2021 Factory mounted generator from Ford?

This is a brilliant idea by Ford and is likely to be followed by others in the future. Having a generator on board is a huge plus to work trucks.

Bimmer777 said:

This is a brilliant idea by Ford and is likely to be followed by others in the future. Having a generator on board is a huge plus to work trucks.

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Everyone will do it as it comes almost for free with hybrid technology and it so useful. I noticed a lot of confusion about terms earlier in the thread. Technically, a generator produces DC, an alternator produces AC, batteries produce DC and require DC for charging. An inverter takes DC and produces AC. Of course, when marketing and advertising types start writing about it, who knows what sort of hash they'll make, so unless you want to geek out, just focus on the capabilities.

GordoJay said:

Everyone will do it as it comes almost for free with hybrid technology and it so useful. I noticed a lot of confusion about terms earlier in the thread. Technically, a generator produces DC, an alternator produces AC, batteries produce DC and require DC for charging. An inverter takes DC and produces AC. Of course, when marketing and advertising types start writing about it, who knows what sort of hash they'll make, so unless you want to geek out, just focus on the capabilities.

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The feature is available for every engine in the F150 lineup though, not just the hybrids. For the hybrids, the power source will be the battery until battery charge is depleted, then the engine kicks on. For non hybrids, the engine kicks on immediately. Obviously, it's more efficient on the hybrids, but if you need power at a remote site, I would think you would opt to just use the truck as a generator always instead of bringing a separate generator....unless the separate generator is significantly more efficient.

As far as the terminology goes, I think part of the confusion is that a whole house power creator or portable power creator is always referred to as a generator even if the power created is DC, AC or both. It seems to me that a generator system may include an alternator and/or invertor in the system, but the system is thought of as generator.

While I think this is interesting for work sites, I think it could spark a host of new products, or existing products becoming more popular and affordable, as more people have these trucks. I mean, why bring a cooler when you can have an onboard refrigerator?

melvimbe said:

It would be nice if idling the engine would also efficiently charge the battery as well as provide immediate power. I woud guess an idling engine will mostly like provide alot more power than you need at any one time, so charging the battery efficiently as possible would be nice.

If such a feature were there, then perhaps campers would actually opt for a less noisy exhaust so that the engine could idle periodically through the night to power things and recharge the battery with waking people up.

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I don't think it's a good idea to leave engines running while camping, let alone sleeping. The exhaust (odors,noise) would bother others and if it is used in an overland condition, that would be a waste of precious fuel. Campers should stick with portable solar panels for charging.

CoronaRaptor said:

I don't think it's a good idea to leave engines running while camping, let alone sleeping. The exhaust (odors,noise) would bother others and if it is used in an overland condition, that would be a waste of precious fuel. Campers should stick with portable solar panels for charging.

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Not against solar panels, I'm just saying that if the truck can idle and charge the battery efficiently, and say it only takes 10 minutes to do, then perhaps that's not a bad option over bring solar panels with you. I would be a cool feature if you can optionally use solar panels to charge the onboard battery, rather than having to bring a second portable battery with you as well.

melvimbe said:

Not against solar panels, I'm just saying that if the truck can idle and charge the battery efficiently, and say it only takes 10 minutes to do, then perhaps that's not a bad option over bring solar panels with you. I would be a cool feature if you can optionally use solar panels to charge the onboard battery, rather than having to bring a second portable battery with you as well.

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Yes, maybe Ford will put dual alternators for starters, 10 minutes is agreeable but overnight is not efficient. I don't think the generator idea is going to be as efficient as our brains are allowing us to think, we will have to see when they come to market. Over time they will probably massage the design and become very efficient.

CoronaRaptor said:

Yes, maybe Ford will put dual alternators for starters, 10 minutes is agreeable but overnight is not efficient. I don't think the generator idea is going to be as efficient as our brains are allowing us to think, we will have to see when they come to market. Over time they will probably massage the design and become very efficient.

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Yea, this is quite possibly the case. Not an expert on this, but I think the V6 engine will idling is going to produce a lot of watts, and I don't think the majority of watts can be stored in the battery, most will be wasted. Again, not an expert, but you need a rather high voltage line to the battery to charge it over a short period of time.

edit: Probably wrong on this, but for a the 1.5KWH, you would have to charge the batter 1500W for one hour to fully charge. For a 220V line, that means around 7 amps. That's just for one hour, and not considering whether an idling engine can provide that many watts. If you wanted to charge in 30 minutes, your voltage or amp would surely be something you don't really want to deal with.

melvimbe said:

Yea, this is quite possibly the case. Not an expert on this, but I think the V6 engine will idling is going to produce a lot of watts, and I don't think the majority of watts can be stored in the battery, most will be wasted. Again, not an expert, but you need a rather high voltage line to the battery to charge it over a short period of time.

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There should be dual batteries at least to have an onboard generator, why else would Ford charge $1000 for just an invertor and a couple plugs? It will all become clear when we can see this in person

CoronaRaptor said:

There should be dual batteries at least to have an onboard generator, why else would Ford charge $1000 for just an invertor and a couple plugs? It will all become clear when we can see this in person

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Ford also charges $1000 for bedside decals.

But remember, the non-hybrid version, no battery, also have the option of 2.4KW for $1000. Unless that version does us a battery for this only, but not for use with vehicle propulsion? Don't think so.

Switching gears a bit, a couple questions about equipment location. Currently, battery is under the hood. Will the hybrid still have the battery under the hood, with a second battery located elsewhere? Or is going to be a single battery? Not sure how it's done with hybrids.

The 400W inverter is located under the passenger side back seat. Will the bigger inverters also be there, or will they be located elsewhere?

melvimbe said:

Ford also charges $1000 for bedside decals.

But remember, the non-hybrid version, no battery, also have the option of 2.4KW for $1000. Unless that version does us a battery for this only, but not for use with vehicle propulsion? Don't think so.

Switching gears a bit, a couple questions about equipment location. Currently, battery is under the hood. Will the hybrid still have the battery under the hood, with a second battery located elsewhere? Or is going to be a single battery? Not sure how it's done with hybrids.

The 400W inverter is located under the passenger side back seat. Will the bigger inverters also be there, or will they be located elsewhere?

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Good questions, was thinking they would keep a normal cheap battery for the normal operations and add a deep cell battery of some sort for continuous draining. On a pick up truck maybe put the extra battery under the box and the other components could be tucked in-between the box side panels. If Ford is reading our ideas and uses them, they should cut us a check.