The recently announced hybrid F-150 has been designed allow the system to be used as a "worksite generator". There is also talk of future diesel hybrids in years to come. Having an integrated Smart generation system in your tow vehicle that can power your fiver while quietly idling away has the potential to be a game changer for those who dry camp. Removing the genset from the RV removes the noise and vibration as well as the possibility of theft if you use a portable: they would have to steal your truck! All your refueling issues would go away too if you had a decent fuel capacity. The only downside would be removing power from the RV when you took the TV on a ride. With a large enough battery capacity one could power an RV for hours before the engine kicked on to charge the pack. The ability of modern Lithium batteries to discharge at a high rate without harm would allow the pack to start several a/c units simultaneously while running the microwave, making toast and drying your hair.

I personally don't think it will be a game changer. You still are going to have to run a very large engine to power your generator. I would rather put the wear and tear on a stand alone generator. I use to think it would be great too. But sense I have owned my Honda eu 3000 (for about 11 years now) I am sure I would rather run that than my truck engine. JMHO

While the hybrid battery can produce prodigious amounts of instantaneous power, I would be shocked if Ford installed an inverter that could supply anything approaching 12 kW. (For one thing, they would call it a "whole-house power failure backup generator" rather than a "worksite generator" if it was a large inverter.)

Early days and baby steps....... The market will respond if they can make more money by selling a trailer package that includes high Amp capability. The parts will already be there on the vehicle, just a matter of using them. There are already systems that use a Prius or other hybrid to power a home in case of emergency, this will not be much different.

DrewE wrote:While the hybrid battery can produce prodigious amounts of instantaneous power, I would be shocked if Ford installed an inverter that could supply anything approaching 12 kW. (For one thing, they would call it a "whole-house power failure backup generator" rather than a "worksite generator" if it was a large inverter.)VIA Motors is showing 14.4 kW and 50 kW optional.Exportable powerPower where you need it—at home or the workplace. 240 volt outlets right on the rear of the truck provide easy access for work or emergency. Now you can plug your house into your truck in an emergency! The VTRUX power export module option provides 14.4 kW at 60 amps of onboard mobile power. A utility grade output module is planned for the future and will be designed to provide 50 kW of mobile emergency power to keep critical facilities online.http://www.viamotors.com/vehicles/electric-truck/Should not be a big deal for Ford to do something similar.

That sounds like a neat idea! Take your truck to a tailgate and have a built in generator. During the heat of the day you can turn your truck on (very quiet) and run the AC for a little while. At night time before bed run the truck and cool off/dry out the camper a little.Yea, some wear and tear... but is it any worse than a work truck running all day on a highway construction site? I doubt too many people would be using the truck generator day in and day out, maybe a weekend trip every couple months where you use it.Cool idea, I'd be interested to see where it goes.

F-150 hybrid designed to be "worksite generator"

CharlesinGA
Explorer
Jan 18, 2017
CharlesinGA wrote:
Rbertalotto wrote:
You can bet the farm that the future of electric vehicles will include large scale outboard power. No question. Having a small engine that simply runs a generator that in turn charges a large battery bank is the future of electric vehicles (see Chevrolet Volt)
Tesler is already talking about your car running your house in a power outage or overnight when your solar panels are not producing.
I've been saying for quite a while.....why are we not towing electric vehicles as toads where the huge Li battery pack is the main campers power supply. Recharging during the day as you sight see and using retentive braking to charge while towing. Just makes too much sense.

Can you imagine how much additional fuel your MH would expend to tow a vehicle using regenerative charging? Alot. I have a Nissan LEAF, and "regular" regenerative braking is noticable when you lift your foot off the accelerator, and when you select B (max regenerative braking) it will not maintain 45 mph down a 10% grade, constantly loosing speed. Not sure what you mean by "Recharging during the day as you sight see"

There has been some consideration to using the Li batteries for emergency power, but when you are done, you have run down batteries and no way to charge them.

Nissan absolutely forbids any towing of the LEAF in any manner with any of the wheels on the ground.

The LEAF battery is 24,000 watt, and the onboard charger is 6600 watt at 240v so it takes over 3½ hours from nearly dead for a full charge, IN THEORY. I drive to work in mine, 47 miles, and it takes between 13 and 14 Kw to recharge it and about 2½ hours to do so (208v at work so it is somewhat slower charging.)

