Charging while also using Pro Power Onboard

[JackJohsnon]

TLDR Version: Is it possible to L1/2/3 charge while also using all the 120/240v outlets on the Lightning?

Long Version: I'm debating getting a Lightning. I foresee myself regularly being in a situation where I have access to a single outlet (say a residential 120v/15a or a TT-30). But also, would like to use the 120/240 outlets to power the day's activity (say, the A/C in a travel trailer). It'd be nice to plug the lightning into whatever shore power is available, while simultaneously powering high-draw applications and topping off the battery with any extra power (or draining down the battery if load>shore power).

I know in other EVs (like Hyundai) the onboard charger is used both to charge the onboard battery and then operates in reverse to provide 120v. Meaning, the onboard 120v outlets don't function when charging. Trying to understand if the Lightning has the same limitation.

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[Heliian]

It would be more efficient just to plug shore power into your trailer and charge the truck. If you're charging the truck on level 1/2 AC power gets converted to DC and then back to AC for propower.

 

[carys98]

Yes, you can charge while using ProPower. I have used the truck to power my house during a blackout and when the power came back the truck charged back to 80% and then continued to draw grid power to run the ProPower until I woke up and switched back.

 

[JackJohsnon]

It would be more efficient just to plug shore power into your trailer and charge the truck. If you're charging the truck on level 1/2 AC power gets converted to DC and then back to AC for propower.

Sure, but that gets to being a real power-management mess. Say I have 120v/30a available, I'd need to determine what the absolute max all my loads will be (ie. run the trailer with A/C at max, TV on, lights on, etc) then limit the lightning's charger to the remainder. Else I'd trip a breaker. That's incredibility inefficient, since the trailer wouldn't always pull it's max, but the battery charger would have no way of knowing it can safely draw more.

Similarly, say I only have 120v/15a (i.e. common household outlet). That's probably not enough to run the trailer. So the trailer has to be powered by the lightning. I'd be nice to use the little bit of shore power to augment the drain from the battery.

 

[Heliian]

Say I have 120v

The lightning maxes out charging at 12a 120v is the catch. In any case, you could still run propower while charging.

 

[ytwytw]

you can be charging while using pro power but keep in mind
- truck must be ON, not on accessory power
- review your reserve setting, if charging speed is lower than consumption, pro power will be turned off
- remember to turn off light, HVAC of the truck, or it will drain 1-3% SOC per hour
- don't set the reserve to the lowest, or you cant go anywhere when SOC is very slow

have fun

 

[JackJohsnon]

- review your reserve setting, if charging speed is lower than consumption, pro power will be turned off

Just to be clear, you mean that if at any point the Pro Power output exceeds the shore input, it immediately shuts down? Or do you mean that with the imbalance, eventually the battery will drain down and Pro Power will shutdown once the reserve limit is hit?

 

[Ken]

the output of pro power is dependent on battery state, not input power. So it's the second of your statements above. If the pro power usage is more than what's going in via 120V then the battery will slowly go down, but very slowly. Moving the truck takes a lot more power than just about anything you can plug in.

 

[ytwytw]

Just to be clear, you mean that if at any point the Pro Power output exceeds the shore input, it immediately shuts down? Or do you mean that with the imbalance, eventually the battery will drain down and Pro Power will shutdown once the reserve limit is hit?

the second one

 

[hturnerfamily]

I have used my Lightning to POWER my camper, overnight, all night, while the truck is ALSO being charged with the Ford Mobile EVSE at a campground.

I have used my Lightning to POWER my mini-fridge, toaster, microwave, AND coffee-maker, ALL WHILE DC Fast Charging... works wonderfully, and most others just watch with amazement... my BAGEL is delicious, and my COFFEE is steaming : ) Love it.

 

[ericpullen]

Tonight I did an interesting test, I wanted to power the house off my truck for the night since we are expecting storms around 3am and I didn’t want to have to flip over then if the power went out.

My garage is on a different meter and fed by a different pole, so I left it plugged in to charge off the FCSP while I hooked up the house via an interlock (which has worked great multiple times in the past). The truck kept giving a ground fault when both were plugged in and wouldn’t turn on the ProPower. Once I unplugged the FCSP, it worked perfectly. I then tried plugging it back in and it failed again.

Not that big of a deal since I charged up to 100% already, but was hoping I could just use the truck like a big UPS battery in times like these.

 

[ytwytw]

Tonight I did an interesting test, I wanted to power the house off my truck for the night since we are expecting storms around 3am and I didn’t want to have to flip over then if the power went out.

My garage is on a different meter and fed by a different pole, so I left it plugged in to charge off the FCSP while I hooked up the house via an interlock (which has worked great multiple times in the past). The truck kept giving a ground fault when both were plugged in and wouldn’t turn on the ProPower. Once I unplugged the FCSP, it worked perfectly. I then tried plugging it back in and it failed again.

Not that big of a deal since I charged up to 100% already, but was hoping I could just use the truck like a big UPS battery in times like these.

You may wanna buy the ford power backup solution… it’s expensive($4k equipment, maybe 4k labor to install), but it makes those things automated, and works

 

[JackJohsnon]

Tonight I did an interesting test, I wanted to power the house off my truck for the night since we are expecting storms around 3am and I didn’t want to have to flip over then if the power went out.

My garage is on a different meter and fed by a different pole, so I left it plugged in to charge off the FCSP while I hooked up the house via an interlock (which has worked great multiple times in the past). The truck kept giving a ground fault when both were plugged in and wouldn’t turn on the ProPower. Once I unplugged the FCSP, it worked perfectly. I then tried plugging it back in and it failed again.

Not that big of a deal since I charged up to 100% already, but was hoping I could just use the truck like a big UPS battery in times like these.

Interesting. While you might not be on the same hot phase, what's going on with ground and neutral? Typically, the ground and all neutrals are bonded together with the grounding rod in the home's main panel. Could there be conductivity between the Pro Power's neutral line and home's ground? Even if that loop is through the soil? I could see that throwing a ground fault, since the flows between hot and neutral could be out of balance as some of the neutral is returned via the FCSP's ground wire. (BTW: I'm not an electrician, I'm just speculating...)

 

[ericpullen]

You may wanna buy the ford power backup solution… it’s expensive($4k equipment, maybe 4k labor to install), but it makes those things automated, and works

For my use-case that wouldn't make sense. The Lightning is parked in a barn/garage that has a fully separate electrical service and trying to back-feed all of to my house would be pretty expensive. Instead I just have an 30A generator inlet (via Interlock) and plug that into the truck when needed.

 

[ericpullen]

Interesting. While you might not be on the same hot phase, what's going on with ground and neutral? Typically, the ground and all neutrals are bonded together with the grounding rod in the home's main panel. Could there be conductivity between the Pro Power's neutral line and home's ground? Even if that loop is through the soil? I could see that throwing a ground fault, since the flows between hot and neutral could be out of balance as some of the neutral is returned via the FCSP's ground wire. (BTW: I'm not an electrician, I'm just speculating...)

Not sure, I need to look into it more, but I was surprised because my assumption was that the onboard charger and the ProPower would be isolated from each other. Maybe that's not the case.

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