Hey Jon, thanks for the thoughtful message! I'm pretty sure that most of these portable power systems just use packs of 18650 lithium cells. So it should be entirely possible to recondition (replacing bad cells) or replace with entirely new packs without too much trouble. If I'm feeling brave I might pop open the case on the Jackery and see how easy it might be to service in the future! N.b. very jealous of your fleet of G4 Landies!

With electricity prices going up and EV's becoming more common on camp sites, I suspect the currently (badum tisch) cheap price that campsites charge for a hook-up is going to make them more common...

Glad it was helpful!

This is the problem with the solar generators - if you use the 12v feed they're generally limited to 300 watts, which is the maximum of the cigarette lighter sockets (25amp), whereas of course the alternator on these can provide more like 1800watts (150amps). Using a DC to DC charger connected directly you'll be able to make more use of the available current from the alternator - though again, be careful, as some DC chargers like the DT250SE still only charge at ~20amp/300watts. You can also add the CTek smartpass 120SE, which will let you dump ~120 amps of power from the alternator into the leisure battery, that's another 300quid on top of the DT250SE though. Your other option is to use an inverter connected direct direct to the DC and pushing out 18v or so at the maximum input current the solar generator can handle, this can be in excess of 300watts, depending on the solar generator. FWIW, I went with a combination, I have an 85Ah battery and DC to DC charger, with a 300 watt roof mounted solar panel - this means the battery is always being charged, whether from Solar or the alternator, at 20amp. Though it's not charging quite as fast as it could with a smartpass it's enough for my usage!

Yeah it’s not a necessity but is definitely nice to have on longer stays away from home. I quite like the idea of no gas needed for cooking too!

@@SamsMotors I’m going to try cooking on a rocket stove at some point, see how that pans out.

It's a trade off, you can get a lot of 12v appliances nowadays, but then it's 30 euros for an electric hot-plate from Carrefour, whereas you'll pay a lot more for an equivalent 12v kettle/cooker etc. It's always nice to have camping gaz as a backup... but then you can boil an electric kettle on the tailgate of the fatty and not worry about getting carbon monoxide poisoning, or setting fire to that parcel shelf (which'll cost you 600 euros to replace and take 6 months to find one in good condition...). I often do a trip from Barcelona to Manchester in the L322 to visit family, having a couple of kWh of power on tap and a 230v socket means I can cook a quick pot noodle, or stick the heated blanket on to sleep in the car and know the fatty will still start in the morning, that's kind of convenient too! :)

Not really... CTek DT250SE + 85Ah battery = 400 euros/350GBP or so :\ Maybe another 150 for an inverter?

Take a look at Allpowers, they're cheaper and have a 3kW inverter.

How comes Dave?