How to Install a Hardwired Inverter in a Chevy Bolt (or other EV!)

Рет қаралды 7,882

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 78

@rdy4trvl Жыл бұрын

Nice DIY project and an outstandingly edited video. I especially appreciate the test cookie **with** before and after mileage.

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

🍪🍪🍪🍪

@donflatt Ай бұрын

Thanks! Amazed at how little power that used to bake those cookies. Pretty cool setup!

@jkfeatherranch Ай бұрын

If you figure the toaster oven uses 1,500 watts which "feels" like a lot, but only ran for ~30 minutes and the thermostat cycled on and off during that time, it's really not significant compared to driving the car.

@andrew1joe 7 ай бұрын

Amazing job. I have the same car and Renogy inverter but my setup is way more ghetto 🤣

@jkfeatherranch 7 ай бұрын

As long as it works!

@BillCarlson Жыл бұрын

This is great, and super useful!! BTW, that box on top isn't the drive inverter, that's called the "High Power Distribution Module" - basically just a box with some contactors in it to enable high voltage to the various components. The motor inverter sits below that one.

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

Thanks. Ah. Close enough.

@carlosch93 Жыл бұрын

Awesome idea and execution!

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

Thank you

@mattkeysme 10 ай бұрын

I just wired my bolt for an inverter and found this while searching for ways to permanently mount the inverter itself. Nice job. It doesn't seem like anyone has made any brackets for mounting commercially available yet which is a bummer. For now I may just store the inverter in the 'sub trunk' area and plug it in when I need it.

@jkfeatherranch 10 ай бұрын

I thought about mounting it in the "sub-trunk," but the problem with leaving it there permanently is the lack of ventilation. Otherwise I would have just mounted it there.

@mattkeysme 9 ай бұрын

@@jkfeatherranch getting the proper wire sizing all the way back there without too much voltage drop would be pretty extreme too.

@Dabingtons 3 ай бұрын

Great video. Exactly what I'm trying to do. There should be a site out there to buy kits to do things like this.

@jkfeatherranch 3 ай бұрын

Thank you, and I agree! Probably too much of a niche market for anyone to make money in, though.

@zilfondel Жыл бұрын

That was really neat and creative! Good job. Looks great.

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

Thanks 👍

@ilovemyevo556 11 ай бұрын

very clean install.

@jkfeatherranch 11 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@murdelabop 2 ай бұрын

Good project. The only suggestion I have for you is to add an air filter on the inlet for the inverter box.

@jkfeatherranch 2 ай бұрын

Thank you, and I will consider that (:

@dannyterhaar5612 Жыл бұрын

Very nicely done and captured on video. Could you perhaps post some links of the items you used like the power plug used in the back ?

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

Sure. I'll put that together. Please see the video description (:

@dannyterhaar5612 Жыл бұрын

@@jkfeatherranch thanks a lot !

@marknichols7861 7 ай бұрын

There’s always that one person that makes you reevaluate your skill set and cleverness. Great job and excellent video skills. How’s the temp working out for the inverter so far?

@jkfeatherranch 7 ай бұрын

Haha thanks. But all I know how to do, I learned by watching KZbin. So if you're watching this video, you can do it too! It's held up just fine, but both times we've used it camping have been in cooler weather. Our (not so) friendly local electric company has decided they need to turn off our power next Thursday so we'll get another use out of it then. It's not going to be 107 out though, like it was during this test 🥵

@AnthnyS 4 ай бұрын

Fantastic DIY. Thank you for sharing.

@jkfeatherranch 4 ай бұрын

You're welcome! (:

@wiselyy.4325 2 ай бұрын

Respect!

@jkfeatherranch 2 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@quadatvdrifterguy5434 7 ай бұрын

Great install! Amazing. Ima try install on my model 3. But use another battery that draws from the 12v. Then the inverter attach to the extra battery. Seen it work youtube tesla too sensitive sensors. Got a chevy volt but its battery isnt as big compared to the m3

@jkfeatherranch 7 ай бұрын

I've heard there's a way to do it on a Tesla but you have to hook directly to the DC/DC converter and use a resistor or something to prevent a current spike from the inverter's capacitors when it turns on. I don't remember where I saw it, but I recall coming across it somewhere.

@hexsmith 4 күн бұрын

I want to install an inverter in the cab. How do I get 2-4 gauge wire through the firewall?

@marcellanystrom8906 Жыл бұрын

Another great video!

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

Thanks 👍

@functionalvanconversion4284 7 ай бұрын

Nice job, sweet setup👍

@jkfeatherranch 7 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@MarcosRodriguez-sd5dw 5 ай бұрын

Is a box necessary? Can you just mount it under the hood or is it to prevent it from getting wet?

@jkfeatherranch 5 ай бұрын

I feel like it helps somewhat with water, bugs, dirt, etc. Not sure if it's completely necessary 🤷‍♂️

@richardswenson4669 11 ай бұрын

Is this stressing the small 12 volt battery? Is the 12 volt battery constantly being recharged from drive batteries?

@jkfeatherranch 11 ай бұрын

The car's onboard DC/DC converter can supply up to ~1.6 kw continuously, so as long as you do not exceed its output (which you can determine by monitoring battery voltage and making sure it doesn't drop below 13.something), then you are "pulling" from the DC/DC converter and the battery is basically just "there." If you exceed the output of the converter, then yes, you will start to draw down the 12v, which is "ok" as long as you don't do it for too long, and it will recharge when your usage drops below the limit.

