Wait, so you are saying you just connect a power inverter to the 12v battery of your Bolt EV, and this allows you to pull energy from the large high voltage battery of the EV? If so, this could power refrigerator/small appliances/lights during outage? We have two EV's neither of which have V2H capability. This sounds interesting.I use an inverter like that on my Bolt EV 12V system, 2000 W peak, 1200 W continuous rating. And I can leave my EV in the attached garage when I'm using it. It was $300 for a sine wave model.If a portable generator is too muc bother (maintenance for example) and you do not want an EV which has the capability to
feed the house (not all have this) , there is one other option, though I have never tried it, and have no endorsement of it:
CarGenerator
Basically just a pure sine wave inverter made easy to hook to your car battery. This allows you to have a generator that is easy to start and
is maintained, you just hang it on the front of the car and hook
clamps like jumper cables on the battery.
Caveats:
the model for all weather is much more expensive ,but needed in bad weather.
You must run the car out of and well away from the house (to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning)
It provides only a small amount of power
You will likely need to upgrade the alternator on your car to a higher amperage to keep up with the power draw.
Gasoline is not always available during grid down. (I can get propane even when the grid is down for my dual fuel generator)
Again, I have considered this option, but went with an electric start dual fuel standalone generator,because I am comfortable with the maintenance, and check it each year.
If the Bolt is fully charged, I can get about 40 kWh out at 120VAC.
Statistics: Posted by TravellingTechOnFire — Sun Mar 03, 2024 3:34 pm — Replies 36 — Views 1944