For anyone who wants more 411 on the SmartFloor & seating:
Just posted on this thread w/ some more 411 about the seating configuration.
Doing a first road trip w/ a bunch of these new things built; we'll see how everything works! I reached out to Ingergy when the Flex 1500 shipping date was delayed (due to challenges getting lithium battery cell production ramped up; sounds like the entire world is trying to source those right now) and got to know them a bit better. Really impressed w/ what they're doing. I think we're entering a time when the power grids we all rely on are going to become less reliable. The power grids weren't built for a world w/ more extreme climate events. It's already happening w/ wildfires in CA and freezing in TX. My bet is that's only going to become more common. I believe this is the first year that the CA fire season has extended into January. So although I would've never believed this 10 years ago, I think we're all going to have to become more self sufficient on sourcing our own power vs. just buying it from a grid. The good news is that technology is changing so quickly that the price points are now starting to make it possible to do so, with solar panel prices falling and solar generator capacities rising (and at reasonable price points).
All of this makes me even more sure that the modular approach is the way to go. I'm willing to bet that although it seems to be a bit crazy today not to build a permanent electrical system into a van, within maybe 3-5 years it's going to be the norm for the electrical system to be fully modular & portable. The technology is just evolving
so fast that it doesn't make sense to me to build a 300-1000 amp hour system permanently into a van. We're already on the cusp of being able to have a stackable, modular system, like Inergy's, that will allow for 300-500 amp hours (
each battery is 100 amp hours, so that's 3-5 batteries, and each battery is about 9 inches tall, so having the
Flex DC or
Flex 1500 + 3 batteries would mean about a 36" high system in a very compact footprint. And importantly: I can move the system into my house the next time there are rolling power blackouts in CA due to wildfires, to power my critical appliances like the fridge & lights!!! No more throwing an entire fridge worth of food out.
The Flex DC has two 30 amp Anderson PowerPole connectors; the Flex 1500 has 2 10 amp cigarette outlets (or 20 amp output if just using one). So right now, I'll likely have to get both the Flex 1500 and Flex DC, and then hot-swap them in & out depending on whether I need to run 12V DC, or 110V AC (although I'm going to
try seeing if getting 20 amps from the cigarette lighter is enough for my van's needs). But even if I have to hot swap both out, worst case, it's still amazing to be able to have the entire system be powered by one removable, modular system, and I've already told the Inergy folks that if they could get a 50ish amp Anderson PowerPole connector built into the Flex 1500 in a future model, that would be
absolutely killer. And I'd also be wiling to bet that future batteries will be more than 100 amp hours each.
So net-net, I'm going to give all of this a try, and I'll document the journey as I do. I'd love to know if other people are also thinking about moving from permanent electrical system installs to a more modular approach like the Inergy.
Also: Although I don't think Inergy is selling the Apex anymore, when they saw my original post about trying this, they offered to let me try an Apex out for this trip since the Flex 1500 ship date was delayed. So I'll also share some 411 about that, and this will let me compare & contrast the older Apex to the newer Flex 1500. I am planning on using two
175 watt Renogy solar panels to recharge the system. The one thing I know off the bat is that I'm
really looking forward to the Flex 1500's regulated DC output. The Apex doesn't have that, and my Alpicool fridge throws an error code when I try to power it w/ the Apex, because it has a low voltage cutoff, and it thinks the batteries are low (i.e., it's protecting against old-school lead acid battery voltage drops). Will post more as I have more 411!