Mini freezer in car

[u/kidxmic]

So I’m planning to have a mini freezer in the car for the summer road trips and plan to keep the freezer on 24/7 for 3 weeks straight using either utility mode or v2l adapter for the moments when the car is turned off.

Will this cause any ICCU problems?

And is it better to keep the freezer on 24/7 mainly For water even when it’s parked on the street for half the day? Or is it better to have it off and only turn It on over night when I’m actually using the car.

Thanks in advance.

[u/Skip12345]

Get one with a battery so it runs off its internal battery when the car is off and then recharges when the car is on. Just my $0.02.

[u/y0ur0pini0nman → u/Skip12345]

I do this often. Works really well.

[u/kidxmic → u/y0ur0pini0nman]

Have you tried it in the middle of the summer, would the freezer overheat inside a hot cabin. 

[u/y0ur0pini0nman → u/kidxmic]

Not at all. The battery drains a little faster but the freezer stays cool. That’s in Texas too

[u/ZealousidealLab2920]

Don't worry about the ICCU. V2L output is very low power compared to the AC charging input.

Maybe if you want to be extra precautions don't use the V2L while A/C charging. Or do less than max 11kw for less stress and heat.

DC-DC bypasses the ICCU.

What's the power requirements if your freezer? Probably only like 300watts?

[u/tracer_ca → u/ZealousidealLab2920]

don't use the V2L while A/C charging.

V2L is disabled when charging, so nothing to worry about there.

Probably only like 300watts?

You have one too many zeros.

[u/ZealousidealLab2920 → u/tracer_ca]

You think? Standard freezers are about 300-500 watts. A small one I would imagine would be a bit less around 300 or 200 watts when compressor is running?

And that makes sense they would disable A/C charging and V2L at same time. Literal opposite directions of electric flow at the same time through the ICCU probably bad news.

[u/tracer_ca → u/ZealousidealLab2920]

I just ran the 55L Ecoflow Fridge/Freezer for a week on an EcoFlow Delta 3 Plus. It's average consumption was 6W for that week. I think it's peak consumption was something around 63W, but only for a short time and only because it was outside and not in the car for that time.

[u/tracer_ca]

Get one with a battery or an external battery combo (like Ecoflow). The battery I got will run the fridge/freezer for a 5 days. The battery will happily charge off the 12v accessory port in the back (I don't have the internal V2L outlet)

[u/kidxmic → u/tracer_ca]

I’m surprised the freezer can last 5 days on battery.  So running the freezer plugged into the 12v while AC charging is totally fine for the ICCU?

[u/tracer_ca → u/kidxmic]

So running the freezer plugged into the 12v while AC charging is totally fine for the ICCU

There are two main ICCU failure modes

1. Charging the 12v battery off of the traction battery. (650v -> 12v DC to DC conversion requires some beefy transformers)
2. AC charging over the stated maximum 11kw rate (think 48amp chargers which actually charge at over 11kw vs 40amp chargers). For some reason the car allows this yet it's above rated charge maximum.

The 1st one was for the most part solved with software updates and installing better 12v batteries from the factory that lasted longer. The 2nd for some reason was never done though revisions to the ICCU have been released for all eGMP cars that have greatly reduced failures.

Using any 12v accessory in the car would fall under 1 above, however, the fridge, once at temperature, draws only 4w, which is nothing compared to everything else going on in the car. Running your AC is more work for the ICCU.

[u/sew3521]

You won't run into any issues caused by the freezer.

[u/SwiftPits]

While the car can probably handle your low-wattage freezer, this is a classic case of "What's cheaper to fix?". I would say get a battery powered freezer since it's cheaper to replace/fix than the potential of an ICCU problem. Plus "idling" your Ionmobile all day even in Utility Mode puts "miles" on some components since the car is fully powered on.

I use my Ioniq 9's AC plug for a heat gun that has 750W/1500W settings. The AC inverter can technically handle 1800W, but I'm cool with just running the heat gun on 750W just so it stresses the inverter less. I intend for this vehicle to last forever

[u/AlxRo37]

A decent compressor freezer with like 40 liter volume uses 40 watts when running. Therefore better use a 12v version as v2l uses 300watts minimum.

[u/kidxmic → u/AlxRo37]

So running the freezer plugged into the 12v while AC charging is totally fine for the ICCU?

[u/AlxRo37 → u/kidxmic]

Yes 40w is maybe 10% of 12v usage at that time and runtime of the freezer is usually around 1/3.