The 2021 Ford F-150 equipped with the new 3.5L PowerBoost Hybrid V6 is a pretty intriguing package, producing more horsepower than any other available drivetrain, the most torque of any F-150 ever, and some pretty impressive towing and payload numbers. But opting for the F-150 PowerBoost also nets buyers another nifty standard feature – Pro Power Onboard with 2.4 kilowatts of output, or an optional 7.2 kilowatts of output.
That’s quite a bit of juice, now matter how we slice it, enough to power all sorts of things from tools to entire campers. The Drive even reckoned that the 7,200 watt version was good enough to power an entire mobile kitchen, an idea that was purely speculative at the time. However, we now know that it can, because Ford actually went out and did it, using a spiffy new F-150 PowerBoost.
Ford engineers packed the bed of their F-150 with an entire household-sized oven, coffee maker, blender, and mini fridge, then proceeded to take it on a camping trip in New York. Not the city, of course, but rather the more rural part. They then put the Pro Power Onboard system to the test by cooking all of their meals using the portable generator, and it worked rather flawlessly. It’s worth noting, however, that the oven used a whopping 7 kilowatts of power, so they were pushing it just a bit.
While they were at it, one engineer also plugged in some power tools and made a tool box, which is probably more like what most people will actually use this new feature for. But it’s nice to know, that if we really wanted to, we could haul the appliances out of our kitchen, throw them in the back of our shiny new Ford F-150, and have all the juice we need to power them in the wilderness.
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Comments
Since when does a power-boost engine run on a battery as opposed to gasoline?
Since this is *NOT* a plug-in vehicle of any sort, all the energy must come from gasoline.
It would – on a ‘technical article’ – be nice if the writer here investigated at least superficially exactly how the gasoline is converted to 2400, and optionally as here, 7200 watts.
I get 2400 watts off my cars using a 200 ampere draw off my vehicles’ 12 volt battery – using a harbor ‘junk’ tools inverter and beefy cables directly connected to the battery…. The cars’ electrical system is not quite large enough, but the battery drains under load, and then quickly recoups its charge when the cooking items are ‘up to temperature’ and cycling.
In a power tool application, this would be a drain while actually cutting, and recouping occurring between cuts.
But 7200 watts is rather a large load for a personal vehicle’s typical electrical system, and it leaves the question as to whether there is something else here other than the plain 12 volt electrical system.
I had heard certain FORDS equipped for camping can be equipped with a 250 ampere 14 volt alternator, and if more power is needed still, a SECOND alternator may be added.
If such a vehicle (500 amps at 14 volts with the engine screaming) had a few large 12 volt batteries, then the 660 – odd amperes required could be intermittently provided, such as preheating an electric stove.
In such a case though, I’d think it would be more cost-effective to use anyone else’s propane grille, and save the electrics for the rest of camper operation – assuming also they had a propane fridge and propane water heater for the sink and shower.