How to use 110 V AC outlet without headlights on

[plannersteve]

I have a 2018 Outlander PHEV GT. I bought the GT because of the 110 V outlets. It appears to me they are pretty useless. The only way you can use them is with the car's power switch on. You can't turn the headlights off either. Or at least I haven't figured it out.

Am I missing something? I'd like to be able to plug in something into the Mitsu's 110 volt outlet while I am away from the car. This does not appear to be possible. Or if we have a power outage, I'd like to plug the garage freezer into the car. Without having the lights on and beepers going off.

If there is a way to do these things, I'd appreciate some guidance. Can't figure it out from the manual.

Frustrating to have a great lithium ion power supply and not be able to use it.

Thanks, Steve

 

[mellobob]

I just tried the outlet on my Canadian 2020 GT and, yeah, same frustration ... car needs to be in ON condition, which means the lights are on, etc. I could not get the outlet to work in ACC or OFF mode. I was hoping to plug a small PA amp in for some impromptu summer concerts, etc ... but if the car has to be running ... well, I don't know.

 

[plannersteve]

I just tried the outlet on my Canadian 2020 GT and, yeah, same frustration ... car needs to be in ON condition, which means the lights are on, etc. I could not get the outlet to work in ACC or OFF mode. I was hoping to plug a small PA amp in for some impromptu summer concerts, etc ... but if the car has to be running ... well, I don't know.

I haven't figured it out. Thought about pulling the fuse for head lights, but there are 6 of those!

Has anyone figured out how to use their GT 110V capability for useful power supply?

 

[greendwarf]

Otherwise it won't start the ICE to maintain the feed once you have flattened the drive battery - its designed for emergency use in Japanese earthquakes.

 

[schobineon]

In Europe we have 230 V outlets and its pretty useful.

i often run a small fridge while drving.
Also there is a small hairdryer in the trunk. my wife uses it after having a swim in one of our nearby lakes.
and some of my brtish frends are used to have a coffee-maker with them.

just give it a try..

 

[mellobob]

Discovery! If you set the light switch to OFF and enable the electric park brake and then switch to car to ON the daytime running lights will not come on. So, now when you use the 110v (or 220 depending on your country) you'll have a dark car. Switch off the AC/Heat as well and you have a great big battery sitting there.

Yes, the ICE will come on if needed ... but with a full battery you can do a lot before that happens (I think).

BTW ... this is the worst manual in the world to find anything!!

 

[ThudnBlundr]

Have you got a PDF of the manual? At least you can then do a text search...

 

[plannersteve]

Discovery! If you set the light switch to OFF and enable the electric park brake and then switch to car to ON the daytime running lights will not come on. So, now when you use the 110v (or 220 depending on your country) you'll have a dark car. Switch off the AC/Heat as well and you have a great big battery sitting there.

Yes, the ICE will come on if needed ... but with a full battery you can do a lot before that happens (I think).

BTW ... this is the worst manual in the world to find anything!!

Mellobob you nailed it! My 2018 GT works the same. I've been through that manual numerous times and never made the connection. Thanks, my power outage strategy just got better!

 

[mellobob]

Have you got a PDF of the manual? At least you can then do a text search...

I've got the 2019 manual. I am unable to find the 2020 Canadian (US?) on line. But, yes, it is easier to look in the PDF!

 

[mellobob]

Discovery! If you set the light switch to OFF and enable the electric park brake and then switch to car to ON the daytime running lights will not come on. So, now when you use the 110v (or 220 depending on your country) you'll have a dark car. Switch off the AC/Heat as well and you have a great big battery sitting there.

Yes, the ICE will come on if needed ... but with a full battery you can do a lot before that happens (I think).

BTW ... this is the worst manual in the world to find anything!!

Mellobob you nailed it! My 2018 GT works the same. I've been through that manual numerous times and never made the connection. Thanks, my power outage strategy just got better!

The only reason I figured this out was that I was trying to figure out how the auto-dim lights were working, and that led me to the section on the selector switch. BTW, we might be neighbours ... I live just north of the Canada/US border north of Idaho ... I drop by to compare cars, but, well, there is this "border wall" these days

 

[phevdownunder]

Hi folks

I read this thread with interest.

I’ve just got a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

I can’t work out how to have the car running in a simple parking situation with the air conditioner running but not have any way of switching off the front running lights.

This seems like a design gap to me.

Does anyone know if the 2020 model can switch off the running lights while the car is on and parked?

Aaron

 

[jaapv]

That would be illegal. in any case, the running lights are LED, so the power drain is minimal.

 

[phevdownunder]

In park situation only the lights should be able to be OFF. It's not illegal to park with your lights OFF.

Doesn't the Toyota Prius allow you to have the car air-conditioning running with the car parked and light off?

When the battery runs low the car engine starts to keep the air-con going.

The other guys on this thread mentioned a method to get it working that way but I can't seem to work it out.

 

[greendwarf]

I can do it in my 2014 Gx3h

 

[mellobob]

Copied from a recent post I made:

Discovery! If you set the light switch to OFF and enable the electric park brake and then switch to car to ON the daytime running lights will not come on. So, now when you use the 110v (or 220 depending on your country) you'll have a dark car. Switch off the AC/Heat as well and you have a great big battery sitting there.

Yes, the ICE will come on if needed ... but with a full battery you can do a lot before that happens (I think).

BTW ... this is the worst manual in the world to find anything!!

 

[RossWilliams]

If you set the light switch to OFF and enable the electric park brake and then switch to car to ON the daytime running lights will not come on.

I think in the US we call it the "parking brake. I confused the "park brake" with putting the shift lever in park by pressing the park button above it. " The electric parking brake is a switch on the console next to the four wheel drive and ev priority buttons. You need to set the parking brake.

 

[phevdownunder]

This should be so simple to achieve. I’ve followed the suggestions on this thread, yet I still can’t work it out.

I have an 2020 Outlander PHEV in Australia and just want to have the car on to run the air conditioning without the daytime running lights on when the car is in park gear and the park brake applied.

I can’t believe this is not an out of the box function.

From what I’m reading I have to put a switch in just to switch off the DRL.

I’m happy with my PHEV except for this.

 

[jaapv]

Use the app.

 

[phevdownunder]

I was not aware there was an app.

I’ll check it out. Thanks.

Aaron

 

[WSflyer]

I have the same problem with my european 2020 model.
The trick with the lights in off and parking brake doesn't seem to work on the 2020 model.
I often sleep in the PHEV and don't want to light up the whole campsite with the DRL.
The app is almost useless because the a/c works always on 100% (too loud) and gets cancelled when a door is opened.
Still trying to find a better solution, but for the moment I just unplug the DRL relay in these situations.