[David1985]

I've been watching videos on Prius owners connecting high wattage inverters to their 12v batteries in order to run high wattage items for a short amount of time (think coffee maker). They do it with the car on so the engine can recharge the 12v as needed. Obviously we don't have a separate lead acid battery to connect to in ours, but we still have 12v circuits. Does anyone know if there are 12v terminals under the seat that you could potentially connect an inverter to? It would be nice to know the specs of the 12v portion as well, to see if it can handle a 1000w inverter. I was unable to find any. I'm going on a long road trip in May and it would be awesome to have the option. I do have a portable battery station, but the inverter is only 500w.

Thanks!

 

[Griswald]

The wiring inside the Niro is pretty thin. I'd be very careful of which circuit you attach anything with a large amperage draw.

 

[David1985]

Agreed. That's why Prius owners have such an easy time since they can use thick inverter wires straight to the battery terminals through a fuse. In our case, I don't know if we have access to thick metal terminals directly off the 12v side. Connecting to a 12v circuit with thin wires would only work for smaller loads which is already possible without this addition. It would be great to see an electrical diagram of the Niro.

 

[91cavgt]

Look under the stereo sub section. There are instructions there that show you how to connect an amplifier, and a power inverter would be connected in the same way.

Why would the electrical system not be capable of handling a 1,000 watt power inverter? As long as that load does not stay at 1,000 watts you should be fine.

The factory DC-DC converter is rated for 135 amps. That is effectively the car’s alternator for the 12v system.

The Niro can come from the factory with front seat heaters. So if you were to turn on both seat heaters on high, have the defroster cranked to maximum, headlights on, and windshield wipers going on high then it would not be much different than running a 1,000 watt power inverter.

 

[jmurphEV]

Look under the stereo sub section. There are instructions there that show you how to connect an amplifier, and a power inverter would be connected in the same way.

Why would the electrical system not be capable of handling a 1,000 watt power inverter? As long as that load does not stay at 1,000 watts you should be fine.

The factory DC-DC converter is rated for 135 amps. That is effectively the car’s alternator for the 12v system.

The Niro can come from the factory with front seat heaters. So if you were to turn on both seat heaters on high, have the defroster cranked to maximum, headlights on, and windshield wipers going on high then it would not be much different than running a 1,000 watt power inverter.

135A @ 14VDC = 1900W. 1kW = ~53% of rated output. As you say a 1kW inverter isn't going to be running at rated load all the time so that gives a bit more headroom. Should be ok, but keep in mind that you're gonna need to leave the car on which means there will be additional loads on the accessory bus that eats up some of that margin.

Good call on looking at stereo installs.

In terms of where to connect @David1985, I would think the 12V junction box (next to the traction pack under the rear seat would be a good place to start. D in the picture below. Here's a link to the procedure to get at it.

 

[David1985]

Thanks guys! This does look promising in ease of setup as well as power requirements. I'm just looking to make some coffee in the morning using electric heat so it's not an ongoing load. This weekend I'm going to build my bed platform with all the seats out so I'll take a look at that junction box as well. Theoretically I could tie in the inverter there and use that same ground location that the car is using.

 

[FlNiro]

Thanks guys! This does look promising in ease of setup as well as power requirements. I'm just looking to make some coffee in the morning using electric heat so it's not an ongoing load. This weekend I'm going to build my bed platform with all the seats out so I'll take a look at that junction box as well. Theoretically I could tie in the inverter there and use that same ground location that the car is using.

7-11 Has Good Coffee

 

[David1985]

7-11 Has Good Coffee

If only they delivered to remote campsites 😅

 

[AbbadonTD]

I was looking into doing this myself for similar reasons (hot water pot vs coffee maker...). I ended up buying a power station instead. They are designed for small solar systems but can also charge through the standard 12v power point. You can also solar charge with panels when parked or camped. There are both cheap and expensive options, take your pick.

 

[David1985]

I was looking into doing this myself for similar reasons (hot water pot vs coffee maker...). I ended up buying a power station instead. They are designed for small solar systems but can also charge through the standard 12v power point. You can also solar charge with panels when parked or camped. There are both cheap and expensive options, take your pick.

That would be the simplest solution yeah. I have the Bluetti AC50s which is 500Wh but only has a 500w peak inverter in it. I can't justify spending 1k on the any of 1000w versions right now so onto plan B!

 

[91cavgt]

I made my own portable power station last year. It doesn’t look nearly as pretty but it is functional at a fraction of the price.

It had 32 amp/hr of lithium, a 200 amp BMS, a 1,000/2,000 watt modified sine wave Dewalt power inverter, a 10 amp MPPT solar charge controller, an AM/FM/Bluetooth radio, some basic speakers, dual USB power outlets, and a 12v power outlet. We have used it camping and it has done really well. Here is a video of it;

I say I had it because the battery was too small. So I gathered parts together and am in the process of changing some things on it. Namely upgrading the battery from a 32 amp/hr to an 80 amp/hr and a couple of other small changes.

 

[David1985]

That's definitely one of the nicer home built power stations I've seen, nice work! I went with the Bluetti since it was nice and compact. The inverter is just smaller than I'd like.

There are some really great 280ah LifePo4 batteries out there which would make you a huge system. They ship from China though so it's about a month to get them. If I ever build a custom system I would use those and a 2000w inverter to power pretty much anything I wanted.

 

[Pucks54]

I've been watching videos on Prius owners connecting high wattage inverters to their 12v batteries in order to run high wattage items for a short amount of time (think coffee maker). They do it with the car on so the engine can recharge the 12v as needed. Obviously we don't have a separate lead acid battery to connect to in ours, but we still have 12v circuits. Does anyone know if there are 12v terminals under the seat that you could potentially connect an inverter to? It would be nice to know the specs of the 12v portion as well, to see if it can handle a 1000w inverter. I was unable to find any. I'm going on a long road trip in May and it would be awesome to have the option. I do have a portable battery station, but the inverter is only 500w.

Thanks!

My Niro has a 12v battery under the hood, drivers side near the firewall. There's a plastic cover on top.

 

[jmurphEV]

My Niro has a 12v battery under the hood, drivers side near the firewall. There's a plastic cover on top.

What year and model? My '18 PHEV has the 12V battery in the rear on the passenger side. Most HEVs don't have a separate 12V battery at all, it's packaged with the traction battery. There is a fuse/relay panel in the engine compartment on the driver's side by the firewall. I haven't heard of a Niro with the battery up front, but I'm not familiar with every model.

Image from here.

 

[Pucks54]

It's a 2017 FE . I had a 2014 Prius c with a 12 v batt under the rear passenger seat next to the traction batt.

 

[jmurphEV]

It's a 2017 FE . I had a 2014 Prius c with a 12 v batt under the rear passenger seat next to the traction batt.

Cool, didn't realize the '17s had the battery in the engine compartment.

 

[David1985]

I think it is only a select few '17s that have it. Not sure when they made the change but it was fairly early by the looks of it.

 

[yticolev]

It's a 2017 FE .

Interesting. All the 2016/2017 models not headed to North America (we never got a 2016 model) also had a lead acid battery. Before they went on sale here, there were some similar battery equipped Niros in dealer showrooms and I saw one there. However, they were all supposed to be returned to Kia, not for sale. I guess some ended up being sold. I'd guess that there were less than 100 of such Niros in North America so even if they were all sold, they would be rare. First one we have heard about here. Any chance it is foreign import an owner brought here when employed?

Also, pretty sure the display model I saw had the battery in the right rear, not under the hood.