A Canadian Ford F-150 Lightning owner uses his electric pickup in an amazing way. He is in fact able to recharge his jet-ski attached to the trailer thanks to the bidirectional V2D charging.
As we know, it is essential to plug in your electric car to recharge it and thus be able to drive with it. But so few know it, it is also possible to use certain vehicles to power electrical objects, thanks to bidirectional charging. An increasingly widespread feature, known by several abbreviations such as V2G, V2L or even V2X. If these terms refer to several distinct functionalities, the operation is similar.
An amazing technique
For simplicity, Bi-directional charging involves using the energy stored in an electric car’s battery to power various objects, even a building or neighborhood, which can then be plugged directly into the charging socket, via an adapter. Many models offer this feature, such as the Kia EV6, the MG5 Electric or the Ford F-150 Lightning. And precisely, an owner of the electric pick-up decided to use this system, with a power of 9.6 kW, for a use that was unusual to say the least.
Presented by Electrekthe Canadian Sylvain Juteau, founder of the site Drive Electric has indeed and the idea of test the bidirectional charge of his vehicle to recharge his electric jet-ski — the Taiga Orca — while driving. But as the journalist points out, it is possible to power any machine, while the pick-up can even charge other cars, such as a Tesla for example. And the maneuver is actually very simple, as explained Electrek in his article.
Two hour charge
Indeed, to recharge your jet-ski while driving, Sylvain Juteau simply used the 240-volt socket installed in the pickup bed, operating thanks to the Pro Power Onboard system., which acts as a generator. He then plugged the J1772 connector (which is the universal system for electric cars in the United States) directly into his Taiga Orca. The ingenious owner can then monitor the progress of the charge via the touch screen, which then indicates all the necessary information, such as the power delivered and the remaining autonomy in the vehicle.
In total, it then takes about two hours to fully charge the jet ski’s battery using this method. As a reminder, the Ford F-150 Lightning comes in two versions, with 98 and 131 kWh batteries, offering a range of up to 480 kilometers according to the American EPA cycle, which differs from our European WLTP. The electric pickup is also capable of powering a home, also offering the lowest cost per kilowatt-hour on the market, at $425/kWh. This is significantly lower than that displayed by the Tesla Powerwall, oscillating between 556 and 778 dollars/kWh.
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