Who's Been Camping in Their Hybrid Tacomas? Let's see your cooking / kitchen / camping setups

[trailhunger]

Title. Let's see the kitchen setup w/the big daddy inverter cooking up dinner!

Especially exited for wintertime stealth camping /generator mode / seeing what a propane-less setup will look like here-forward...

My TH delivers in September/ camper in October...

Sponsored

 

[rchrds]

I got bad news- the engine has to be on to use the inverter. So stealth- not so much.

 

[Greggoindenver]

We have a Hybrid Limited which we absolutely love for camping. I’ve taken to calling it my “mobile power plant”.

The vehicle doesn’t have a “Start” button. The button instead says, “Power”. It’s a clever touch.

Once we’re settled into our campsite, I hit the Power button and then turn off all the major power consumers like headlights and the climate control system. We then plug in whatever we need to the ports in the bed. The engine stays off until the battery needs charge. When it does, the engine starts itself and runs for a few minutes, then shuts itself back off again. It does this all by itself.

We take care to park the truck in the shade and roll down the windows to keep the battery cool. A cooler battery means less need for the battery fans, which means less power consumed.

Other than that, it’s fairly set-it-and-forget-it. There’s even a reminder that pops up when you first power on asking, “This truck will automatically power off in one hour. Yes/No”.

When just charging small things like phones/iPads/watches/speakers, the engine turns itself on for maybe a minute or two every half-hour or so.

You’ll seriously love it. We do.

 

[trailhunger]

I got bad news- the engine has to be on to use the inverter. So stealth- not so much.

what trim are you running it on and do you have the high output inverter?

On the Trailhunter, it'll apparently kick on & off as needed. time stamp 14:12

 

[trailhunger]

We have a Hybrid Limited which we absolutely love for camping. I’ve taken to calling it my “mobile power plant”.

The vehicle doesn’t have a “Start” button. The button instead says, “Power”. It’s a clever touch.

Once we’re settled into our campsite, I hit the Power button and then turn off all the major power consumers like headlights and the climate control system. We then plug in whatever we need to the ports in the bed. The engine stays off until the battery needs charge. When it does, the engine starts itself and runs for a few minutes, then shuts itself back off again. It does this all by itself.

We take care to park the truck in the shade and roll down the windows to keep the battery cool. A cooler battery means less need for the battery fans, which means less power consumed.

Other than that, it’s fairly set-it-and-forget-it. There’s even a reminder that pops up when you first power on asking, “This truck will automatically power off in one hour. Yes/No”.

When just charging small things like phones/iPads/watches/speakers, the engine turns itself on for maybe a minute or two every half-hour or so.

You’ll seriously love it. We do.

that's awesome. can't wait

 

[rchrds]

what trim are you running it on and do you have the high output inverter?

On the Trailhunter, it'll apparently kick on & off as needed. time stamp 14:12

Trailhunter. As far as I can tell, it won't turn on without the engine being on. But this is the 120V button in the cab. I haven't tried to see if the external AC plugs are still working without turning on the 120V button in the cab.

 

[Greggoindenver]

They don’t. You have to hit the button to turn them on.

 

[Sagebrush]

I've got the non-hybrid. But I camp.

 

[rchrds]

They don’t. You have to hit the button to turn them on.

Yea, I thought that might be the case. In the case of my trailhunter, the 120v button will not turn on without the engine runnning, so as far as I can tell that means no AC power without the engine on. Seems strange- as the way the limited described above works is how our RAV4Prime works as well.

 

[trailhunger]

...In the case of my trailhunter, the 120v button will not turn on without the engine runnning, so as far as I can tell that means no AC power without the engine on. Seems strange- as the way the limited described above works is how our RAV4Prime works as well.

Maybe you need a software update. You don't get these prompts on your TH?

There’s even a reminder that pops up when you first power on asking, “This truck will automatically power off in one hour. Yes/No”.

 

[rchrds]

Yes, I get that warning- but the engine is running. But I wonder if I'm in the wrong mode with the power button. I have to read more in the manual.

 

[WKTJR1]

I plan on picking up some 12 gauge extension cord and running my frig next time I lose power for 40 hours.

 

[brentbba]

I got bad news- the engine has to be on to use the inverter. So stealth- not so much.

This is what I was afraid of! Poor, poor, poor design by Toyota!? I'd 'planned' on powering a fridge during the day and use a portable battery pack at night.

 

[Greggoindenver]

I guess I don’t understand. You could literally do any of these things.

 

[trailhunger]

Thus is what I was afraid of! Poor, poor, poor design by Toyota!? I'd 'planned' on powering a fridge during the day a d use a portable battery pack at night.

uh...so couple things. What the wattage that your fridge pulls? The hybrid battery on the iForceMax Tacos is just under 1.9 kWh, say real world you're driving and shut down the engine, the battery is somewhere at 85% and you leave the inverter running and just supplying power to the fridge which could pull ~185 watts on a hot day in the cab or bed....with the hybrid battery at 85% capacity and the fridge pulling 185 watts, you can run the fridge for approximately 8.73 hours (theoretically) before the engine kicks back on (+/- some time here for other systems to run power, etc).

While driving you're getting pure sine, no gripes, all good there. But you should be getting pure sine regardless. Using the battery pack at night a great option. An even better option is a standalone power station that charges while driving, and doubles your kWh output while at camp. This also reduces the overall cycles on your hybrid battery, thus extending its life.

Since you have a Trailhunter, can you test if your AC Inverter works correctly with the engine off? Basically, power-on your settings and test something like an induction plate or plug in a space heater and see if it works until the engine kicks on/off. Specifically test these appliances from the bed power plug.

Sponsored