OPE Reviews and Pro Tool Reviews Team Up To Answer Your Questions About the EGO Nexus Portable Power Station
Our team at Pro Tool Reviews put the EGO Nexus Power Station to the test and we’ve got answers to some of the common questions we’re seeing.
What’s the Average Runtime?
This is by far the most common question and the answer is that it depends on what you’re trying to run. First, start with the total battery watt hours you have on the unit. You can multiply 56V and the amp hours of the battery or look for the watt-hours on the battery sticker. We’ll use the 2 x 7.5Ah kit that available at Home Depot as our example.
56V x 7.5Ah = 420 watt-hours
420Wh x 2 batteries = 840Wh
Next, take the watts of whatever it is you’re running, let’s say a 150-watt mini fridge.
840Wh/150 watts = 5.6 hours
But there’s a catch – that’s 5.6 hours of continuous runtime. The fridge doesn’t need to run constantly. So you can actually keep things cold much longer than that, perhaps as much as a day if you don’t open and close the door a lot.
If you want to see what multiple devices do, just add their watts into the equation. If you want to see what more batteries do, add their watt-hours into it.
How Many Batteries Does it Require?
You can run the EGO Nexus Portable Power Station on just one battery or as many as four. If you run just a 2.0 or 2.5Ah battery, it only puts out 600 watts. Two of those or one 5.0Ah pack runs at 1200 watts. Any combination adding up to 6.0Ah or more runs at the full 2000 watts.
Is the Charger a Rapid Charger?
Nope. It’s a standard charger, but notice that the bulk of it is in line with the cord. EGO did that intentionally so they have the option to offer a rapid charger later without have to modify anything internally.
How Long Does it Take to Charge the Batteries?
Depends on the batteries. Pro Tool Reviews needed a little under 13 hours to charge their brand new set of four 7.5Ah packs. Keep in mind that it’s not charging all four at once. It’s one at a time and the charger will automatically switch at regular intervals to keep all the batteries close to the same charge state as it works up.
In general, plan on 6.5 hours for two 7.5s or 13 hours for four. It’s roughly 2.3 watt-hours of charge per hour, so here’s an equation you can use:
Total number of watt-hours to charge x 2.3 = total charge time
Can You Charge with Solar Panels?
Not yet. But the EGO team is working on that right now and we expect it to be available later this year.
Can it Power ____?
The unit is capable of running 2000 continuous watts and 3000 surge watts. That’s pretty much anything that works on a standard plug. The Pro Tool Reviews team found that some 15-amp motors on bigger tools like table saws have more than 3000 watts of inrush current, so it couldn’t run them. If it can handle the inrush current, it’ll run whatever you’ve got.
What Type of Power Does it Produce?
The EGO Nexus Portable Power Station produces pure sine wave power, so it’s stable enough to with all of your electronic devices.
Can You Hot Swap (Swap Batteries While It’s Running)?
Yes. As long as there’s at least one battery onboard, the Power Station will keep running. Just keep in mind that the output might drop depending on what battery(ies) it’s drawing from.
Is the EGO Nexus Portable Power Station More Powerful than the DeWalt Portable Power Station?
Yes and no. EGO gives you slightly higher continuous power at 2000 watts, but DeWalt’s model handles surges up to 3600. Remember that table saw EGO couldn’t get past the inrush current on? DeWalt runs it.
The big difference is in battery capacity. DeWalt is fairly limited with 4 ports for its 20V Max/FlexVolt batteries. But that’s fine to run their corded tools on a jobsite. You have the potential for much greater capacity from EGO and it’s a better design for more sustained power.
Who is This Designed For?
EGO is identifying four major groups with their Nexus Portable Power Station:
- Jobsites
- Camping/hunting
- Emergency power (especially for people that can’t run a generator out back)
- Tailgating
One of the big deals is that there are no emissions, so you can run it inside. If you’re stuck in a power outage in the middle of winter at your apartment is on the 17th floor, it’s a big deal.
