A Ford F-150 Lightning Powers An Off-Grid Coffee Shop

---

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

---

A lady in Colorado named Eliza runs a mobile off-grid coffee shop. She uses a Ford Lightning pickup truck to pull her coffee shop trailer and provide its electricity. Her Lightning has a large battery pack and extended range. She says she can run her off-grid coffee shop for 3 days using electricity from the Lightning. She also says she does not want to use a gas or diesel generator: it would be messy and loud. (Of course, there are myriad other reasons not to use fossil fuels.)

 ‌

In the back of the Lightning there is a 30 amp, 240 volt connection to supply electricity for her shop. She even uses it to power the AC in her trailer, which Kyle says is “super nice.”

The trailer has an interior that is 16′ x 8′ and it has an 8′ x 8′ porch. The cargo trailer didn’t have much in it when first purchased, so she and her father outfitted it. It looks so spacious inside for a small trailer and just like a coffee shop, in a smaller form factor. The outdoor seating on the porch is a great touch, as are the overhead lighting and Christmas lights. 

She can make coffee, teas, and hot chocolate using the shop’s appliances, and she sells lemonade. Additionally, she has a bookshelf with books that are independently published.

I was wondering why she doesn’t have at least 1,000 watts of solar power panels on the shop’s roof. She does have 400 watts of solar, but has not put it up because she wants a larger array.

Before the trailer is towed, the interior components can be secured so they don’t fall or swing and get damaged.

It would have been interesting to see what tax benefits and/or EV incentives there were for a fully electric pickup truck made in the US and purchased for use in a business. That information was not included in the video.

One advantage provided by fully electric vehicles is that they are “batteries on wheels” so they can do exactly what this young woman is doing with her portable business. When she gets solar panels for the roof of her trailer coffee shop she can use that to run the shop and potentially add some electricity to the trailer’s batteries. Of course, she will also still have plenty of juice to use in the Lightning’s battery pack.