[FatBuu]

After 2.5 months or so, my Rav4 Prime is just about ready for pickup and I’m pretty excited to get it this weekend. After lurking around here, however, I probably screwed up by not ordering an XSE as I realize now that adding that AC outlet after the fact is not nearly as simple as I thought it would be.

My dealer says they won’t add the parts and do the work and says it needs to be done at the factory. I can understand that it’s probably a pain and potentially dangerous, and I wouldn’t dare attempt messing with the big battery in any way myself, but does anyone know or have any comment on other potential solutions?

I can’t say I understand all this electrical stuff, but I ultimately would like to have the peace of mind that I could use the huge battery in the Prime as a potential emergency backup power source to run my fridge/freezer intermittently in a sustained power outage. I do have a regular backup generator, but figure I could cut back on gas storage a bit if I could use the car as an additional backup.

Not sure if a regular inverter plugged into the 12V cigarette lighter would work. Wouldn’t that draw power from the regular 12V battery which it sounds like is not constantly charged by the big battery?

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[FatBuu]

12V AGM is being charged by the DC to DC converter found in all RAV4 primes...plugging an aftermarket inverter into the 12V lighter port wouldn't be your best bet since this would be fused at a much lower amperage and just isn't engineered to draw much current from...aftermarket pure sinewave inverters are fairly cheap to buy I spent @$300 for my 2500W inverter via amazon but has to be connected directly to the 12V battery for proper use

Ah yeah that makes sense. What gauge wire Is used to connect directly to the battery? So many choices on Amazon, if you are happy with what you got, which one is it?

Also, if the 12V battery is an AGM I guess that would work better this way than a typical starting battery, but what would I have to do to keep the 12V charged while using the inverter? Sounds like something that could be a good solution... Thanks!

 

[FatBuu]

You may want to ask James Klafehn. I'm sure he can help you. Watch his video:
Can a Toyota Rav4 Prime Power Your House??? - Bing video

Thanks, I just watched it. Informative, and it looks like a pain. 😫

Regretting not getting the XSE but definitely not going to cancel over it. Hoping they maybe would be able to offer this upgrade later?

Of the XSE options, I really only wanted the fake leather seats and the plug in the back. Preferred the SE wheels and lack of bigger sunroof to the XSE so thought I was being smart and saving a few thousand. 🙄