Portable Power

I've just sold a Dokio 200W portable panel (Amazon) and previously had the Renogy 100W suitcase. Both decent, but the Dokio was about half the price of Renogy (£115 for 200W incl. PWM, Prime deal) and similar performance levels, pulled about 10.6A through the panel in UK sunlight. Would recommend.
 
I think a lot of the problem if you sit and watch your solar panel/s throwing electric into the leisure battery via phone or shunt display is the way that early morning full blast sunshine produces bugger all voltage even if you think you're parked at just the right angle.
Guarantee if I stop watching our solar though there'll be a period midday where the sun will peer down between the tree canopy and start pumping 20A into the battery and we're golden, this has been the case in spite of two really shaded sites where we also didn't move the van for four or five nights (Arcachon and Lourdes) but didn't dip below 71% full capacity so 26 nights with no EHU, big boy pants here.:geek:
 
Looking for a bit of advice — might be the wrong place to post this, but hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

I’m trying to get a portable power solution into my van, but since it’s a day van, the only viable space is under the double bench seat. I’m really interested in the EcoFlow Delta 3 series for the power it offers, but from what I can see, the dimensions make it a very tight fit.

Has anyone managed to fit one of these under a double bench? Or are there any alternative portable options with similar output that are a bit more compact?

Appreciate any suggestions or photos if you’ve done something similar.
 
I'd guess you would have to butcher the seatbase to get a worthwhile power station in there, what's to stop you putting one in any other part of the van, say under the rear seating area?
The other thing would be what sort of power would you like to be producing and what voltages?
 
I may just go ahead and order it anyway — if it doesn’t fit under the bench, I’ll find another location for it as suggested. Ideally, I’d like it tucked away under the double bench, but it could go under the triple bench instead. The only issue is that we remove the triple bench sometimes, and if it were there, I’d need to build some kind of enclosure — the kids definitely couldn’t be trusted not to kick it!

I’ve read a lot on here about outputs and how other people are using theirs. For us, it’s mainly about having the portable aspect, but in the van it would just need to power some 12v lighting. Nothing heavy like heaters or a fridge, though we might run a cool box on 12v or 240v, and we do need to charge electric bike batteries. We always camp with electric, so when we’re on EHU, I’d have a dedicated socket to keep it topped up — maybe even look at adding the alternator charging kit too.
 
Can these portable power stations be packed in a space or do they need ventilation
 
Would that be 20" v 18", same width all around or staggered, silver v bronze v black or polished face?
Don't forget how many jobs ride on the back of the fashion industry.;)
Or that EHU dependency means you're not ready to leave home yet.:whistle:
 
While I’m looking at upgrading my leisure battery to lithium, could I just buy a Bluetti (other brands are available) and plug in to my electric hook up on the van when off grid? Am I over simplifying this?
 
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