@benda18 4 ай бұрын

@@jkfeatherranch the 12v battery is basically a big buffer in the 12v electrical system after a car is started. It allows for some variance in load over time without stressing the other components of the system (i.e. the fuses and wiring). You can use an auxiliary 12v battery (or several in parallel) isolated from the main 12v battery with a special voltage relay that charges the aux batteries when they are low but disconnects the primary 12v so you don't drain IT. that way you can have a giant buffer for something like the startup load of a refrigerator. Don't ask me how I know all of this.

@keltonbailey 4 ай бұрын

How is the inverter holding up over time? I've seen temperatures under the hood of my EUV reach 165f when fast charging, that can't be great for the inverter long term. If it's not an issue under the hood seems like the most convenient place by far!

@jkfeatherranch 4 ай бұрын

We used it a couple weeks ago when the power company shut off our power all day for "maintenance." Weather was in the 90s that day, and ran our house for ~8 hours with no issue other than I had to take the lid off the box.

@chasebecker6054 10 ай бұрын

Pretty legit dude 😂🤟

@jkfeatherranch 10 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@paulstough2995 Жыл бұрын

Nice setup! What is the wattage of the toaster oven, and about how long did it take to bake the cookies? Does your inverter have a GFCI outlet? And if so, do you have to take the cover off of the box you built to reset the GFCI outlet?

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

The toaster is 1500 watts, that's pretty much the upper limit for cooking appliances. I think it took ~20? minutes to make the cookies, since it had no problem hitting 300 degrees it shouldn't have been any more than using our home oven. The inverter does have a built in GFCI, but it can be reset from inside the car simply by turning it off and on again.

@paulstough2995 Жыл бұрын

@@jkfeatherranch Thanks for the reply. That is what I was expecting. Thanks for the reassurance.

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

@@paulstough2995 you're welcome 👍

@argent328 8 ай бұрын

Shouldn't there be about a 200 amp fuse or circuit breaker between the inverter and the 12 v battery?

@jkfeatherranch 8 ай бұрын

If you're not a hack, there should!

@Lemon_Drums_USA 8 ай бұрын

I think the 2000 inverter has a built in fuse

@Lemon_Drums_USA 8 ай бұрын

Let us know the long term review down the road, if it’s still working!

@jkfeatherranch 8 ай бұрын

Still working great, used it on another camping trip we just for back from!

@kululv 11 ай бұрын

why did you make that big box? The inverter could be unprotected in the engine compartment. Why did you go the complicated way of running a cable to trunk instead of just plugging it in at the inverter?

@jkfeatherranch 11 ай бұрын

Because I had to justify buying a sheet metal brake and spot welder, of course!

@MarcosRodriguez-sd5dw 5 ай бұрын

Wouldn’t the inverter get wet?

@BeingKyleBusch18 Жыл бұрын

Couldn't you plug in an inverter into the 12 volt plug and use that instead of having to do all that work?

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

The problem with that is that the 12v plug only provides 10 or 15 amps, so 120 or 180 watts max. The hardwired inverter gives 2000, or enough to power our house during an outage if we're careful with what we use.

@IndiaUploadsEngrav Жыл бұрын

@@jkfeatherranch I've heard that since you're running off the 12v battery that the main battery is only able to keep the 12v battery charged up to 1000 watts of use. If you go over that then you will eventually drain the 12v battery. Have you considered this?

@breeeep Жыл бұрын

@@IndiaUploadsEngrav Once the inverter shuts off, You'd think that the main battery would eventually charge up the 12v battery. Although not sure what the repercussions are of doing this. ( as far as car settings / memory )

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

@@IndiaUploadsEngrav You are correct. The car can provide approximately 1,000 watts (seems like slightly more in practice) continuously to recharge the 12v battery, however it is perfectly fine to exceed this for short periods of time such as for ~30 minutes when baking cookies. It's even less than 30 minutes in practice, since the toaster oven was cycling the heating elements on and off to maintain temperature. If you're going to be doing this for long periods of time, however, a way of measuring the 12v voltage would be useful. I recommend an OBD2 dongle and Torque (or the equivalent iPhone app) to keep an eye on it from your phone. For what it's worth, after shooting this video, I was able to run a 1,500 watt space heater for an hour straight without killing the 12v, and when I turned it down to 1,000 watts, the voltage shot back up to 13+, indicating that the car was charging it while also supplying the full load of the inverter.

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

@breeeep It would at the very least severely shorten the life of the 12v battery. They don't like being ran completely dead :(

@breeeep Жыл бұрын

wait.... what ? the small 12V battery is connected in with the main car drive battery ??? Impressive. Geeze, why buy a powerwall ? Great job.

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

Thanks. Every EV has the equivalent of an alternator to take power from the big battery and charge the 12v. This is the easiest way to run an inverter.

@user70331 Жыл бұрын

Maybe use aluminum hardware with bolts to avoid welding?

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

If you don't have a welder, there are certainly other options!

@rhdtv2002 4 ай бұрын

You made allot of mistakes - I just didn’t find any to tell you 😊. Nice job.

@jkfeatherranch 4 ай бұрын

I'm sure I did 🤷‍♂️ Oh well thank you lol

@jeffhahn7569 Жыл бұрын

Why not go to the main battery of the car?

@jkfeatherranch Жыл бұрын

Although this is probably technically doable with the car running, I don't know if the electronics would freak out from an unaccounted-for drain on the main battery, plus I haven't come across a readily-available inverter with 400v input.