Justin Long’s electric Ford Lightning F-150 pickup kept the power on for four days at his veterinary clinic.
People often buy electric vehicles to save money and help the environment, but it turns out EVs are also great at keeping the refrigerator running in an emergency.
Some have found their EV trucks to be handy during electrical outages to power appliances, lights, internet and even entire buildings.
Several EV models have bidirectional charging capabilities, which can power appliances or be used as a generator for a home, but none are as powerful or as seamless as the Ford F-150 Lightning’s home-integration system. It was intentionally designed to be able to serve as a backup power source for a home.
Market research conducted while Ford was designing the EV showed that people wanted to be able to utilize the powerful battery, according to Ryan O’Gorman, senior manager of energy services and home charging for Ford.
“It’s exciting to see the mental transition of what an electrical vehicle can do,” said O’Gorman.
After Hurricane Helene devasted northwestern Florida and parts of Tennessee, Georgia, and North and South Carolina in September 2024, Ford recorded F-150 Lightning pickup owners using the truck’s Pro Power Onboard system to convert battery power to usable power at a rate six times higher than normal.
Justin Long, owner and administrator of Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic, in central Florida, had previously used his F-150 Lightning in a blackout, running extension cords to the office and barn to keep the refrigerators and computers going for the workday.
But when Hurricane Helene hit, causing a four-day power outage, Long was able to power everything but the air conditioners at the clinic from his truck, including 10 computers, two refrigerators, lab equipment, all lights, the internet and the water well.
The refrigeration and water well are particularly critical to the clinic, which refrigerates about 20,000 vaccine doses and serves up 15 to 30 gallons of water per horse.
After two days Long had to take his truck to a public charging station and then plugged everything in again.
“That’s when I learned what the capacity really was,” he said.
Long and his wife spent a year researching before deciding on the F-150 Lightning. After crunching the numbers, they found that the truck (starting at $63,345) would be more cost-effective than a generator, which would cost around $20,000 and only be used two or three times a year.
Though range and fuel savings were not as big of a factor in his decision, Long also estimates he is saving about $1,000 a month on gas compared to his diesel truck, which he still uses for certain tasks.
For Long, it was all about the battery power, which easily proved its worth.
“Being able to power the clinic made this a great choice,” he said.
“People are starting to discover all kinds of interesting uses (for EVs),” said Joel Levin, executive director of Plug in America, an EV advocacy and education group.
Levin compares the evolution of EVs to cellphones. Once used exclusively for communication, now users can stream movies and feed pets among other things. Likewise, EV uses are growing beyond transportation.
“They are increasingly popular, especially in areas with a high risk of power loss. It’s just a big battery on wheels you can move around,” Levin said.
Even an EV sedan with a standard 11o-volt outlet could power a refrigerator for several days.
Finding different uses for EV battery power has been a focus of EV advocates for more than a decade, according to Jeff Allen, executive director of Forth Mobility, a group dedicated to increasing electric transportation.
“People are excited,” said Allen of the additional capabilities. “Even if they never use it, they find it reassuring.”
While more vehicles are being designed to enable powering a house and business for several days, Allen says there is still more work to be done. “Technology is here now. The question is how we make it easier and cheaper.”
Forth is working on a pilot project in Oregon to use electric school buses to help power schools.
Expanding EV charging uses could be slowed, however, by the introduction of Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) to North American and European manufactured EVs, which mostly use the combined charging system (CCS).
While the CCS standard includes two-way charging, NACS does not, according to John Higham, vice president of communications and media outreach for the Electric Vehicle Association.
Another sticking point: Auto manufacturers are reluctant to offer a warranty on a consumer product used outside the scope of that item, such as a car powering a home.
“But the demand seems to be there, and it is starting to be offered for sale, albeit not on a huge variety of cars at the moment,” Highman said.
Ford’s O’Gorman predicts consumers will begin to expect this kind of functionality from their vehicles.
“Over time, I think this will become standard on most EVs,” O’Gorman said.
- Make sure your EV has the capability to serve as a power source.
- Fully charge the vehicle.
- If you are near water, park on high ground.
- Decide which devices need power most, so you don’t overload the battery.
- Ensure you have extension cords strong enough to carry the charges.
AAA’s Recommendation: Whether you own an electric vehicle or a gas-powered car is up to you – and you should consider lots of factors in making that choice. No matter what type of vehicle you’re choosing, we recommend visiting a dealership, test driving one, and asking as many questions as possible to make an informed decision.
