How to avoiding draining battery on hybrid Tacoma while charging Jackery

[Colin41]

I have a 2024 hybrid and one of the main reasons I went with the hybrid was the 2400w inverter. I wanted to be able to quickly charge a Jackery 2000 while driving, so that I can power a Domestic CFX5 45 cooler. I'm on day four of a camping trip, and the battery died. Thankful I got a jump and drove it around a bit to charge, but I want to avoid this problem in the future. Car only has about 2000 miles.

I was driving pretty much every day of the trip, and had the Jackery and cooler plugged into the truck AC outlets (cooler in cab, Jackery in bed) while driving. The Jackery never got below 50%, so it was always fully charged in less than 40 min, so not drawing power for most of the driving. Not sure if it matters, but a lot of the driving was slow going on forest roads. I don't know much about how the hybrid and regular battery work on this truck. Guess I just assumed that I could use the AC outlets while driving without draining the battery.

Anyone have any advice on charging the Jackery without completely draining the battery? Thanks!

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[Wife bought my 24 TRD]

When you figure this out please notify me. I have a 24 OR non hybrid as well as a Jacjery 2000 but I haven't tried to change it yet. I realize that I only have a 400w inverter so everything will be different.

 

[OGBugsy]

Also very interested in this. I just did a 1000 mile trip with my hybrid. Started with 3 bars, got up to 5 bars. Then it dropped to 4 bars and never went past that. I was running a dometic 35 in the bed the whole time. I asked a Toyota service technician about it this morning and he said that the hybrid battery is charged by regenerative breaking and 4 - 5 bars is normal. I’m just wondering why have 9 bars if it never fills up?

 

[Colin41]

Just in case anyone else is planning on charging a portable battery using the 120v outlets, I wanted to share what I learned from the dealership. Apparently these outlets draw from the 12v battery and have nothing to do with the hybrid battery and it is possible to drain it. My Jackery draws over 1700w when charging, which was more than the alternator could keep up with. I'm not sure why the hybrids have the 2400w inverter if it doesn't rely on the hybrid battery, but that's what I was told at two dealerships.

 

[turnermier]

CHAT GPT:
In the 2024-2025 Toyota Tacoma Hybrid (i-Force Max), the 12-volt battery is charged indirectly by the high-voltage hybrid battery using a DC-DC converter. Here's how it works:

Charging Process Overview:

The Tacoma hybrid uses a lithium-ion high-voltage (HV) traction battery (288V in the i-Force Max system).

Instead of an alternator, it uses a DC-DC converter to step down the high voltage to ~13.8V to maintain and charge the 12V

battery.

The 12V battery powers traditional vehicle electronics (lights, infotainment, ECU, etc.), and it is essential for starting the hybrid system (not cranking the engine, but booting the hybrid ECU).

When does it charge?

The 12V battery gets charged whenever the hybrid system is on (READY mode), whether the engine is runni not.


The 2400-watt inverter in the 2024-2025 Toyota Tacoma Hybrid (i-Force Max) converts power from the high-voltage hybrid battery (288V lithium-ion) into standard 120V AC electricity for household-style plugs in the truck.

How It Works:

1. Power Source:

Ο

The inverter draws power from the high-voltage hybrid battery (not the 12V battery).

• This is the same battery used for driving the electric motor.

2. DC to AC Conversion:

A built-in inverter system converts the 288V DC power into 120V AC power at either:

400W (low setting) - usable when the truck is off.

► 2400W (high setting) - available when the truck is in READY mode (engine may start as ed to maintain

battery charge

 

[turnermier]

Just in case anyone else is planning on charging a portable battery using the 120v outlets, I wanted to share what I learned from the dealership. Apparently these outlets draw from the 12v battery and have nothing to do with the hybrid battery and it is possible to drain it. My Jackery draws over 1700w when charging, which was more than the alternator could keep up with. I'm not sure why the hybrids have the 2400w inverter if it doesn't rely on the hybrid battery, but that's what I was told at two dealerships.

I've always been told that the hybrid battery has a DC to AC inverter which gives you your 2400 W.

A 12 volt car battery cannot do 2400W without an alternator

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