So glad I found your video you were saying car generator is that the same as an inverter? Cause I want to upgrade my alternator then add a 3000 watt inverter to charge a Ecoflow delta pro with two expansion batteries for van life. The eco flow alternator outputs 800 watts and gets kinda warm but my thinking was I could be set up more effectively and lower cost with a larger alternator a 3000 watt inverter charging all three units cause it’s really hard to cram more than 800 watts of solar on a van roof. Thank you so much gonna sub to see what other useful info I can get.

WTF with all this metric crap? Liters? kilometers? Also, I thought this was a Cargen vs. Portable generator video? Where's the comparison? Cmon man.

showing HOW and the steps would have been helpful. Thank you for at least letting me know it can be done.

Should there be a fuse between the battery and the inverter?

Curious how this differs from running the RV using a battery isolator?

Turn off the music so I can hear him talking

A car alternator's power output depends on the alternator's rating and the power demand. A conventional alternator can produce 500-600 watts, but modern alternators can produce up to 2500 watts. The alternator's output can range from 40-120 amps, and high-amp alternators can produce up to 300 amps. The alternator's input is also dependent on speed.

Care to tell us HOW?

1600 watts sounds like a lot for a stock alternator? can they really push that much especially at idle where the RPM's are lower, without draining the starter battery?

24 amps at idle is... a LOT more than I thought. I suppose all those electronics stack up, especially in a Benz

I was watching to see what happened to your charging voltage under tested load but no measurements were shown. Power output could also be a combination of alternator output and battery discharge. Monitoring voltage drop is crucial.

That’s genius especially since you have the diesel GL, but I can one can do the same using the gas version veh as well to charge up the trailer’s battery(s)! I am a fan.

How long can you safely run a modern vehicle idle?

Are you using the RV converter with this out have you turned that off?

I'm looking to charge a Bluetti AC 180 from my car battery. Using the car as generator will charge the power station MUCH quicker than using a cigarette lighter outlet. Is this the product I need or something else? And if it is, do you have the correct plug in?

Great content, but could you please stop the music or at least turn the music volume way down. Thanks a lot in advance 😊

I have a similar design that does not require you lift the hood or clamp on cables that tend to spark. Never got offered funding or had the funds to go make it. But my 2500 watt with surge cells in it, the prototype is still in use 9 years after made.

We have a huge church group of thousands of members who try to always be prepared with food storage & back up home power alternatives. I would love to introduce our huge group to this as a great alternative to gas generators. 🏆👍

On my Airstream, the plug in the front is used for powering the trailer but DOES NOT charge the battery.

How long does it take to change? Thot that's not good for a car to sit & idle?

This seems like a great product especially in an emergency. I would love to see it hooked up to a Prius which already has a generator on board. I don't understand why I don't see nomads and van lifers using this product. It seems like a no-brainer. It could be this product is very expensive but I want to buy one and try it out for myself. How come you do not have a link to the product in your description so you can buy it?

I would love to review this on my channel

Also if you want you can lock the truck running with the key pad, you do not have to do it with the key fob...

How can I quickly get one in west Illinois, east Iowa or NE Missouri?

I’m not 100% on board having my vehicle engine idling for extended periods of time, perhaps hours to generate power. Although you are not adding miles to your car you are adding hours of use and wear to the engine which can be seen when connected to a scanner.

I didn't see any protection for the alternator or battery built into your device.

How do I order the panel and who should I get to install it?

What's the max amount of watts you can use your car as a generator ? For better results the car battery should be 1,000cc avoid 500cc and 600cc car batteries

What's the max amount of watts you can use your car as a generator ? For better results the car battery should be 1,000cc avoid 500cc and 600cc car batteries

