Was reading on the Renault Zoe subreddit about fitting an Inverter because this Car has No V2L, and i thought about that in the past but never did it because why throw Money at Something where i can’t think of usecases other than ‘it would be neat’. So to the people who have V2L, what are you using it for?
My V2L got me through Hurricane Ian very well. I kept my fridge, freezer and internet going for 5 days. Halfway through, I could disconnect, drive to a DCFC 35 miles away to recharge fast enough to get back home before anything warmed up.
I had to sleep in the car (too hot inside and I have a CPAP) so I drained faster. Since then, I’ve wired in a “generator” transfer switch to my main breaker. I can keep the ceiling fan and outlets in my bedroom powered now too.
This is the way
Damn. What about us who live in a place with no natural disasters. It snows a bit but that’s about it.
I feel left out.
Go camping. Or probably “Glamping” with all the comforts of home.
You should consider adding an additional battery to keep your fridge running while you charge your EV.
There won’t be anyone home to open the fridge. A closed refrigerator will hold the temperature for four hours. Half hour to Naples (or Port Charlotte if the hurricane hits south of me), half hour to charge, half hour home. Plenty of time.
Sure, but adding off grid storage usually isn’t a bad idea.
You also never know if you’ll get slowed down between charging and returning home by inclement weather.
The batteries would need to go on an external wall or a wall in common with another unit so they’d need “architectural” and “safety” approval from the HOA. That’s not likely since I don’t have any statute to force their approval. I might be able to sneak the battery onto the common wall which is technically exterior but hidden by a fence and screen enclosure. They’d figure it out eventually though and make me remove it.
At least the “inclement” weather I’d face down here never comes back-to-back. Hurricanes take a few weeks to “recharge” too 😉
I have a setup somewhat similar to this but I had the usual generator line. I had hooked about 500 watts in solar panels and 2kWh in batteries to an inverter and could run several things in my house during the day. With the V2L I just use the car during the day and the system I described at night.