EV SXS to run house

Hello everyone. Newbie here.

Some background on my project:

I have an electric side by side. Intimidator EV Classic.
https://intimidatorutv.com/classic-ev/

It comes with 8, 6V Lead Acid batteries.

I am replacing those with 8, 48V Eagle batteries from Bigbattery.com
https://bigbattery.com/products/48v-eagle-lifepo4-30ah-1-53kwh/

Each of those is ~1.5KWH, so I should end up with ~12KWh of battery.

I'm doing this to extend the range and usable power of the EV (with lead acid, both are horrible)

That being said, it occurred to me that I could use my EV SXS as a battery bank for short term power outages, instead of my stinky gas generator.

On average, I use 30 KWh per day at my house in the winter. 30/24 = 1.25 per hour, so with 12 KWh of battery, I am thinking 8 hours is a probable outcome.

I figured I would buy a 6000 Watt 240 V inverter to fill this need.



If all holds true, plan is this:

Power goes out
Swap power from grid to Inverter (this is in place, except for generator)
Pull EV to Inverter
Turn off all batteries
Connect EV to Inverter
Turn on all batteries
Turn on inverter

Am I missing anything, overlooking anything, out of my mind, etc?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

I also just watched the latest video with the 5KW chargeverter, where it was pointed out that small power generators (mine is a 7500 constant) won't work well for charging batteries through an inverter. I was kind of hoping to hook my generator to the inverter, if outage lasted longer than 8 hours, so I could recharge and power the home. This recent info seems to indicate that won't work out so well.

Sounds like a good plan. If the new batteries are installed so they all connect to a bus bar then you could add a 175A Anderson connector on a short pigtail. I believe Anderson connectors have a rubber dust cover for when not in use. Then put the other Anderson connector on the Inverter with sufficient cable and you have a plug and play back up battery for your house.

Also since you didn't mention solar you don't need an All in One inverter with solar charge controllers built in. Something like a 6kW Genetry Solar or AIMS Inverter-Charger would work.

BentleyJ said:

Sounds like a good plan. If the new batteries are installed so they all connect to a bus bar then you could add a 175A Anderson connector on a short pigtail. I believe Anderson connectors have a rubber dust cover for when not in use. Then put the other Anderson connector on the Inverter with sufficient cable and you have a plug and play back up battery for your house.

Also since you didn't mention solar you don't need an All in One inverter with solar charge controllers built in. Something like a 6kW Genetry Solar or AIMS Inverter-Charger would work.

Click to expand...

Yes, the Anderson connectors were my plan. Thank you for the feedback!

Is this the right place to ask about the can-of-worms about floating neutrals? I have managed to connect my Nissan Leaf 12v battery (with a fuse in the positive line and the car ‘turned on’ ie ready to drive but in neutral) to a 2000w pure sine wave inverter, and plug in an extension cord to power my refrigerator during a 10 hour power outage. It seemed to work fine.
But I am getting side tracked by the wiring of an EZ-Generator manual transfer switch to allow plugging in my natural-gas-fired home furnace (1976 model, so probably no ‘smart’ electronics) to the inverter-Leaf power source. The question came up about the inverter-Leaf being essentially a ‘floating neutral’ generator. How should the wiring be to make this safe for humans who might be touching the electric box of the furnace cutoff switch or the box of the EZ-Generator switch box?

ESM said:

Is this the right place to ask about the can-of-worms about floating neutrals?

Click to expand...

No, go here: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/n...grid-w-generator-and-reliable-inverter.65956/

And welcome to the forum!

millsan1 said:

it occurred to me that I could use my EV SXS as a battery bank for short term power outages, instead of my stinky gas generator.
On average, I use 30 KWh per day at my house in the winter. 30/24 = 1.25 per hour.

Click to expand...

30kwh seems high. Today buy a Kill A Watt® meter and start documenting the actual power draws of your survival loads. That way you can decide in advance what is required for an extended outage, and determine how long you can power it.

And I also power my home with my golf cart and back-feed the breaker panel.

Delmar said:

30kwh seems high. Today buy a Kill A Watt® meter and start documenting the actual power draws of your survival loads. That way you can decide in advance what is required for an extended outage, and determine how long you can power it.

And I also power my home with my golf cart and back-feed the breaker panel.

Click to expand...

What's that device, something of your own design?

Brucey said:

What's that device, something of your own design?

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Pictured is an old APC 48v 3000XL UPS [low frequency]. I also have a cheap 48v 2500w Reliable inverter [high frequency]. I interchange based on load requirements and expected runtime.

Delmar said:

30kwh seems high. Today buy a Kill A Watt® meter and start documenting the actual power draws of your survival loads. That way you can decide in advance what is required for an extended outage, and determine how long you can power it.

And I also power my home with my golf cart and back-feed the breaker panel.

Click to expand...

It's down a bit from that, but it is not actually high for me, prior to improvements made over the past few years, including solar, my usage in winter could be 100 kWh per day.