miimura said:
Honda inverter type, as large as you can afford. I recall the model EU5000iS, but it no longer appears on
Honda's site. EM5000iS or EU7000iS seem to be the closest, and in fact are the only inverter models that output 240V. These are approximately $3,500-$4,500.
Two of the Honda EU7000iS will allow full 40 amp "continuous" loads. One singular unit is 22 amps.
That's what I recommend.
This is not an area to get cheap. Plus, you can use it at your house as a backup generator with computers and electronics.
These units are heavy, at about 270 pounds each, so two of them are too heavy to just bolt on the rear bumper. I'd put them on a small trailer, and then you can open the rear door. With a small amount of electronics, you could power the car like the Euro version of the BMW i3 "REX".
Just drive the car a bit to burn down the battery, then use the remote start option to "spin up the APU". That will provide 9.6kW to the charger, or 85% of that into the battery (8.1kW).
If you start on a 227 mile trip at 60-65mph, you could drive for 3.5 hours.
Range at start with new condition battery of 41.8kWh, 70F degrees, level road, no wind, no heater:
Hour 0 - 142 miles plus 3.4 hours generator @ 27.5 miles per hour equals 93.5 miles extra, 235 miles total.
Hour 1 - 104.5 miles net (65 miles burned, 27.5 miles added @ 40 amps / 240 volt)
Hour 2 - 67.0 miles net
Hour 3 - 29.5 miles net
Hour 3.5 - 21 miles net remaining
I made the trip end here, because you need a reserve and the batteries will degrade. But, anywhere along the trip, you can either plug into any electrical outlet and have lunch, or add petrol to the generators while waiting to add power. In addition, towing the 1000 pound trailer will definitely put a dent in economy, so the actual range is probably closer to 200 miles over about 3 hours.
I wonder it the original RAV4 fuel tank will fit? Probably.
The cost and weight to do this makes a bigger battery seem pretty smart.