When Your Pickup Becomes a Power Plant

I was doing some yard cleanup the other day — nothing major, just clearing out junk and the mountain of leaves that had piled up next to the garage. In some spots it was four inches deep.

That gave me an excuse to pull out a tool that I can hardly believe lawyers approved. It’s been in the attic for years and when I found it again I had to put it to work; it’s a Frankenstein mashup of a leaf blower, a vacuum, and a garbage disposal — the leaf mulcher.

Instead of blowing leaves away, you suck them up, shred them into confetti, and shoot them out the other end. Even better, I ran it straight off an extension cord plugged into my F-150 Lightning.

The mulcher worked exactly as advertised — though it makes a bit of a racket as the leaves and bits of dirt ping around the impeller. But the real eye-opener wasn’t the tool. It was my truck.

Using the Lightning as a rolling power supply My wife and I joke that an EV is basically a phone accessory. It connects wirelessly for carplay, charges your phone, and you manage it from your phone too. You just happen to be able to drive it too. changes the whole game. For yard work, sure — but imagine being in the trades. You can haul your crew, your gear, and your materials to a site, then power every tool you’ve got right from the truck. No generator. No searching for outlets. Just plug in and get to work.

It can even tow whatever you need, like a trailer full of landscaping gear Maybe get fancy and toss some solar panels on top of the trailer. Then you could charge the truck a little bit too. or a small bobcat. And with the onboard power inverter, you can run everything from a table saw to a welder. Or even just charge your tool batteries.

No need for noisy generators, toting gas or diesel around, or worrying about fumes. Just a quiet power source that’s always ready to go. I’m aware this sounds like an infomercial, but I assure you it isn’t. I’m just really impressed and can see the possibilities.

Forget all the green-washing hype. This is real-world utility. It’s not about saving the planet, or the trees, or whatever. It’s a solid practical use for an electric truck.

When the politicians go after EVs because they are “woke” or “liberal eco-nonsense”, it’s because they haven’t thought through the practical benefits. This is one of them.