F-150 PowerBoost truck wish list
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First time powering my travel trailer using the ProPower inverter generator in a Ford F-150 PowerBoost - some thoughts…
Hey Mike,
Here’s some thoughts on my F-150 PowerBoost powered camping trip…
What I liked:
Super simple to use ProPower - plug in, truck prompts to power outlet - Done!
Loved the option to not need an electric site - on this trip we had to change our trip a week earlier and there weren't any electric sites available. worked out great!
What I didn't like:
Truck ran for a few minutes about every 15 minutes even though I was drawing almost no power - only the small fridge was on. The truck electronics remained on when using ProPower but I would think they would draw off of the standard battery not the hybrid pack. It's not clear whether the truck runs to charge either battery.
Idle isn't terribly loud but at night in a quiet campsite it's pretty loud -- our friends were across the street and one site down (maybe 40 feet away) and the truck woke them up repeatedly and it woke me up a few times too. Don't know if there is any solution to this -- it is a truck after all -- but I wish it was quieter.
When turning off from idle, the engine sputters before shutting down. It makes it louder than it needs to be.
What I wish Ford would change:
Have a "night mode" that lets the hybrid battery run down more before running the truck. I expected the battery to only need a charge a couple of times all night since I was drawing minimal power.
Should be an option to shut off all of the truck electronics - headlights, LED screens, radio, heater/AC - when using ProPower. Could be a "night mode" option or a prompt...especially if the truck electronics are drawing off of the hybrid pack.
Maybe the next time you get a test truck you can offer this feedback to Ford!
Best, Jim
Hey Jim,
Great feedback. Does anyone else here have an F-150 PowerBoost with the built-in ProPower 7.2kW generator? If so, please leave your comments below.
A camping buddy of mine has an F-150 Power Boost and we were camping together last summer at a campground with no hookups. I remember being impressed with how quiet it was with the engine running but I don’t remember him running it at night. He has an Airstream Basecamp with two lithium batteries on board so he had plenty of power at night. He charged them during the day and he even brought his truck to my campsite one day and charged my batteries in under an hour! My recommendation would be for Jim to get himself on-board lithium batteries or one of those new multi-kW-hr power stations with a 30 A, 120V RV shore power outlet and power his RV with that at night. He could then charge the power station or on-board lithium batteries with his PowerBoost during the day. That sounds much better to me than leaving it on all night. It would be interesting to hear his thoughts on that idea.
We also have a '23 PPOB (7.2kw)....we tow it behind our 43' Truck Conversion (aka Super C, built on a Freightliner Columbia chassis...too bad we can include a pic here), our RV has an on board 10kw diesel Onan.
We volunteer for a 501c3 Charity (Cowboys 4 Heroes - https://www.cowboys4heroes.com - sorry for the shameless plug but it is an amazing cause and group of volunteers)....anyway....
We were recently cooking for a 1st responders fund raiser (officer recovering from injuries) when I had a catastrophic failure of our Motor Coaches QD10k generator, it was HOT as Hell - (we smoke briskets, pork butts & sausage over night and often end camping in the parking lot).
The parking lot / site had a single 15a outlet that was insufficient to provide Air Conditioning for our Motor Coach (even with "soft starts" on each AC unit)....THANKFULLY I'd TOAD the F150 PowerBoost and had the proper "dog bone" under the back seat....we connected the RV to the F150, and were able to run all the Air Conditioners and rest COMFORTABLY while smoking 40 Briskets in the South Texas HEAT!