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Turn Electric Vehicle Camping Into Glamping with Onboard Power Sources

May 16, 2024

The Ford F-10 Lightning includes a mobile generator with electric outlets distributed around the truck.
If you like off-grid electric vehicle camping but still desire some creature comforts, your EV can provide those.
A Ford F-150 Lightning owner Reddit group EV camping community has some suggestions.

Like to camp but miss some creature comforts? Electric vehicle camping can turn into glamping if your EV has an onboard generator. I knew the Ford F-150 Lightning had just such a mobile generator, so I connected with some owners through an F-150 Lightning Reddit group for some tips on glamping out when it comes to EV camping trips.

Got Your Ford Pro-Power Feature? You’re Set!

The Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck’s Pro Power Onboard is a built-in AC power source that allows the truck to be used as a mobile power source. It comes standard with 2.4 kilowatts of power distributed through four 120V outlets.

An extra $1,200 will buy you 9.6 kilowatts and two more 120V outlets plus a 240V outlet in the truck bed. (This was from the Ford site. There may be additional outlets on the EV.)

Lightning owners have many inventive ways to use those outlets to power EV camping essentials, including air conditioners, refrigerators, Nespresso machines, or an air fryer.

Electric Vehicle Camping Trips in Off-Grid EV Camping Spots

Reddit user Kennethpalimino14 hauled his Airstream trailer into the Indian Cove campground in Joshua Tree National Park to do some off-grid EV camping (though using an Airstream is already glamping, even without the Pro Power extras). He uses the Lightning to power his Airstream and, when he tent camps, he uses Pro Power to run a 12V fridge.

Plenty of Campsites Are Still Actually EV-Friendly

Worried about sustainable camping with EVs — as in, sustaining enough battery charge to drive out of the campground and to a charger? Well, if you used the Pro Power plugs to glamp up your campsite, it won’t drain your battery much, according to user Shads87.

When Shads87 goes camping with an electric vehicle, they use the frunk for food storage and a morning breakfast bar. Meanwhile, they can power an electric kettle for coffee or tea, an electric stove if fires aren’t allowed, a space heater on cold nights, or zone lighting “as needed so nobody trips walking around at night.” Plus, they can charge up phones and flashlights.

“I was very nervous the first time we did it, but the battery only lost maybe 2-3% on a three-night stay,” Shads87 wrote.

User Honorable Heathen reinforces the slight drain on the battery. Camping with the family, they used their EV to run an induction cooktop, lights, and an air fryer. The drain on the battery was minimal, maybe 5-10 miles, HH wrote.

Adventure Travel with Electric Cars

Cswgordon goes glamping with their Lightning up in the mountains of Colorado. They bring an electric cooler and an induction stove, so no worries about starting a forest fire. And no big worries about remote charging options for EV campers, either.

“A lot of the towns in the mountains have started to install fast chargers so we can top up and then head wherever,” Cswgordon wrote.

Planning an EV Camping Adventure

The electric vehicle camping community really knows how to live large with their Pro Power.

BingOBanOBongO and their fiancé are planning a road trip to a music festival and will be hooking up an air conditioner and a fridge, an induction stove, an electric kettle, “cute lights,” and a speaker setup.

Azulya just went glamping with the Lightning for the first time. The truck powered a cooler, a Nespresso machine, and “real proper string lights.”

If you like going off-grid camping and don’t mind (indeed, perhaps you relish) roughing it in every sense of the word, have at it. If you own an EV with a feature like Pro Power, however, have fun doing some off-grid EV glamping!