Generator Function / Large Inverter

[OC-D]

it’s a newer model after the great Toyota Accords (double pun)

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[WesM]

Thanks again everyone for your input. Here are a few thoughts in response to the comments above.

• I'm looking at a camper less than 2k pounds. Although I haven't pulled the numbers yet, I don't see an a/c unit for such a camper requiring 4kw.
• However, I don't see solar as being adequate.
• The leads Ford provides in the bed certainly aren't adequate.
• I am thoroughly opposed to an external generator. Generators are obnoxious. I no longer tent camp during hunting season, when I can't camp backwoods, purely because of people running generators in hunting camps. I won't do that to others. I've heard the F150 hybrid running while charging. I could be wrong, but I don't believe I've ever heard even a quiet four stroke generator that was anywhere near as quiet as the F150. I would suspect the Maverick would be even quieter. That's why I'm asking if the Maverick could be rigged to generate power like the F150.
• I do have friends that are DC power technicians. Given some guideance from someone familiar with the Maverick that has already done the work, I don't anticipate being able to properly complete the task.

I'm not planning on going forward with a vehicle purchase until at least mid-year 2022 (unless my current vehicle unexpectedly dies). So, I'm just trying to think and plan in advance. There is no hurry. Right now it looks like the F150 would be the best solution. It's overkill, but it will do the job without question. Meanwhile, I'll keep checking on this thread and watching others to see if someone comes up with a solution for the Maverick.

Thanks again,
Andrew

PS. djw479, a Prius is the poster child of boring cars and men with lost dignity.

They do give you the 400w plug in the bed if you get the right options. Not going to power a fridge, but if you had a high quality cooler it will last a week with dry ice. I had a buddy who put a heat exchanger in a cooler with dry ice and just had a fan pulling cool air, was pretty effective and only used around 100w for the fan. You could play around with some of those type systems before buying a vehicle to see if they would work for you. I believe there are commercially made versions of my buddies cooling system.

There are also battery powered AC units that you could charge during the day when you are not in the camper?

There are also propane powered fridges and AC units. Maybe have propane do the heavy lifting and let the truck power whatever small electronics you have with its 400w inverter?

The powerboost would probably be the most convenient option for sure... if a little more expensive.

 

[Notamerc]

What about something like this? From your description this would allow you to do everything youve described.
https://www.cargenerator.com/

 

[Maverickman74]

Yeah sorry didnt realize you were talking about the hybrid. Not sure a hybrid(fwd) would be best for towing anything bigger than a fat teardrop camper. The F150 is probably your simplest however most expensive option. The 4wd Maverick would be better at towing anything of enough size to enjoy A/C in. I too dislike generators, particularly Hondas(but its because I hate Honda in general not for a real reason). I think there is options for you to run solar on the big flat real estate provided by most campers. And if you do have D/C freinds they could probably help you sort out something like large lithium batteries and enough solar to run A/C. But it will cost you as much as the difference between a average Mav and the cheapest(XL) F150 hybrid.

On another note, reviewers have mentioned that the hybrid is the louder motor. Not sure the difference at idle, but worth mentioning since your beef with generators is noise. Also A/C is super noisy aswell.

 

[Drusome]

I have a Prius and looked at this for a bit to use as a whole-house generator, but never too seriously. However it sounds like what you are looking for:

https://www.plugoutpower.com/

The original story that led me there:

https://www.torquenews.com/8113/make-your-toyota-prius-top-quality-generator-neat-add

Good luck

 

[TimeOutside]

Follow-up question: Am I correct that when using the truck bed power leads, the ICE will automatically kick on and off as needed to keep the battery charged?

 

[TimeOutside]

Thanks again everyone. Following are my follow-up thoughts.

