in production for several years, it’s still not widely known about in the West (even within the industry).
XCMG showed off its latest electric equipment at the December 2024 bauma China, including an updated version of its of its 85-ton autonomous electric mining truck that features a fully cab-less design – meaning there isn’t even a place for an operator to sit, let alone operate. And that’s too bad, because what operator wouldn’t want to experience an electric truck putting down 1070 hp more than 16,000 lb-ft of torque!?
Easy in, easy out
The best part? All of the company’s heavy equipment assets – from excavators to terminal tractors to dump trucks and wheel loaders – all use the same 400 kWh BYD battery packs, Milwaukee tool style. That means an equipment fleet can utilize x number of vehicles with a fraction of the total battery capacity and material needs of other asset brands. That’s not just a smart use of limited materials, it’s a smarter use of energy.
You can check out all the XE215EV’s specs at this tear sheet, and get an in-person look at the Chinese company’s latest electric excavator this week in Munich, Germany.
SOURCE | IMAGES: XCMG.
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