First question for people who worry about idling. Define how long is idling too long? 2 minutes? 20 minutes? 2 hours waiting for the kids at soccer? 4 hours hosting a tailgate party? 10 hours? 24 hours? Idling is simply a fact of life. Millions of vehicles around the world idle every day. Hookup an OBD scanner to your own vehicle and see your engine idle hours, and watch the idle hour timer increase even when you’re sitting at a stoplight. Taxis, delivery vehicles, funeral vehicles, etc…. all idle every day around the world. Honda Ridgeline for example has a 400 watt power outlet in the truck bed which Honda markets “for tailgating and watching TV”, which requires the engine idling. So how long would you idle watching TV? GM offers a truck bed 400 watt power outlet which the GM instructions state can be used for things like a Slowcooker or Crock pot. How many hours would you idle your engine to run your slow cooker or crock pot? The F150 (non hybrid) with a 2kw Pro Power option is offered by Ford to idle for 85 hours providing 2000 watts. FORD published a guide that defines extended idling and how it impacts the engine (years before they released ProPower). FORD provides the example of a contractor that drives 50 miles and IDLES SIX HOURS per day, for 100 days, that’s 600 hours of idling! It’s a real world example, and is in no way prohibited, but FORD simply outlines that you need to do engine maintenance more frequently. Other manufacturers now include high power inverters, like the Toyota Highlander or Sienna with a 1500 watt built in inverter. In fact if you consider how Hybrid vehicles work there is actually no limit how long you could run the vehicle at idle for as long as gas is in the tank. The gas engine simply kicks in and runs for a period of time whenever the high voltage battery pack calls for it. This cycle could run for an hour or for literally days and the engine knows no difference. Whether we are using 70 DC amps to power headlights cabin fan wipers etc, or pulling that power out as around 900 watts useable AC , the built in DC-DC converter doesn’t know or care, it simply supplies DC power. I’ve lived this in real life, we had a bad ice storm with no power for 3.5 days, we ran our 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid for more than 80 hours. It used around half a tank of gas, and that car is still fully functional and running great as our second car. Special note for DIESEL vehicles, modern diesel vehicles have a DPF filter included and it takes about 12 hours at idle speed to fill up this filter. So we recommend after about 8 hours of idling with a modern diesel, simply disconnect and drive it for 10-15 minutes and the internal systems will regen automatically clean the system and you are good to go.

I always thought it was not good to leave a véhicule at idle. How about a Diesel, new generation. Self start with a remote starter is limited to 15 min twice. How many amps is 540 W ?

*Why not just buy a Honda EU2000i or a cheap 2-stroke Generator???*

whats the Amps (or Watts) this unit can do max running all the time.

If you google idling your engine there are literally endless sites saying its terrible for your engine to idle it for long periods. Can you provide proof that this isn't the case? Thank you.

I would feel a lot better about purchasing CG *_if_* I was able to recharge it inside the car/truck while driving. Does not seem realistic for longterm camping. No one wants to hear an idling car all day/night long either.

Beautiful Information, Illustration & Explanation. Thank You 🙏 so much. New Subscriber here 🙋‍♂️

What's the most amount of watts you can use your car as a generator and how can you increase the watts or amps ?

Is this product still available? I don't see a link to it. Or did it just fizzle out? It seems like a viable solution. My friends that camp use a gas generator to provide electricity and to charge their battery banks. Many Nomads should jump on this especially in California where they want to do away with gas generators. This products should be selling thousands of units. But something must of went wrong. I would buy it. Perhaps it is rediciously expensive. Hummmm.

and how reacts my catalytic converter to this?

This is the 2nd I've watched but there are loads more or are they the same thing repeated? I hope to find how much energy can be sourced from running a small economical car at idle speed, including diverting the coolant water to heat shower and rad's. Wish you had put series and episodes in your listings. It would also make for better listening if the irritating music was off. I'll watch a few more to find if there is more to be gained.

A nicely packaged inverter?

How come there is no link in the description to buy this inverter.

The simple question that I have not seen answered yet is how many watts can a car generate? Thanks.

Awesome! Thx for sharing!

Really a car can idle for 50 hours with no damage to it?

this is an old trick ... people has been doing for yrs .... as far back as 20 yrs ...

Can this run a 15000 btu rv air conditioner or even a home central air unit?

Is there any way to get more watts than half my 80amp alternator can provide at idle? After halving I only have 480 watts and need more. Does revving increase? Maybe I could leave brick on accelerator if so…

I have a GL 350 also, the manual says not to idle for more than a few minutes or you can damage the emissions sensors. How are you overcoming that?