So in an emergency, the Ford F-150 Lightning can easily rescue a depleted Tesla. As Ford's CEO says "Not trolling. Just helpful". Although we'd say it would be even more helpful if Ford could include a NEMA L14-30P to 14-50R adapter along with the electric truck. It's an essential adapter to connect the onboard 240V socket to an EV mobile connector.

The EV Centipede

While our long-term Rivian R1T doesn't have a 240V socket, it still has a couple of 120V outlets. Which got us thinking, can we use an EV to charge an EV, and then use that EV to charge another EV? With three EVs on hand, there's nothing to stop us. Since the Tesla Model 3 doesn't support any 120V/240V output, this selfish jerk has to be the last on the receiving end. So we had the Ford F-150 Lightning charging the Rivian R1T through the 240V outlet, and then hooked up the R1T to charge the Tesla Model 3 through the 120V outlet. They all connected and worked. Voila, we present the very first MotorTrend EV centipede.

Ford F 150 Lightning Rivian R1T Charging 6

How to Set It Up

As seen above, when we attempted to use the F-150 Lightning's 240V socket to charge our Rivian R1T, the process was not just a simple plug-and-play operation. And here's how to set up to use the 240V circuit to charge other EVs and create your own EV centipede.

Ford F 150 Lightning Rivian R1T Charging 17

First, you need an L14-30P to 14-50R adapter or to whatever type your EV mobile connector is. The end that connects to the F-150 Lightning's 240V socket is L14-30P, and it's a twist lock male plug. You push it into the socket and then you twist to lock it in place. The other end is 14-50R and it connects to our NEMA 14-50 EV mobile connector. This depends on your cord so double check before you buy an L14-30P adapter, but 14-50 seems to be the most common type. And again, the L14-30P side has to be a twist lock type; a 14-30P won't work.

Ford F 150 Lightning Rivian R1T Charging 25

Once the adaptor is connected, turn on the F-150 Lightning—it has to stay on to power the circuit. Go to the ProPower Onboard tab and turn on the circuits. Its 240V circuit maxes out at 7.2kW (30 amps) in total. So before plugging in an EV, make sure it doesn't draw more than that 30 amp/7.2 kW maximum. If it does, look for a charging power limit setting in the EV and adjust accordingly.

Ford F 150 Lightning Rivian R1T Charging 19

After that, you are good to plug-in the mobile connector's J1772 end to the EV. You can see the power load from the F-150's center screen under the Pro Power Onboard tab. (You can also set an energy reserve level under this tap.) The rear circuit is split into two sub-circuits (A and B), and each can handle 3.6 kW (3,600 watts). When charging an EV at 7.2 kW, both are maxed out at the same time, so don't plug in anything else to the rear circuit. However, there is still a front circuit capable of 2,400 W to power the 120V sockets in the front trunk. That's some extra power you can draw while the rear circuit is maxed out. You could even charge more EVs off of those front sockets; if you're not picky about charge rate, you could plug an EV into every available socket on the Lightning.