New generator technology product

JaxDad wrote:

road-runner wrote:
I wish they wouldn't call them generators. Very misleading, IMO.

There is a huckster here in the Toronto area marketing a device he euphemistically calls the “Car Generator”. In reality it is nothing more than an inverter in a waterproof case with cables to clamp on the battery of a car like booster cables. You then run an extension cord to what you need powered. The ironic part of the deal is that Toronto has, like many places do, an anti-idling law. Merely using it therefore is illegal since it requires leave the vehicle running.

The really sketchy part of his pitch is his claim, beyond that you have “Backup power for days without the generator hassle.” is his rather incredulous claim that “Running a compact sedan at idle uses less gasoline than running a generator. Honda 1000watt generator .19 gal/hr, compact sedan 2 litre engine .16 gal/hr.”.

I’m not sure what you do for power after someone drives away with your car you left idling in your driveway for 3 days, but who am I to question a P. T. Barnum-ite…….

For your reading pleasure …….. or good OL’ belly laugh …… click here.

I think I saw these guys on shark tank. Not sure. EV owners do this albeit at reduced capacity as the 12 volt batteries on EV’s are smaller capacity and don’t play nice with big inverters. Still. Furnace motors or fridges or entertainment centres are not a problem. We kind of do this but use a 2 KWH AGM battery bank as a buffer and then just trickle charge that battery bank from the EV. Works good. We have tested it in real world conditions. Probably good for four or 5 days although hopefully we’ll never find out. :). Nice thing about an EV is you can run it in the garage so no risk of theft. Albeit without a pin code or card key it would be hard to steel the car anyway.