How the electric car is your lifesaver in an emergency

With an electric car you can get from A to B in no time at all and it is also good for the environment. But an electric vehicle can also be a great life saver. A Florida couple used their Ford after the power went out due to Hurricane Ian.

The morning after Hurricane Ian shut down the river, Haines City’s Westley and Sarah Ferguson had an idea. Westley ran two extension cords from his Ford F-150 Lightning into her home. He put the refrigerator in one and a power strip in the other. As a result, the electric vehicle was soon able to power lamps, fans and the television. The electric car enabled Westley and Sarah to cook up a beef stew and enjoy a movie night with their neighbors. Internet service was also down, so Westley and Sarah used a Blu-ray player to watch movies.

How an electric car can power your home

There are different variants of two-way charging. Ford is one of the few automakers to offer models with Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) capabilities. In this case, the power of a home charger can be reversed, allowing an electric car to power other devices. But even a few sockets in the car can provide energy in no time at all.

Two-way charging is not very popular yet

While two-way charging is something Ford fanatically promotes, research shows that most EV buyers don’t buy their vehicle for this reason. Bloomberg Green surveyed more than 1,500 EV owners in the United States. Not even 1 percent of those surveyed named two-way charging as a reason for buying an electric car.

“Nothing in our market research suggests that emergency preparedness is a reason to buy an electric vehicle,” said Mark Schirmer, a spokesman for research retailer Cox Automotive, which regularly surveys buyers about their purchasing decisions. “Consumers primarily prioritize price, monthly payment and styling. Emergency preparedness can be a nice-to-have.”