• Yep, I was aware there are propane powered refrigerator/freezers. I was not aware of the same for A/C. I absolutely need to check into these options before I determine I must have electrical power beyond 400 watts.
• There are also very efficient (low current draw) freezer/cooler options that use the Peltier effect for thermoelectric cooling. Some easily run on less than 400 watts. It isn't ideal, but I could go that route if needed.
• I will be checking into external battery assist and storage options. (Such as the "cargenerator".)
• It was my (subjective) experience that the F150 ICE was quieter than a good quiet four stroke generator. But maybe I am wrong. I will need to look into that further. The answer could change the direction of my solition. The whole point of wanting to use the vehicle is to minimize noise pollution.
• I personally prefer the Maverick to the F150. Even the base model will satisfy my towing needs. I just need to figure out what is needed and what options I have for electrical power when off-grid. (While still having A/C and refrigeration. If it is just me, I backpack and could care less about electrical power. But I'd like to have my wife join me on some outings and that ain't gonna happen without comfort.)
• I'm still wondering if the power leads in the bed will kick on the ICE if the battery needs to be recharged. It would expand my options using external battery storage methods.

Thanks again,
Andrew

 

[Darnon]

It's a pretty spendy combo, but Ecoflow makes a gasoline inverter generator which can be paired with their battery power station and automatically starts/stops itself to effectively create a gas-hybrid generator (and you can even add solar).

 

[Automate]

Follow-up question: Am I correct that when using the truck bed power leads, the ICE will automatically kick on and off as needed to keep the battery charged?

Yes, assuming you leave the key on if you have a keyed truck or don't push the start/stop button with a pushbutton start truck.

The ICE will continue to start and stop as need to keep both the HV and 12V batteries charged.

There have been cases where someone forgets to turn them off and a hybrid stays running all night in an enclosed garage which is a bad carbon monoxide concern. So manufactures could put in a feature to turn off after a long time but obviously the F150 hybrid/generator does not have this.

 

[Decayed]

Thanks again everyone for your input. Here are a few thoughts in response to the comments above.

• I'm looking at a camper less than 2k pounds. Although I haven't pulled the numbers yet, I don't see an a/c unit for such a camper requiring 4kw.
• However, I don't see solar as being adequate.
• The leads Ford provides in the bed certainly aren't adequate.
• I am thoroughly opposed to an external generator. Generators are obnoxious. I no longer tent camp during hunting season, when I can't camp backwoods, purely because of people running generators in hunting camps. I won't do that to others. I've heard the F150 hybrid running while charging. I could be wrong, but I don't believe I've ever heard even a quiet four stroke generator that was anywhere near as quiet as the F150. I would suspect the Maverick would be even quieter. That's why I'm asking if the Maverick could be rigged to generate power like the F150.
• I do have friends that are DC power technicians. Given some guideance from someone familiar with the Maverick that has already done the work, I don't anticipate being able to properly complete the task.

I'm not planning on going forward with a vehicle purchase until at least mid-year 2022 (unless my current vehicle unexpectedly dies). So, I'm just trying to think and plan in advance. There is no hurry. Right now it looks like the F150 would be the best solution. It's overkill, but it will do the job without question. Meanwhile, I'll keep checking on this thread and watching others to see if someone comes up with a solution for the Maverick.

Thanks again,
Andrew

PS. djw479, a Prius is the poster child of boring cars and men with lost dignity.

All good points. Basically, any battery system big enough to run an a/c and fridge all night is gonna need a really big battery and will be very expensive. As far as generators go, there is a type called an inverter generator which is a lot quieter and more efficient than normal generators. You will probably not be able to hear it inside the trailer over the sound of the a/c. You can also make an enclosure to further dampen the sound. Old school generators are noisy.

Sounds like the F-150 solution will suit you best unless someone figures out how to do that with the maverick.

 

[Buschur]

I've got quite a lot of experience with solar, inverters, battery banks, charge controllers etc.

What you are trying to do is going to be ridiculously expensive. First to actually run A/C will require at least 20 amps and most A/C units won't run/start on that, so you will need an easy start unit wired into your A/C, that's about $500 last time I bought one. You'll need lithium batteries to run the a/c for any length of time. The roof on the truck isn't large enough to put enough panels on it to charge the batteries in any decent length of time.

The best thing to do, even though this isn't what you want, go to Harbor Frieght, buy their 3000 watt generator and be done.

 

[Buschur]

I read more of your comments after the first post. No generator....ok.

I've built my own 90% solar home and a new Nissan Van a few years ago that was solar/battery powered.

There are other batteries out there that work but are large and heavy, industrial batteries, it's all I've used, they are 135 pounds each. When I built the van I had just one of those. I ran a cable from the alternator to an isolator switch then to the battery. The switch will only allow the alternator to charge the battery but won't allow the battery to drain the trucks battery. I had 300 watts of solar on the roof. I used the battery to power the water pump for the shower, run a TV/DVD player, fans, lights, 12v fridge/freezer, igniter for the gas hot water heater and a power inverter. I never ran out of battery, the fans I'd run at night to stay cool. This system would not work for AC. The fridge and everything else worked flawlessly. During the day I'd drive and the alternator would charge if needed but the solar actually did a good job, I was out west a lot during those traveling days.

The fridge, lights and everything else are easy to power your hard part is the a/c.

 

[TimeOutside]

In looking further:

• It appears using propane for the A/C probably is not the way to go.
• A 5k BTU A/C unit, which would be an adequate size for my needs, takes about 3oo to 450 watts to run and about 1100 to 1300 watts for startup.
• I like the concept of the PlugOutPower system that was suggested. It is a tested third-party solution for what I'm looking to accomplish. But I still need to know (much) more about both my requirements and the product. Plus, the Maverick is not yet on their compatible (tested) vehicles list.
• It is good to know that the ICE will kick on and off automatically as needed to keep the battery charged when a drain is connected to the leads in the truck bed (assuming the vehicle switch has been left on). That may give me some flexibility.
• I'm wondering, do the leads in the truck bed connect to an accessory battery or do they connect to the high voltage (traction) battery?

No more time for this now. I obviously have much more homework to do before committing to any plan of action. But all this information and the suggestions give me a good starting point.

Thanks yet again,
Andrew

 

[Automate]

Also, I think it's 48v so some additional electrical work would be necessary to step the voltage down for the inverter.

No, both the F-150 Hybrid and Escape Hybrid can have up to 450V on their batteries. Mav Hybrid will probably be the same.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/content/...resources/2021_F-150Hybrid_BatteryRemoval.pdf
https://www.fleet.ford.com/content/...ources/2020-2021_Escape_HV_BatteryRemoval.pdf

 

[Decayed]

In looking further:

• It appears using propane for the A/C probably is not the way to go.
• A 5k BTU A/C unit, which would be an adequate size for my needs, takes about 3oo to 450 watts to run and about 1100 to 1300 watts for startup.
• I like the concept of the PlugOutPower system that was suggested. It is a tested third-party solution for what I'm looking to accomplish. But I still need to know (much) more about both my requirements and the product. Plus, the Maverick is not yet on their compatible (tested) vehicles list.
• It is good to know that the ICE will kick on and off automatically as needed to keep the battery charged when a drain is connected to the leads in the truck bed (assuming the vehicle switch has been left on). That may give me some flexibility.
• I'm wondering, do the leads in the truck bed connect to an accessory battery or do they connect to the high voltage (traction) battery?

No more time for this now. I obviously have much more homework to do before committing to any plan of action. But all this information and the suggestions give me a good starting point.

Thanks yet again,
Andrew

The hybrid has two batteries. A 12v for running the ICE and the 12v accessories. This is what powers the leads in the bed. The second is a high voltage battery for the hybrid drive. The systems are not directly connected AFAIK.

The plug out power unit you have is $3k, while a decent inverter generator big enough to run an a/c unit, a fridge/freezer and all the other stuff you need is about $700.

Buscher's comments above are spot on. Batteries big enough to run your a/c will be big, heavy and expensive.

Another thing to consider is that using your vehicle's battery to power things puts additional wear and tear on the battery. Nothing is free. It will probably fail sooner and you will incur the cost of replacing it.

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