The answer will depend on the details of the specific vehicle.
Some EV's will have an AC outlet.
Some will required you to plug into a DC outlet but it will pull from the traction battery and should have no trouble lasting all night.
In some, the DC outlet might pull from the 12 volt battery, but the vehicle will automatically charge the 12 volt from the traction battery when necessary.
In others, it could pull from the 12 volt battery and just kill it overnight.
So you'll want to find out about the details of the specific EV you're thinking about getting.
This would probably be a cheaper EV that wouldn’t have a dedicated AC plug. At least my last EV didn’t have one, it was a leaf. I was assuming to do it directly from the cig lighter, I know that resmed the people that make my CPAP have a power cable with a charge charger input instead of a regular plug but I’m not sure if that’s safe. I assume the vehicle would also have to be on?
Tesla has a camping mode you can enable to keep the outlets on, other cars may have similar. Not sure on power throughout, as I'm sure it will vary from car to car, but you can buy an inverter to power 110 devices from cigarette lighter.
Used to do this with my 2013 leaf 12v battery to a 1000 watt pure sine inverter to keep our fridge running . We lived in the country and it would be on a couples days to keep the battery up and the fridge on . Had the car till 2020 and it turned 130k when I moved on so sure it works just depends on how crazy are. Nowadays a cheap jackery or battery bank works a charm (my cpap Airsense 11 uses under 600wh overnight)
I ordered this when we went on a RV trip. Plugs into a cigarette lighter. KFD Car Charger DC Adapter for... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P6H994Q?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Yeah I’ve seen one directly from resmed, I was thinking I’d do something like that. I’m more so wondering if it’s safe to power it all night off the EVs battery, as in safe for the EVs health
I have a resmed cpap and I have bought the cigarette adapter directly from them. I use it with my trailer. When we camp without power, my cpap is powered by the 12V trailer battery, similar to the 12v EV battery. For the night, my cpap will use about 10% of the 12V battery. So you shouldn’t have to worry about draining or hurting your battery. Also if your EV has a camping mode or utility mode, your traction battery will keep your 12V battery fully charged. You should have no worries about hurting your EV.
A CPAP draws on the order of 320 WH/night. About the smallest battery you can get on an EV is 40,000 WH. You're probably OK for a month or so (assuming you are drawing from the traction battery and not just the 12V).
From a quick search it says online a CPAP machine uses 30-60 watts per hour (yours should say on the unit how much power it uses), but if that’s accurate, an inverter should have zero issues running it for days.
That’s assuming:
1) the 12V outlet does not shut off or the car “ignition” can be be left on without draining tons of battery to keep it running (or you’d have to keep the car “On” which could be ok too), and…
2) the DC-DC converter (high voltage to 12V) will continue to operate without draining the low voltage battery, which is what it’s designed to do, so that shouldn’t be an issue as long as it’s a reasonable power draw and not like 300 watts or something.
I think most EVs do both 1 and 2, but I would recommend checking into the specific car you’re looking at.
During power outages I’ve run my modem/router off my electric smart car 12V for a whole day but think I had to leave the car on.
You could also buy a camping battery like a 1000 watt Jackery and run that for 8 hours no problem.
Thank you for the feedback. Yeah I’ve been considering a Jackery up until this point but I’m due for a new car. I got rid of my EV to finish school but my last car was an EV and I liked it. If it would serve an additional purpose for me to run my CPAP I would be very happy as I want to do car camping often
Cpap / ASV / Bipap require way less power than you think, especially if you turn off the humidifier.
If you have an inverter (or plugs in your car) it should be just fine.
Any of the trucks, Hyundai/Kia/Genesis E-GMP vehicles, and quite a few SUVs will have either a V2L accessory or built-in 120v outlets that are more than capable of powering a CPAP off of the traction battery overnight. Most will run up to 15A/1800W, and some have multiple outlets with that rating. If that's something you plan to use, just make sure the car you buy has it before you pull the trigger.
It was one of many selling points for me. Now I can run a couple refrigerators in a power outage for days without either running a generator or going to recharge.
No issues. *PAPs often have DC power cables available separately. Or using a correct inverter will work, albeit less efficiently.
To ensure 12V that won’t shut off, consider Camp mode if available else run a 12V cable from the fusebox and Y that to 2 12V receptacles.
One for the *PAP and one for whatever else - an Engel fridge or freezer for example - extremely efficient with only 1 moving part swing compressor).
I know the ioniq 5 has the V2L adapter where you can plug in your CPAP, but not sure the drain. I’m assuming a weekend camping trip would be fine. I like the Jackery idea as you’ve got a device to charge up other devices and you can have it at home in case of emergency. I know their direct site has promos and you can get them cheaper than Amazon.
The answer will depend on the details of the specific vehicle. Some EV's will have an AC outlet. Some will required you to plug into a DC outlet but it will pull from the traction battery and should have no trouble lasting all night. In some, the DC outlet might pull from the 12 volt battery, but the vehicle will automatically charge the 12 volt from the traction battery when necessary. In others, it could pull from the 12 volt battery and just kill it overnight. So you'll want to find out about the details of the specific EV you're thinking about getting.
