Our 48V Van Electrical System

Our van runs on a 48-volt system. Three Power Queen 48V 100Ah LiFePO4 batteries give us about 15 kWh, which Michael describes as "close to a 1,200 amp hour system" in 12-volt terms. Fewer, bigger batteries means fewer battery management systems that can go wrong, and 48V suits a 5,000W inverter and a 48V rooftop air conditioner.

Most of the rest is Victron, so every piece reports to one screen: a MultiPlus-II 48/5000/70 inverter/charger, a Lynx Shunt VE.Can and Lynx Distributors as the DC bus, a Cerbo GX with a GX Touch display, an MPPT for the solar, an isolated 48-to-12V converter for the 12V loads, and two DC-DC chargers that add about 760 W from the alternator while we drive. The inverter is big enough to run the microwave and the hair dryer at the same time. Shore power comes in through a 30A inlet we placed low on the body, so it stays discreet when we stealth camp.

Power Queen sent us one of our three batteries; we paid for the other two.

What we learned

• Batteries ship at slightly different voltages. Top each one off on its own with a 48V charger and check them with a multimeter before paralleling.
• Cut every battery cable, positive and negative, to the same length so current is shared evenly. Wear insulated gloves when you connect a 48V bank.
• Power Queen confirmed the batteries can be mounted on their side (not on the face with the BMS), which freed up garage space.
• On 48V the smallest Lynx fuses are around 50A, too big to protect a DC-DC charger that draws about 8A, so we added 15A and 20A DC breakers for those.
• Wire your AC panel to the MultiPlus AC OUT 1. AC OUT 2 is only live on shore power.
• Plan every light, switch and outlet before the walls go up, run one labeled cable per zone, and label both ends.
• One sealed junction box over a single roof hole carries every roof cable: solar, Starlink and the rest.