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submitted 9 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

A mother used her EV to power her son’s dialysis machine amid storms and a blackout | Electric vehicles with bidirectional charging can be life-saving, especially in times of power cuts and natural...::Electric vehicles with bidirectional charging can be life-saving, especially in times of power cuts and natural disasters.

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[-] buzz86us@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago

Cigarette lighter plugs don't provide the necessary voltages

[-] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

You buy a plug in power inverter. That's good for up to 300 watts.

[-] spongebue@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

You can also get a pretty big inverter and attach it directly to the battery. A typical alternator can provide about 100 amps, or 1200 watts. In theory the battery could support higher draws for short amounts of time as well if the alternator can't keep up for a small surge (like a fridge running a cycle). Probably not nearly as efficient as an actual generator, but for occasional one-off usage it works in a pinch.

My EV doesn't support bidirectional stuff like that, but I've got a quick connector on the battery for that purpose. Same concept, but it's the DC-DC converter doing the work instead of the alternator. Worked great, but of course the power came back on 15 minutes later

[-] Rexios@lemm.ee 5 points 9 months ago

A dialysis machine probably uses more than 300W. Idk about other EVs, but my Ioniq 6 can output 1.8kW from each of its 2 outputs simultaneously.

[-] UxyIVrljPeRl@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Some cars have them integrated.

[-] rab@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago

Many new cars come with a power inverter built in, if not they are relatively inexpensive

[-] MaxVoltage@lemmy.world -1 points 9 months ago

How many american electric cars are cheaper?

[-] rab@lemmy.ca 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I'm not sure, I can only afford old vehicles, I don't pay attention to new cars prices whatsoever

this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
354 points (94.0% liked)

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