Randy Jones of Katy, Texas used his 2021 Ford F-150 to power space heaters and other appliances in his home when he lost power during the winter storm earlier this week.
Source: Randy Jones
When Randy Jones of Katy, Texas bought his new Ford F-150 a few weeks ago, he didn’t think he would use it to keep the lights on in his home during a historic winter storm that left millions without power.
The built-in generator on the 2021 Ford F-150 hybrid truck “allows you to use your truck as a mobile generator” capable of producing up to 7.2 kW of power, Ford says.
Jones, 66, said in a phone interview with CNBC that he bought the truck in part because of that position, adding that it often loses power due to hurricanes and other storms. When he lost the power on Sunday night, he pulled out some extension cords and decided to put the generator to the test.
“Without it, I would have been sitting in the dark and cold like everyone else in the neighborhood,” said the retired refinery worker, adding that he helped neighbors charge their phones and laptops. A lot of neighbors said, ‘Hey, I’ll get one, like’ I’ll trade my Dodge or GMC, ‘because in South Texas, with hurricanes and things like that, we always have power outages. “
Jones said he used the generator on board the truck to power appliances in his home for three days, until his power was restored on Wednesday. He’s not alone. Jerry Hall, 73, bought his new F-150 in late January. It turned out to be perfect timing, he said.
“The truck saved us,” said the Kerrville, Texas resident in a telephone interview. Hall said his house had no power from Sunday evening until early Thursday. “It would have been three miserable days without the truck.”
Hall said he and his wife still spent those days without a heater, but were able to run extension cords from the truck into the house to power lamps, the refrigerator, television, and other luxuries.
“It kept us connected to the outside world,” he said.
Hall added that “the main reason” he bought the truck was because of the built-in generator. He said last spring’s rough weather has led to some power cuts in his part of the state and he knew he wanted some sort of generator. It just made sense, he said, to buy a new truck with a built-in generator.
Other truck owners have posted similar stories to Hall and Jones’s on an online forum for F-150 owners. Photos from the forum ended up on Twitter, where Ford CEO Jim Farley noted: