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Car Generator, turns vehicle into generator

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    Car Generator, turns vehicle into generator

    Came across this the other day and thought it was a interesting idea. Then went down the rabbit hole of seeing what other people have done and it’s as simple as buying an inverter and attaching appropriately sized jumper cables. I’ve seen people use 1000-2500w inverters in their builds. It would be enough to run my furnace, my fridge, some lights, and charge devices in a freeze like we had last winter here in Texas. Not enough for AC or anything big, but better than nothing. Benefits are: no maintenance, will always start, small and easy to store, could take camping or working in the field, convenient due to always having car, quiet due to your car engine, 30 gallon gas tank on my truck so no refilling.
    Anyone seen something like this or built one of their own?
    What pros/cons do you see versus a small 2000w genni?


    #2
    I know squat about inverters but I do know that vehicle alternators are not designed to be under a load for long periods of time. Id think this setup would shorten the life of your alternator.

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      #3
      I'm about to do it in a tool box for a build I'm working on. Will be adding the inverter and air tank for air tools. I would use a secondary deep cycle battery with some sort of flow switch that can isolate the car battery. Last thing you want is to drain your main battery down and that can happen really fast. Don't think the alternator can keep up with the charge for any decent sized load.

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        #4
        Do they have model for all electric cars? asking for a friend.....

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          #5
          interesting.

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            #6
            Let’s do some quick maths.

            A 2,000 watt inverter can pull 200 amps of current. Especially when motors start up, like what is on a fridge or freezer.


            Most automotive alternators are in the neighborhood of 125 amps to 180 amps, unless you have an old vehicle in which the alternator could be as small as 60-70 amps.

            When looking at automotive alternators, you also have to take into account that they DO NOT put out their rated power at idle. Typically you can see a 50% reduction in amperage output at idle. So your 180 amp alternator in your Ram truck will only put out around 90 amps at idle!!


            200 amps - 90 amps = 110 amp deficit!!!


            Now, there are vehicles out there with dual alternators that could handle a constant 200 amp load with zero problems. A lot of those also have an auto idle up circuit to ensure the voltage stays up when power demand is at its highest. This is what you would absolutely need.


            With all of that said, a hybrid vehicle may be the better option. Hybrids do not have alternators. They have DC to DC converters that convert the high voltage battery pack down to 12 volts. These can put out their rated current with the engine not even running, and when the battery starts getting low, the engine will automatically start to keep the voltage up. My small hybrid car has a DC to DC converter that is rated at 130 amps. I could connect a 1,000 watt power inverter to it and it would be fine.



            With all of that being said, if you were to set this up on ANY vehicle, you would have to ensure that the running vehicle won’t get stolen AND you would have to make sure that carbon monoxide would not get into your house.

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              #7
              Originally posted by 91cavgt View Post
              Let’s do some quick maths.

              A 2,000 watt inverter can pull 200 amps of current. Especially when motors start up, like what is on a fridge or freezer.


              Most automotive alternators are in the neighborhood of 125 amps to 180 amps, unless you have an old vehicle in which the alternator could be as small as 60-70 amps.

              When looking at automotive alternators, you also have to take into account that they DO NOT put out their rated power at idle. Typically you can see a 50% reduction in amperage output at idle. So your 180 amp alternator in your Ram truck will only put out around 90 amps at idle!!


              200 amps - 90 amps = 110 amp deficit!!!


              Now, there are vehicles out there with dual alternators that could handle a constant 200 amp load with zero problems. A lot of those also have an auto idle up circuit to ensure the voltage stays up when power demand is at its highest. This is what you would absolutely need.


              With all of that said, a hybrid vehicle may be the better option. Hybrids do not have alternators. They have DC to DC converters that convert the high voltage battery pack down to 12 volts. These can put out their rated current with the engine not even running, and when the battery starts getting low, the engine will automatically start to keep the voltage up. My small hybrid car has a DC to DC converter that is rated at 130 amps. I could connect a 1,000 watt power inverter to it and it would be fine.



              With all of that being said, if you were to set this up on ANY vehicle, you would have to ensure that the running vehicle won’t get stolen AND you would have to make sure that carbon monoxide would not get into your house.

              Great info

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                #8
                I have 2000 watt inverters hard wired into both of my old f 250s.
                Use them for running power tools on handyman jobs, running the ac or microwave on my small slide in camper, usually for no more than a few hours at a time for the ac.
                Seem to work OK and it is great to be able to plug in a skill saw or sawsall and where you need to

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                  #9
                  All of your thoughts make sense.
                  Here’s a quote from an article comparing the new F150 Powerboost and a Cargenerator:


                  “The Ford PowerBoost generator is connected to the vehicle’s high-voltage hybrid traction battery and the 35-kW electric motor/generator mounted on the back of the engine.

                  The CarGenerator is connected to your vehicle’s 12-volt battery and alternator. Both units operate on the same principle of the car engine creating DC current which is then inverted to 120-volts AC. So the basic power flow is the same between the two technologies.

                  But will idling my engine for extended times damage it?

                  I don’t think that idling a modern gasoline engine for extended hours will hurt it at all. Gone are the days of cylinder gasoline wash-down into the oil and fouled spark plugs.

                  Note that Ford rates their PowerBoost generator for running 85 hours at idle. So I’m confident that CarGenerator is safe to use with your modern car engine for extended idle times.

                  But as you noted, the CarGenerator (in 1,000-, 1,500- and 2,000-watt versions) has less wattage output than the Ford F-150 Hybrid truck with the 7,200-watt generator option. But I think that CarGenerator is a reasonable solution as a backup plan for boondocking when you don’t want (or are not allowed) to run a portable generator.

                  What about exhaust emissions?

                  While I’ve not done emission testing on a portable generator, the fact that it doesn’t have a catalytic converter like your car’s engine tells me the portable generator is much dirtier.

                  I’m confident that modern vehicle engines are way cleaner than your gasoline-powered weed-wacker or inverter generator. So, a CarGenerator or PowerBoost Generator is much cleaner for the environment.

                  What the bottom line?

                  While a Ford PowerBoost is very nice, it’s also a pretty substantial investment. So if you already have a vehicle that you can tow your travel trailer with, then the CarGenerator is an affordable and safe way to add backup power to your boondocking adventures.

                  No portable generator or extra gasoline containers are required for CarGenerator. But if you need to provide a lot of AC power for extended periods, and don’t mind the weight and extra gasoline of a portable generator, then stick with your inverter generator. It’s as simple as that”

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                    #10
                    Why the heck wouldn’t you just go on Craigslist and buy a used eu2000 for 500 bucks?

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