Adding a USB socket charger in the cargo area

If you could post a wider angle photo that'd help. Hard to tell what spot this is? Is the the back of the rear seat when flipped down (that won't work) or further behind? You'll have more success by mounting it on a side panel. It's a bad idea to have a panel mounted flat facing up because of risk of spilling water or debris...

 

It would probably be best to run the wire under / around the storage area by where the spare tire is. Just take out plastic tub and see where there is the most space.

Just make sure to put a fuse as close to the battery as possible to avoid any shorts against the body if the wire gets worn down. And try to zip tie or secure it somehow to avoid any unnecessary rubbing.

 

Copper wire is expensive. Do yourself a favor make this job easy and cheap and just install it as close to the 12 volt battery as possible. And let me know where you ordered this kit from because I want to put one in now

 

This is a good source where you can make you own panel mount with customized outlets: https://powerwerx.com/panel-mounts

 

where will you get power? I added a few pure sine inverters and found these flush mount usb outlets.

https://black.jmyntrn.com/2020/10/23/toyota-prius-rear-console-power-usb-outlet/

https://black.jmyntrn.com/2020/10/23/toyota-prius-rear-dual-usb-3-0-port-installation/

 

The wire is too thick and the fuse is way too low. Somebody here will chime in with the equations. And household power there is an actual 14 gauge for 15 amp 12 gauge for 20 amp but you use 12 gauge if the 15 amp is a long run. There's a similar rule for 12 volt DC systems but those aren't the same numbers. A Google search may reveal it for you

 

I'll say this... use thicker wire! I learned the hard way by replacing melted wires running an air fryer off a 2,000w inverter.
Custom battery cables for my Toyota Prius Power Inverter <---click to see

personally, I'd use 6 AWG wire if I was doing this project and a low voltage disconnect module.

for placement... I think I might have something for you... might have to adjust it but basically the area over the battery....think of a subwoofer box that has the back with the curvature of the Prius interior body panels only just large enough to hold your panel. else, you tell me where you want it, and I can have custom housing made for you for a low low cost.

 

At the very least, whatever wire size you end up using, select a fuse size that will blow before the wire melts.

 

hahah, thats easier said than done, I have 135amp breaker fuses and while using an air fryer over 1500watts... the wire cover began to melt near the battery terminals until I upgraded to 0 Gauge (1/0 AWG) Battery Cable to run between isolator/batteries/inverters.

 

It's a routine thing EEs do. You look at the resistivity of the wire gauge you're using, the temperature rating of the insulation, the ambient temperature and airflow, calculate the current that will not overheat the insulation, and select the fuse accordingly.

There are usually tables available for different insulation types and ambient conditions and currents, where some EE did the work and others can just look in the table.

 

My added fusing 'n' stuff mostly manages to fit just above the battery, below the deck panel that fits over it:



With the fuses there (you do want them as near the power source as you can get), you would only be looking for a place with panel depth for the sockets you want. That might simplify matters.

That doesn't look like much of a bargain to me. Cheap, sure, but completely unwired, they throw in a dozen crimp-on terminals and expect you to have a decent crimper and build all your own wiring, and plus the thing isn't exactly what you want anyway? You say you don't need three cig outlets, aren't sure about the USB, you might not have a use for the switch, and who cares about the cheapie voltmeter thrown in?

That's not going to save you much work over getting a la carte components, just the ones you actually want, and finding a nice space to mount just those, which could be easier.

Also, their suggested wiring is not good. Cig outlets are generally good for 10 amps tops. If you want two, there should be a separate 10 amp fuse for each one, not some common wiring with a 20 amp fuse at the end. That wouldn't save you from some malfunctioning cig plug stuck into one of the outlets.

Wiring is sized according to a safe ampacity (within the temperature limits of the insulation at the maximum expected current) and the amount of voltage drop you will tolerate at the load (say, 5% or less at the maximum expected current), which also depends on the length of the run. A ten-amp cig outlet on a short run does not require massive wires.

I second the suggestion in #3 to consider the Anderson PowerPole connectors. Cig outlets and plugs are a silly way to connect stuff: they're stupidly bulky for the current they can carry, and they're not very mechanically secure. What do you expect for a tech that dates from when nobody thought of electrical accessories for a car, but every car needed a way to light cigarettes?

A panel made with PowerPoles would be less bulky, and probably easier to find some place to fit. And the PowerPoles, depending on the flavor of terminal you put in, can be good for 15, 25, or 45 amps. Downside is chopping the original cig plugs off your favorite accessories and putting PowerPoles on them instead, and then they won't plug in to your friends' cars. Sometimes that's a problem, sometimes it isn't.

 

When the car is in ready mode, the 12v battery powers nothing. All 12v power is derived from a DC to DC converter that steps down the traction battery when in ready mode. Indeed, with the car in ready mode, the 12v battery is just another load that the traction battery has to recharge. The primary purpose of the 12v battery is to power on the main computer, albeit it also will power things (for a short time, its a small amp battery) when not in ready mode.

ChapmanF speaks the truth. You definitely want to go with Anderson Powerpole connectors. Small learning curve and you'll have to purchase special crimpers, but you will come back to this thread and thank us later.

 

Well, there is that personal judgment call to make, whether you're comfortable modifying your favorite accessories, chopping the cig plugs off and replacing them with PowerPoles and having them only work in your car. Some people are cool with that, others not so much.

Of course, at powerwerx.com you can buy adapters both ways (so you can plug unmodified cig plug accessories into your PowerPoles, or plug your modded accessories into other cars' cig outlets). So if you have a couple of those adapters on hand, you're pretty much set.

 

the panel you want is a little larger than the panel another owner had in mind and the panel holder we are making.
if you said I want to put the panel here X, ill 3d scan the area and have my cad designer mock up something that will hold the panel. from there just wire it through a low voltage disconnect module to your battery. Do you plan on removing it and reinstallinging often? If not, why add a failure point with the anderson connector?

 

stay away from the cigerette lighter and the wires... they are not made to handle anymore than a few cell phones, maybe a tablet.
I had a little 500 watt inverter that wouldnt power my razer blade 15 advanced through the cig lighter, it wasnt until I added thicker wire and wires direct to the second battery did it work as expected.

 

Specifically, they're made to handle 120 watts, as their labels say. A person does need to look at labels and notice when one number is bigger than another.

The bit of my post that you quoted was from an earlier suggestion to avoid cig plugs and sockets in favor of PowerPoles.

Some people, though, aren't comfortable cutting the cig plugs off their accessories in favor of PowerPoles, because they give up the ability to use the modded accessory in somebody else's car. So I mentioned there are adapters for that.

... still need to pay attention to those numbers on labels, of course.

 

I run 4ga AWG stranded for loads up to 200A at 12V. Is that thick enough for a 12" run?

 

At 200 amps, that run will drop your voltage about a twentieth of a volt, and give off ten watts of heat. Seems tolerable.

 

not as difficult as you might think...