The 120v breadbox charger that comes with the car, is about 1400 watts so it would take all night and half the day to recharge the car.

Tesla has much larger batteries, and require much longer charge times, unless you are "fast charging" or "super charging" at anywhere from 50,000 to 90,000 watts.

Charles
CharlesinGA
Explorer
Jan 18, 2017
CharlesinGA wrote:
CharlesinGA wrote:
Rbertalotto wrote:
You can bet the farm that the future of electric vehicles will include large scale outboard power. No question. Having a small engine that simply runs a generator that in turn charges a large battery bank is the future of electric vehicles (see Chevrolet Volt)
Tesler is already talking about your car running your house in a power outage or overnight when your solar panels are not producing.
I've been saying for quite a while.....why are we not towing electric vehicles as toads where the huge Li battery pack is the main campers power supply. Recharging during the day as you sight see and using retentive braking to charge while towing. Just makes too much sense.

Can you imagine how much additional fuel your MH would expend to tow a vehicle using regenerative charging? Alot. I have a Nissan LEAF, and "regular" regenerative braking is noticable when you lift your foot off the accelerator, and when you select B (max regenerative braking) it will not maintain 45 mph down a 10% grade, constantly losing speed. Not sure what you mean by "Recharging during the day as you sight see"

There has been some consideration to using the Li batteries for emergency power, but when you are done, you have run down batteries and no way to charge them.

Nissan absolutely forbids any towing of the LEAF in any manner with any of the wheels on the ground.

The LEAF battery is 24,000 watt, and the onboard charger is 6600 watt at 240v so it takes over 3½ hours from nearly dead for a full charge, IN THEORY. I drive to work in mine, 47 miles, and it takes between 13 and 14 Kw to recharge it and about 2½ hours to do so (208v at work so it is somewhat slower charging.)

The 120v breadbox charger that comes with the car, is about 1400 watts so it would take all night and half the day to recharge the car.

Tesla has much larger batteries, and require much longer charge times, unless you are "fast charging" or "super charging" at anywhere from 50,000 to 90,000 watts.

Charles
CharlesinGA
Explorer
Jan 18, 2017
CharlesinGA wrote:
Rbertalotto wrote:
You can bet the farm that the future of electric vehicles will include large scale outboard power. No question. Having a small engine that simply runs a generator that in turn charges a large battery bank is the future of electric vehicles (see Chevrolet Volt)
Tesler is already talking about your car running your house in a power outage or overnight when your solar panels are not producing.
I've been saying for quite a while.....why are we not towing electric vehicles as toads where the huge Li battery pack is the main campers power supply. Recharging during the day as you sight see and using retentive braking to charge while towing. Just makes too much sense.

Edit: on re-reading, I realize you are referring to HYBRID vehicles, not true ELECTRIC vehicles.

Can you imagine how much additional fuel your MH would expend to tow a vehicle using regenerative charging? Alot. I have a Nissan LEAF, and "regular" regenerative braking is noticable when you lift your foot off the accelerator (similar to what you feel when driving a straight shift), and when you select B (max regenerative braking) it will not maintain 45 mph down a 10% grade, constantly losing speed. Not sure what you mean by "Recharging during the day as you sight see"

There has been some consideration to using the Li batteries for emergency power, but when you are done, you have run down batteries and no way to charge them.

Nissan absolutely forbids any towing of the LEAF in any manner with any of the wheels on the ground.

The LEAF battery is 24,000 watt, and the onboard charger is 6600 watt at 240v so it takes over 3½ hours from nearly dead for a full charge, IN THEORY. I drive to work in mine, 47 miles, and it takes between 13 and 14 Kw to recharge it and about 2½ hours to do so (208v at work so it is somewhat slower charging.)

The 120v breadbox "charger" that comes with the car, is about 1400 watts so it would take all night and half the day to recharge the car. (the actual charger is built into the car and works on either 120v at 1400 watt, or 208v or 240v at wattages up to 6600. It is all depending on the available amperage. The wall unit is a sophisticated switch that checks for ground faults and then handshakes with the car about what amperage the car is allowed to draw and when all is well, the wall unit closes its internal relay to allow the car to charge.)

Tesla has much larger batteries, and require much longer charge times, unless you are "fast charging" or "super charging" at anywhere from 50,000 to 90,000 watts.

Charles

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