Ford dealers are loaning out trucks to desperate Texans, to use as generators.
Hundreds of thousands of Texas residents head into a fifth day without heat or power amidst a cold-weather crisis that has killed at least two dozen people.
Ford dealers, meanwhile, have extra generators all over their lots…in the form of unsold 2021 Ford F-150 pickups. Those generators could be used to power furnaces, recharge battery-powered devices, and provide for other electricity needs.
According to Ford, there are at least 415 trucks with generators sitting on dealership lots in Texas. It has asked dealers to make them available to residents, even offering dealers a $600 bonus for each truck they move temporarily into the loaner fleet so they could more easily send them out to neighbors in need.
Some examples of the F-150, a new design for the 2021 model year, include an optional 2-kilowatt generator. A more powerful 2.4-kilowatt generator is standard on F-150 hybrids. Even at maximum load, Ford says, it should run for 85 hours on a full tank of gas. A 7.2-kilowatt version good for 32 hours at maximum load is an optional upgrade. The generator provides electricity via a simple 120-volt outlet in the truck’s bed.
