A toolbox size battery pack for an addional 150 miles

[ALAN BORER]

Yesterday I read that either Ford or a outside vendor is going to make a rear tool box size Battery Pack to get up to 150 miles more ! it will look like a tool box that goes from side to side ! behind the cab ! I think this is genius ! ER 470 miles per charge and 380 miles per charge on the standard battery !

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[Halbach]

Yesterday I read that either Ford or a outside vendor is going to make a rear tool box size Battery Pack to get up to 150 miles more ! it will look like a tool box that goes from side to side ! behind the cab ! I think this is genius ! ER 470 miles per charge and 380 miles per charge on the standard battery !

So let's call that a 70kw-hr battery, at $150/kw-hr thats around 10k. A pricey add on but I would find a way to get it for my Pro in a few years if it is available. The added range is nice, the reduced stress and cycle depth on the SR battery is even better.

 

[Toby57]

I wonder what it weighs. Would the weight effect the range?
Anybody know if say a 1000 lbs in the bed effect range?

 

[Amps]

So let's call that a 70kw-hr battery

An 82 kWh/77 kWh usable ID.4 battery weighs 1078 lbs, so figure on ~800lbs.
New payload: 900 lbs

It would be a great idea to be able to rent it from a Ford dealer, who would have a crane/hoist/forklift to put it in the bed. Then, how ya gonna safely get the juice to propulsion?

 

[Halbach]

An 82 kWh/77 kWh usable ID.4 battery weighs 1078 lbs, so figure on ~800lbs.
New payload: 900 lbs

It would be a great idea to be able to rent it from a Ford dealer, who would have a crane/hoist/forklift to put it in the bed. Then, how ya gonna safely get the juice to propulsion?

Extension cord.

 

[RickLightning]

Yesterday I read that either Ford or a outside vendor is going to make a rear tool box size Battery Pack to get up to 150 miles more ! it will look like a tool box that goes from side to side ! behind the cab ! I think this is genius ! ER 470 miles per charge and 380 miles per charge on the standard battery !

Not quite. It would be up front. "This new patent provides a different way to tackle range anxiety, using a portable battery pack that would reside in the F-150 Lighting’s (or any other EV’s) frunk and could be used as a secondary battery pack(s) or range extender for the EV itself, or be utilized as a way to charge other vehicles or electronic devices. According to the patent, a vehicle utilizing these battery packs could also be moved autonomously using a “Following Mode” to follow the operator of another electronic device or EV."

https://fordauthority.com/2022/02/ford-patents-portable-battery-packs-for-evs-electronic-devices/

They also filed a patent in 2018 for a generator system in the back, which does resemble a toolbox, but it has an engine. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34277725/ford-f-150-range-extender-ev-pickup-patent/

 

[Maquis]

I think the correct answer is that if a currently available EV doesn’t meet your use case, wait until one does before you buy it. Unless your name is MacGyver or Rube Goldberg.

 

[matteblack]

Anyone every wonder if any third party might make a solar panel that could go in the bed or on top of a camper shell that would power back into the truck?? Other than the charging port on the front driver side quarter panel, is there any other way to put power back into the truck(below the frame or through the Powerboost panel? Thanks...

 

[Halbach]

Anyone every wonder if any third party might make a solar panel that could go in the bed or on top of a camper shell that would power back into the truck?? Other than the charging port on the front driver side quarter panel, is there any other way to put power back into the truck(below the frame or through the Powerboost panel? Thanks...

Latitude differences aside, the amount of power available from the sun to be converted to electricity is a small portion of what the truck uses to move. I dont have any solid numbers to base this off of but there is a certain amount of power just to "keep the lights on" while charging. Let's ignore that for now. At an optimal angle at my latitude there is something like 4kwhr/m^2/day, since I'm swagging it here I'll give a generous 20% efficiency so I don't have to swap to my calculator. I'll swag the bed at 6'x4' too so 24sqft too. A hair under a tenth is the conversion to m^2 so about 2.2m^2. 4.4kwhr/m^2/day*2.2m^2*.2 is gonna bring us right around 8.8/5kw-hr, something like 1.7kwhr-ish. At 2mi/kw-hr I'd get under 4 miles of range on a good day not considering the charging inefficiencies and losses from the extra weight I'm carrying around.

Obvious disclaimers here. This is all from my head from numbers I knew from a friend's solar array. Also, I'm rushing out the door before work so don't bet on it being perfect, but I think it illustrates why there aren't hundreds of options that will flood the market. Sunnier areas might get that number as high at 10mi/day which is something I would consider as my daily commute is only 16 miles. I'm sure the more solar inclined people here will find some obvious error I made and rip it apart, if so I apologize, but I have heard this question a lot and wanted to give it a shot.

