Tim says fully loaded Fathom well below mid 30's

[graycorgi]

The issue with using the Lightning as a home backup generator is that the power curve doesn't play well with the high-current items in a typical house, especially the HVAC system.

Can you elaborate on this? Under acceleration, my EV6 pulls north of 200kW. Thats about 10x more the peak inrush power needed to start a home AC compressor.

 

[chl]

The issue with using the Lightning as a home backup generator is that the power curve doesn't play well with the high-current items in a typical house, especially the HVAC system. And if you're not going to be able to use the HVAC system (or stove, water heater, etc.) then what's the point?

There are ways around this, such as installing a "soft start" module on your outdoor HVAC unit, but then you're adding more cost and most people will need it done by an electrician so there's additional cost...

Also, as mentioned, for a signficant outage lasting for days you need a large amount of power. Even the 123 kWh battery in my Lightning was only good for 2 to 3 days of running the house, at conservative usage.

Um...coffee, microwave, refrigerator !!!, lights, computer, telephones, TV, furnace fan, etc. That's the point.
Sure you can't run it forever, but in an emergency, sure is nice!

Some folks have medical equipment at home then need 24/7 so some emergency backup is a necessity.
Being able to charge your phone in case you need to call 911 is another example.

If you get a soft-start circuit for your HVAC you can run it with the 30A 240V from the Lightning depending on it's running current of course.

Depending on your climate fans might suffice in the heat.
I had to use my dang gas generator one winter to run the furnace fan when it was 10F outside and an ice storm had knocked out power...it would have been much nicer to have the Lightning then - cranking a gas generator in the cold without coffee in me was less than fun.

Can't do any of that sheet with an ICE vehicle.
And gas generators are noisy.

 

[chl]

Can you elaborate on this? Under acceleration, my EV6 pulls north of 200kW. Thats about 10x more the peak inrush power needed to start a home AC compressor.

On the Lightning forum, there are several folks who with soft-start circuits have run their HVAC off the PPOB 240V 30A (there is a peak number for the PPOB, but 30A is the running current).

 

[graycorgi]

On the Lightning forum, there are several folks who with soft-start circuits have run their HVAC off the PPOB 240V 30A (there is a peak number for the PPOB, but 30A is the running current).

Got it - so it's more of a limitation of the power output of the onboard AC inverter? That would make more sense to me - the battery should be more than capable, but the inverter is probably a bottleneck. My EV6 can't do more than 120v 16A due to the inverter, so it's not usable as a home backup.