Power draw/ power availability on hybrid

[Mikestill1]

Soon to be new owner of a hybrid, curious about accessory power availability since there is no alternator.

I'm old school, legit the ford guy that prefers a oval key for my door lock and a square key for my ignition . I've always been conformable with 12VDC systems and even some 6VDC. I'm wondering how after market 12VDC accessories will run on the hybrids? Can I add a plug in winch, multiple LED lights, a sound system? Not sure I'm comfortable running items since it would be constantly drawn off the already fragile 12volt battery. I know the drive battery "charges" the 12volt, and that's my concern, it's almost as if I wanna add, or replace with a deep cycle battery.

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[Darnon]

The DC-DC converter the hybrid has in lieu of an alternator is rated to output 265 amps and theoretically has about a 150 amp headroom over typical vehicle operating draw. Obviously there's a lot of discussion about the performance of the battery so key-off loading is touchy, but while the vehicle is on it's about as capable as any other.

The only other quirk to keep in mind is the system can charge at the higher end of "12v" voltages; >15V isn't that uncommon. I had some amplifiers not like that and kick on their overvoltage protection.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

The Hybrid's 12v battery is small because it doesn't start the gasoline engine, so it doesn't need to be high CCA.
If you want a bigger 12v battery, it ain't gonna fit where the standard 12v battery fits under the back seat.

 

[Darnon]

If you want a bigger 12v battery, it ain't gonna fit where the standard 12v battery fits under the back seat.

Although with some simple modification an H5 fits and that'll get up to 60-70 AH vs the stock 45 AH.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Soon to be new owner of a hybrid, curious about accessory power availability since there is no alternator.

I'm old school, legit the ford guy that prefers a oval key for my door lock and a square key for my ignition . I've always been conformable with 12VDC systems and even some 6VDC. I'm wondering how after market 12VDC accessories will run on the hybrids? Can I add a plug in winch, multiple LED lights, a sound system? Not sure I'm comfortable running items since it would be constantly drawn off the already fragile 12volt battery. I know the drive battery "charges" the 12volt, and that's my concern, it's almost as if I wanna add, or replace with a deep cycle battery.

The 12v closes the contacts to allow the HVB to power the accessories through the DCDC converter. You can just put truck in ready mode and ice will be started to replenish the HVB as needed.

 

[Master Blaster]

Soon to be new owner of a hybrid, curious about accessory power availability since there is no alternator.

I'm old school, legit the ford guy that prefers a oval key for my door lock and a square key for my ignition . I've always been conformable with 12VDC systems and even some 6VDC. I'm wondering how after market 12VDC accessories will run on the hybrids? Can I add a plug in winch, multiple LED lights, a sound system? Not sure I'm comfortable running items since it would be constantly drawn off the already fragile 12volt battery. I know the drive battery "charges" the 12volt, and that's my concern, it's almost as if I wanna add, or replace with a deep cycle battery.

It should work for your purposes the same way, except that you will want to take your taps off downstream of the battery management unit (the little box beside the +ve terminal), so that the computer can see the current draw and do the recharging correctly from the drivetrain battery underneath. Tapping at the distribution panel under the hood for high current loads like a portable winch would seem to be the way to go. This setup should actually work better than you expect, as the computer will recharge the battery as needed, without starting the engine until it is required to recharge the drive battery. If the drive battery gets discharged down to its minimum, then the gas engine will just start immediately when you start the vehicle. So it should also work better when the ignition is off, as the battery will still be recharging for a lot longer than a gas-only vehicle can do.

 

[The Real Maverick]

The key is..... keep key to "run" while running those high power accessories.

But you would of course do this with your "old school" square key to keep the alternator running too.

 

[Darnon]

It should work for your purposes the same way, except that you will want to take your taps off downstream of the battery management unit (the little box beside the +ve terminal), so that the computer can see the current draw and do the recharging correctly from the drivetrain battery underneath.

The BMS monitor is on the ground terminal of the battery, not the positive.

 

[Bruce W]

Soon to be new owner of a hybrid, curious about accessory power availability since there is no alternator.

I'm old school, legit the ford guy that prefers a oval key for my door lock and a square key for my ignition . I've always been conformable with 12VDC systems and even some 6VDC. I'm wondering how after market 12VDC accessories will run on the hybrids? Can I add a plug in winch, multiple LED lights, a sound system? Not sure I'm comfortable running items since it would be constantly drawn off the already fragile 12volt battery. I know the drive battery "charges" the 12volt, and that's my concern, it's almost as if I wanna add, or replace with a deep cycle battery.

Doesn’t the inverter circuit have a 50 amp inline fuse?

 

[Darnon]

Doesn’t the inverter circuit have a 50 amp inline fuse?

Yes and? They didn't mention anything about the 120V inverter, and that's current limited on its output before the fused input.

If you mean the DC-DC converter that has a 300A fuse integrated into the terminal it connects to the under hood junction box. And the battery has a 200A fuse between its terminal and the cable going to the engine compartment.

 

[Bruce W]

Yes and? They didn't mention anything about the 120V inverter, and that's current limited on its output before the fused input.

If you mean the DC-DC converter that has a 300A fuse integrated into the terminal it connects to the under hood junction box. And the battery has a 200A fuse between its terminal and the cable going to the engine compartment.

Thanks for the information. I was thinking the inverter itself was 50 amp. 300 amp definitely opens up a lot of options.

 

[Darnon]

I was thinking the inverter itself was 50 amp.

The DC-DC converter isn't an inverter. It doesn't output alternating current.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Thanks for the information. I was thinking the inverter itself was 50 amp. 300 amp definitely opens up a lot of options.

The 120 volt inverter is 400 watts modified sine split phase (according to previous posts). The battery is fused at 200 amp and the buss is protected from the dcdc converter with a 300 amp fuze. How much of the 300 amps max on the 12v buss could be used for a 120ac inverter could safely be taken from the 300 amps if other things are pulling what they need. There are two 60 amp and one 40 amp just for heaters. (I'm going to take a wild guess that when voltage on buss exceeds 14.9(?) the BMS will cease charging the 12v because the power needed to run everything is needed elsewhere first (only Ford knows). Those with forscan could observe. Someone who replaced his 12v with a LiFePO4 charged it with over 100 amps but toasted it in about a month. I am guessing you could maybe use no more than 120 amps.

 

[Bruce W]

The 120 volt inverter is 400 watts modified sine split phase (according to previous posts). The battery is fused at 200 amp and the buss is protected from the dcdc converter with a 300 amp fuze. How much of the 300 amps max on the 12v buss could be used for a 120ac inverter could safely be taken from the 300 amps if other things are pulling what they need. There are two 60 amp and one 40 amp just for heaters. (I'm going to take a wild guess that when voltage on buss exceeds 14.9(?) the BMS will cease charging the 12v because the power needed to run everything is needed elsewhere first (only Ford knows). Those with forscan could observe. Someone who replaced his 12v with a LiFePO4 charged it with over 100 amps but toasted it in about a month. I am guessing you could maybe use no more than 120 amps.

Thank you. I have watched a lot of videos on YouTube trying to get an idea of how big an inverter I could use to supply AC power during power outages. I am also planning on buying a gas or LP fueled stand alone generator. The inverter would just be a backup. Definitely don’t want to oversize and blow a vehicle fuse or smoke the dc to dc inverter.

 

[Bruce W]

The DC-DC converter isn't an inverter. It doesn't output alternating current.

Good point. Inverter is an incorrect name.

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