We have a lot of outages where I live. We have two Teslas with tons of electrons in their tanks. Here’s how I plan to take advantage of that:
1. Direct power from the 12 V cigarette lighter plug
I will use an inverter and extension cord to power the woodstove fan, a lamp (7 watts LED), and electronics. Nick (see below) will run in Camp Mode. Total power < 80 watts. I’ve tested this. Note that when the car’s 12V battery runs low, it is automatically recharged from the high-voltage battery.
2. Power from a Bluetti AC180 power station
I’ll use the power station to run the TV, routers, and modem. I can recharge the Bluetti at night to some extent via Nick.
3. Freezer
I ordered an Alpicool car fridge/refrigerator (Amazon.com). It can be set to any temp, and I’ll use it to keep frozen foods from spoiling. It only uses 45 Watts (from the lighter plug), and I’ll run that in Tessie.
With this system, we’ll have lights, heat, entertainment, and unspoiled food for as long as we need it. We’ll periodically drive to a supercharger (they rarely lose power) to replenish the few percent per day loss in SOC. I’m looking forward to the next outage and will report on how this system works.
First Tesla: “Nick,” 2020 M3 Long Range, AWD, Autopilot, FSDb, 22K miles/year, Picked up: Dec 30, 2019
Second Tesla: “Tessie,” 2023 M3 RWD, FSDb Subscription, 8K miles/year, Picked up: Oct 27, 2022