Power a television using Model S?

[stevej119]

I'm going to be setting up at an event this weekend where I would like to display photos on a TV, but there will be no power source nearby, other than my Model S. If I plug an inverter into the accessory outlet, is that being powered by the 12v battery or by my 85kw battery? Thanks!

 

[mknox]

If you can find an inverter that draws less than 15 amps DC (rating of the 12v accessory plug AFAIK) and has the output level your TV needs, you should be okay.

I do find it odd that an electric car is so poorly equipped with electrical outlets. I just picked up a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV for my wife, and in addition to multiple 12v and USB ports, it has 2 120 volt outlets rated at 1,500 watts!

 

[ewoodrick]

Assuming that the display is going to be bigger than 15 inches, the TV will be drawing some power. I just looked up 1 TV and it showed 170 watts. 170 watts with 50 percent inverter efficiency at 12V is about 28 amps. I'm going to take a guess that the car's 12V battery may only have about 30amp-hours, which means the car will die pretty quickly.

That not sounding good, I looked up the cheapest, smallest Vizio TV and it was only 18 watts, so that's about 3 amps. I'd be guess that I'd want to run for less than 5 hours. It may be easiest (and represent a better disaster proof position on your point) to go get a small, very quiet generator, like a Honda.

Oh, and last weekend, my Model 3 used about 40 miles of charger being displayed for 4 hours. The car rarely got to sleep and the AC was going at full blast with the windows down. After being in the sun for a couple of hours, I started sitting in the car doing demos a lot more.

Oh, and I believe to keep the accessory outlet own, you will have to keep the car from going to sleep.

You've always want an excuse for buying a little generator....Just get a quiet one.

 

[animorph]

The car will top up the 12V battery from the big battery as needed. If you hook up to the 12V battery directly, instead of through the power socket, you can use a bigger inverter.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Make sure the TV is flat screen LED which should be under 100 watts, also pull the nose cone and attach roach clips to the ground and hot which will provide more power to the power inverter.... Ive done it many times..