10 people, 3 days, 1 truck: How an F-150 PowerBoost Saved a Ford Family’s Holiday Retreat

Deanna Hoffman, a supervisor in Electrified Powertrain Engineering, was looking forward to a relaxing holiday retreat to her family’s cabin along the shores of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but Mother Nature had other plans. 

A late-December “bomb cyclone,” dubbed Winter Storm Ezra by The Weather Channel, ripped through the U.P., creating 30-foot waves on the lake and winds of as much as 60 mph, dropping a reported two feet of snowfall and knocking out power, internet, and phone service for Hoffman and her party of 10. 

“If you looked at the maps of the bomb cyclone and of the weather event ... all of the red maps of the U.P. – we were right in the middle of that,” she said. “I can’t forget the 30-plus-foot waves that we could see on the horizon right through our front window and through the trees. ... Those were Edmund Fitzgerald-size type of waves. It was an impressive storm.” 

F-150 PowerBoost to the Rescue

Luckily for Hoffman, her husband, and their eight other guests, including their pets, she came prepared with her F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid and the lifesaving Pro Power Onboard built-in generator.  

The group used a wood-burning fireplace to generate heat and stay warm in the main area of the 1,400-square-foot cabin, using oil lamps and candles for light. But once Deanna’s husband Steve, a Ford retiree who worked as a design and release engineer, got the Pro Power Onboard hooked up, they were cooking – literally.

After a quick tutorial, the Hoffmans’ truck was providing power for a griddle, toaster, water boiler, overhead lighting, and a refrigerator. The onboard generator also powered the home’s well pump to allow for running water and charging for the group’s devices. The truck used less than a quarter tank of gas over the course of three days serving as a backup power supply. 

‘We Were Able to Show Them What Ford Can Do’

Deanna Hoffman, whose work focuses on high-voltage battery design for our electric vehicles, worked alongside the team that developed Pro Power Onboard, though she had never used it until Winter Storm Ezra crashed her vacation. She felt a sense of pride knowing that one of our products enabled the family and their friends to continue their trip uninterrupted, despite the elements. 

“I was so proud just to be able to step outside, look at that truck, and know what was going on behind me inside that cabin,” she said. “It was really amazing to share that experience with eight 20-somethings who are about to embark on their own life journeys. … It was Ford enabling us to have the sort of basic necessities that we needed to enjoy our time together, and we were able to show them what Ford can do.” 

Sharing Gratitude for Pro Power Onboard Team

When Hoffman returned to work, she thanked a colleague who had been part of the Henry Ford Technology Award-winning team that developed Pro Power Onboard. 

“I was sitting next to him, and, in front of the whole group, I just said, ‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’ Everybody was so proud of Ford when I told this story.”

The Hoffmans frequently travel throughout Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and they plan to continue to own at least one vehicle with Pro Power Onboard in the future, both for emergencies and planned off-grid activities. 

“It just makes so much sense because we love to live off the grid,” she said. “We just love the idea of being able to take that energy with us if we need to. It makes us feel safer.”