 

[hturnerfamily]

while these 'off the shelf' battery power 'range extenders' sound like no-brainer ideas, there are a LOT of issues with the initial 'easy' thought that these would be 'simple' add-ons to an already complicated HIGH-POWER traction battery platform. It's not that simple.

First, WHERE and HOW would you 'tap in' to the High-Power' system that is already built into the truck? This is not an easy 'plug and play' option, not even considering the danger involved. NONE of these high-power wiring systems provide an easy way to just 'splice in' your new range extender - that would certainly NOT be in Ford's best interest, nor under their warranty. You'll need to wait until 8 years or 100,000 miles to tackle such an idea, unless you don't want to retain any Ford manufacturer warranty.

Second, what is the WEIGHT of this Massive battery pack, and all it's own components, inverters, chargers, and wiring schemes? This is not the 'easy' idea we might assume. While the idea is alluring, the facts are not.

Third: the cost. Is there REALLY going to be a sizable market for such an expensive 'add on' that any manufacturer is going to have enough business to support it, not to mention the 'installation' cost, the electrical 'tie in' professionals involved, and whether this would have any real 'warranty' if it actually does NOT work. That's a lot of work to later find out it may not be the 'silver bullet' you wished.

Lastly, the national infrastructure of charging options and speeds is the answer, not longer 'range' for every mass-produced vehicle on the road. Battery technology and ingredients are already in short supply, so asking for 'more' for every vehicle is simply putting more pressure on the already taxed battery manufacturing sector - creating even HIGHER cost for batteries.

I agree that having almost 'unlimited' range is comforting, in theory, but we've grown used to gas vehicles, over the years, not having their own 'unlimited' range, and they still work just fine. We have enough 'gas stations' to accommodate unlimited travel. This will come, with time, to EVs as well.

 

[sotek2345]

An 82 kWh/77 kWh usable ID.4 battery weighs 1078 lbs, so figure on ~800lbs.
New payload: 900 lbs

It would be a great idea to be able to rent it from a Ford dealer, who would have a crane/hoist/forklift to put it in the bed. Then, how ya gonna safely get the juice to propulsion?

Yup - my first thought as well. The only real use cases for this are long range towing and going deep off grid (overlanding). In both cases you don't really want to give up that payload...

 

[matteblack]

Latitude differences aside, the amount of power available from the sun to be converted to electricity is a small portion of what the truck uses to move. I dont have any solid numbers to base this off of but there is a certain amount of power just to "keep the lights on" while charging. Let's ignore that for now. At an optimal angle at my latitude there is something like 4kwhr/m^2/day, since I'm swagging it here I'll give a generous 20% efficiency so I don't have to swap to my calculator. I'll swag the bed at 6'x4' too so 24sqft too. A hair under a tenth is the conversion to m^2 so about 2.2m^2. 4.4kwhr/m^2/day*2.2m^2*.2 is gonna bring us right around 8.8/5kw-hr, something like 1.7kwhr-ish. At 2mi/kw-hr I'd get under 4 miles of range on a good day not considering the charging inefficiencies and losses from the extra weight I'm carrying around.

Obvious disclaimers here. This is all from my head from numbers I knew from a friend's solar array. Also, I'm rushing out the door before work so don't bet on it being perfect, but I think it illustrates why there aren't hundreds of options that will flood the market. Sunnier areas might get that number as high at 10mi/day which is something I would consider as my daily commute is only 16 miles. I'm sure the more solar inclined people here will find some obvious error I made and rip it apart, if so I apologize, but I have heard this question a lot and wanted to give it a shot.

I was thinking of a situation where camping for multiple days in California with plenty of sunshine... Also I was thinking if you have it on top of a rooftop tent it could still charge while driving around as well! In this setup it would always be charging even when parked anywhere there's light!! A man can dream, right?

 

[Zprime29]

Anyone every wonder if any third party might make a solar panel that could go in the bed or on top of a camper shell that would power back into the truck?? Other than the charging port on the front driver side quarter panel, is there any other way to put power back into the truck(below the frame or through the Powerboost panel? Thanks...

It *might* be possible to create a folding set of panels, say four 330W in a bi-fold 'w' shape -> \/\/. That would give you about 1.2kW or what you would get from a standard wall outlet. Hook those up to a 1200w inverter and plug in with a mobile EVSE. Ought to get close to 6 or 7 kWh per day depending on time of the year, so good for 12-15 miles per day. Worst case is you at least recover what you might use to power the campsite for the weekend.

 

[Kev12345]

Why wouldn’t ford just build a bigger battery under the truck where it belongs?

 

[Halbach]

Why wouldn’t ford just build a bigger battery under the truck where it belongs?

If it was a non fleet only option on my pro, I would have found a way to afford it.

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