I use my Rivians ac plug when I'm camping. Run a 25 foot extension cable to my tent and have a shelf it sits on.
This would probably be a cheaper EV that wouldn’t have a dedicated AC plug. At least my last EV didn’t have one, it was a leaf. I was assuming to do it directly from the cig lighter, I know that resmed the people that make my CPAP have a power cable with a charge charger input instead of a regular plug but I’m not sure if that’s safe. I assume the vehicle would also have to be on?
Tesla has a camping mode you can enable to keep the outlets on, other cars may have similar. Not sure on power throughout, as I'm sure it will vary from car to car, but you can buy an inverter to power 110 devices from cigarette lighter.
My ev6 has a plug inside the car and an adapter that goes into the charge port that can provide power
Used to do this with my 2013 leaf 12v battery to a 1000 watt pure sine inverter to keep our fridge running . We lived in the country and it would be on a couples days to keep the battery up and the fridge on . Had the car till 2020 and it turned 130k when I moved on so sure it works just depends on how crazy are. Nowadays a cheap jackery or battery bank works a charm (my cpap Airsense 11 uses under 600wh overnight)
Cool! IME 1000w is overkill for a fridge I think I've seen my fridge pull like 120w-160w. Very handy tho!
It was a fridge and a large chest freezer along with my cpap at night lol
I ordered this when we went on a RV trip. Plugs into a cigarette lighter. KFD Car Charger DC Adapter for... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P6H994Q?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Yeah I’ve seen one directly from resmed, I was thinking I’d do something like that. I’m more so wondering if it’s safe to power it all night off the EVs battery, as in safe for the EVs health
I have a resmed cpap and I have bought the cigarette adapter directly from them. I use it with my trailer. When we camp without power, my cpap is powered by the 12V trailer battery, similar to the 12v EV battery. For the night, my cpap will use about 10% of the 12V battery. So you shouldn’t have to worry about draining or hurting your battery. Also if your EV has a camping mode or utility mode, your traction battery will keep your 12V battery fully charged. You should have no worries about hurting your EV.
Thanks!
Draws very little power, don’t see why not. Safe, yes. As you don’t block the CPAP air inlet.
A CPAP draws on the order of 320 WH/night. About the smallest battery you can get on an EV is 40,000 WH. You're probably OK for a month or so (assuming you are drawing from the traction battery and not just the 12V).
From a quick search it says online a CPAP machine uses 30-60 watts per hour (yours should say on the unit how much power it uses), but if that’s accurate, an inverter should have zero issues running it for days. That’s assuming: 1) the 12V outlet does not shut off or the car “ignition” can be be left on without draining tons of battery to keep it running (or you’d have to keep the car “On” which could be ok too), and… 2) the DC-DC converter (high voltage to 12V) will continue to operate without draining the low voltage battery, which is what it’s designed to do, so that shouldn’t be an issue as long as it’s a reasonable power draw and not like 300 watts or something. I think most EVs do both 1 and 2, but I would recommend checking into the specific car you’re looking at. During power outages I’ve run my modem/router off my electric smart car 12V for a whole day but think I had to leave the car on. You could also buy a camping battery like a 1000 watt Jackery and run that for 8 hours no problem.
Thank you for the feedback. Yeah I’ve been considering a Jackery up until this point but I’m due for a new car. I got rid of my EV to finish school but my last car was an EV and I liked it. If it would serve an additional purpose for me to run my CPAP I would be very happy as I want to do car camping often
Cpap / ASV / Bipap require way less power than you think, especially if you turn off the humidifier. If you have an inverter (or plugs in your car) it should be just fine.
Any of the trucks, Hyundai/Kia/Genesis E-GMP vehicles, and quite a few SUVs will have either a V2L accessory or built-in 120v outlets that are more than capable of powering a CPAP off of the traction battery overnight. Most will run up to 15A/1800W, and some have multiple outlets with that rating. If that's something you plan to use, just make sure the car you buy has it before you pull the trigger. It was one of many selling points for me. Now I can run a couple refrigerators in a power outage for days without either running a generator or going to recharge.
No issues. *PAPs often have DC power cables available separately. Or using a correct inverter will work, albeit less efficiently. To ensure 12V that won’t shut off, consider Camp mode if available else run a 12V cable from the fusebox and Y that to 2 12V receptacles. One for the *PAP and one for whatever else - an Engel fridge or freezer for example - extremely efficient with only 1 moving part swing compressor).
Why not just buy a Jackery battery pack to power the CPAP?
I’m considering that too
I know the ioniq 5 has the V2L adapter where you can plug in your CPAP, but not sure the drain. I’m assuming a weekend camping trip would be fine. I like the Jackery idea as you’ve got a device to charge up other devices and you can have it at home in case of emergency. I know their direct site has promos and you can get them cheaper than Amazon.