Ford is developing a winch for electric vehicles that would plug directly into a charge port.

It’s not unusual for winches to run off a vehicle’s 12-volt AC accessory electrical power, but in a patent application published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 9, Ford proposes running a cable from a winch to a charge port to draw power from an EV’s battery pack. That requires bidirectional charging capability, which Ford has offered on its F-150 Lightning pickup since launch.

To make this work, the winch would have a DC motor, allowing it to run off power from the battery pack without the need for an inverter to convert electricity to AC. DC motors can also be more efficient than AC motors, Ford says in the application, and an EV battery pack is a much larger power source than the 12-volt batteries typically used to power winches.

Ford already lets customers use battery packs to power tools and other devices with the Pro Power Onboard system available in the Lightning and F-150 hybrid, using dedicated outlets in the bed.

Because it’s designed to be plugged into a charge port, Ford also notes that the winch can be powered by a different EV to the one it’s mounted to, as well as other vehicles with charge ports, such as plug-in hybrids. Other external power sources could be used as well, and the winch could even be removed from the vehicle and operated remotely, Ford suggests.

This winch seems like a natural fit for Ford’s next-generation electric truck, codenamed T3, but that model has been delayed until 2027 as the automaker refocuses on hybrids and smaller, more affordable EVs. But perhaps we’ll see it on a more off-road-ready version of the Lightning at some point.