Ford's new F-150 Lightning EV: can power your HOUSE for 3 entire days

Ford's new F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck is a mobile powerhouse, offering some incredible power not just as a car -- but as a gigantic, portable battery that can power your power tools, charge up a dead Tesla EV, and even your house.

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Yes, the Ford F-150 Lightning can charge your house. Ford isn't the only one, but they're the biggest name by far that is doing it, and has a car on the market here, and now. At least a few of them. Being able to charge your entire house during a power outage, Ford is really changing what it means to be "just a car".

The 9.6kW of Intelligent Backup Power on the Ford F-150 Lightning can power an entire home for up to 3 days if the battery on the F-150 Lightning is fully charged. Ford's energy services lead, Ryan O'Gorman, explains: "If your F-150 Lightning is plugged in when your outage occurs, Intelligent Backup Power will automatically kick in to power your home. When power is restored, the truck automatically reverts to charging its battery".

• Read more: Ford F-150 Lightning EV: includes free adapter to recharge dead Tesla
• Read more: Ford's Extended Range F-150 Lightning: gigantic 131 kWh battery pack

Ford has teamed with Sunrun, a solar, battery storage, and energy services provider, to help out installing the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro and home integration system. If you get the extended range battery version of the F-150 Lightning, then you'll get that by standard. When Sunrun's people are at your house, they'll give you the option of installing a solar and battery system to your home.

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The 9.6kW Pro Power Onboard battery can handle everything you plug into it... I mean, there are 11 outlets spread throughout the Ford F-150 Lightning. They're find in the cabin interior, as well as the bed, and the huge "frunk" or front trunk of the F-150 Lightning.

Ford offers a Pro Power Onboard upgrade for its F-150 Lightning electric truck, with the company detailing it: "Pro Power Onboard is a more sophisticated, integrated solution than a traditional generator. With tech-safe precautions and ground-fault detection, you can hook up your most essential tools on the worksite or be the talk of the tailgate when watching the big game".

But then there's a feature called Ford Intelligent Backup Power, which when plugged into the Ford Charge Station Pro home charger -- which comes standard with the extended range version of the F-150 Lightning by the way -- the F-150 Lightning will begin charging your house. Ford says that the F-150 Lightning is good to charge the average home for 3 entire days with the 9.6-kilowatt Pro Power Onboard system.