Considering this delicious drink has been brewed since the 15th century, you’d think taking it mobile would be easy, right?

Five years ago, I started The Coffee Can Company with one simple aim: to bring simply great coffee to my community. I’d managed a local coffee shop, and had originally planned to open my own coffee shop, but then the pandemic hit. Going mobile meant a smaller outlay and less risk, all I needed was a van. Taking my mum’s wise words — “Well, it has to be a Ford, they won’t let you down” — I went out and bought my first Ford Transit Connect to convert into a mobile coffee van. That’s when we ran into what would become our biggest hurdle for the next five years: power.

I hadn’t really thought about how we’d efficiently power our coffee equipment. One of our setups draws almost 6kW of electricity — more than the boiler in your house. Sure, we could have gone with a gas coffee machine, but they’re less reliable. A generator? Too big, noisy, and smelly (and a nightmare to drag to events). That left plugging into mains power… and for the past five years, that’s exactly what we’ve done.

But here’s the catch: our three mobile units have been restricted by the plug. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve taken our vans to some amazing places and found power in the most unlikely of spots. But we’ve also had to turn down plenty of opportunities simply because there wasn’t enough supply. Too often, event power comes overpriced, underpowered, or unreliable — leading to slow service, blown fuses, and even total blackouts.

Three years ago, Ford invited us to one of their Transit Day celebrations. We jumped at the chance to be part of the amazing community they’ve built, and since then, we’ve been invited to some incredible events — even heading out to Barcelona earlier this year for a Transit showcase.

So, when Ford asked us to help caffeinate drivers during their 60-year Transit celebration and world record attempt, we were all in. But there was one small problem: no power on site.

That’s when Ford introduced us to the Pro Power Onboard¹ system on the Ranger Plug-in Hybrid, which uses the vehicle battery to provide a portable power source. Honestly, I was skeptical. There was no way one of our vans could be powered by a Ranger… right?

Wrong.

We arrived at Ford’s Dunton Campus at 6:30 a.m., plugged our van straight into two Rangers… and everything just worked. The lights came on, the boilers heated up, and the coffee started flowing. The drivers got their caffeine, and the Rangers powered us flawlessly all day long. No surges. No blackouts. Just perfect, steady Pro Power.

I was stunned. After five years of battling power struggles — enough to fill a very boring book — we’d finally found the perfect off-grid solution.

The most exciting idea is joining my partner Ben, who’s a mobile cycle mechanic. He supports teams abroad, and they’ve always wanted us to come along — imagine brewing espressos for riders at the top of the Alps! We can’t wait to see where this takes us next.

Amy McMillan is founder and owner of the Coffee Can Company

¹See Owner’s Manual for important operating instructions.