How Fast Does Goal Zero 12V Car Charger Charge Yeti/Sherpa?

How Long Does It Take The Goal Zero Car Charger To Charge The Yeti And Sherpa?

The long-awaited Yeti 12V car charging cable (click to view on Amazon) was finally released last year.

It lets you charge a Goal Zero Yeti and Sherpa power station or bank in your vehicle as you’re going down the road.

It supports not only the Goal Zero Yeti 150, 200X, 400, 400 Lithium, 1000, 1250, 1400, and 3000 power stations.

But also the Sherpa 50, 100, and 100AC. Note that newer Sherpas don’t have an 8mm input and are not compatible.

Here are the best optimum charging times listed, note that not every device supports 10A charging.

Please also note that these are estimates and should be taken with a grain of salt.

I have calculated these numbers based on what each power station/bank 8mm input can handle and the max output of the car charger.

Goal Zero Yeti Car Charging Times

Yeti 150 4 hours (supports 5A, 60W max)

Yeti 200X - 4 hours (supports 7A, 100W max)

No products found.4 hours (supports 10A, 120W max)

Yeti 400 Lithium4 hours (supports 10A, 120W max)

Yeti 500X – 4.5 hours

Yeti 1000 Lithium9 hours (supports 10A, 120W max)

Yeti 1000 Core – 9 hours

Yeti 1000X – 9 hours

Yeti 125010 hours (supports 10A, 160W max)

Yeti 1400 Lithium12 hours (supports 10A, 120W max)

Yeti 1500X – 14 hours

No products found.26 hours (supports 10A, 120W max)

Yeti 3000X26 hours

Yeti 6000X52 hours

Sherpa Car Charging Times

Sherpa 502 hours (supports 2A, 30W max)

Sherpa 1002.5 hours (supports 3A, 45W max)

Sherpa 100AC2 hours (supports 50W max)

Note that the new Sherpa 100PD does not have an 8mm input and can not be charged with the 12V Yeti car charger.

Will the Yeti 12V car charger work in my vehicle?

The 12V car charger works in most vehicles, but the only one that can answer this question with 100% certainty is your vehicle’s manual. Sometimes the cigarette lighter plug tells you directly what it’s capable of outputting.

Look up what the cigarette lighter is rated for. Note that you might have more than one cigarette lighter plug and they can have different output ratings.

If the car charger is not receiving a high enough voltage when plugged in, it will shine a red light.

Can I Plug The 12V Car Charger Into Any 12V Outlet Like In A Camper?

It depends, Goal Zero has made the Yeti 12V car charging cable a “smart charger” that requires a certain voltage that an alternator can produce. This was done to protect your car batteries when your vehicle is turned off.

If your batteries are capable of outputting the required voltage (13.1V) it will be able to charge it.

Can my car handle 5A/10A?

Since the Yeti car charger will at most use 120 watts, it won’t be nearly enough to hurt most alternators. Most cars can handle at least 500 watts, so as long as you don’t have a lot of things plugged into other 12V plugs in your vehicle, there is no need to worry.

If you happen to have several things plugged in, you can choose between the 5A or the 10A to be safe.

5A Vs. 10A On The Yeti Car Charger?

The difference between the two is the amount of juice it’s going to use, which will increase or decrease the charging input on your Yeti or Sherpa.

The 5A will input about 60 watts to your Yeti (5A*12V), while the 10A can do about 120W (10A*12V).

If you have a depleted Yeti 1000 or smaller and plan on driving all day, it might be a better idea to switch it over to the 5A. But if you have a depleted No products found. that is going to take much longer to charge, the 10A will charge it twice as fast.

What Can I Do To Improve The Charging Speed?

I have written an article with five ways you can improve the charging speed of the Yeti power stations.

When it comes to the 12V car charger specifically, there isn’t much you can do to improve the charging speed except switch the 5A to 10A if your Yeti or Sherpa supports it.

Can I use several Yeti 12V Car Chargers?

Yes, if your Yeti has more than one 8mm input, you can use several 12V car chargers to improve the charging time. You could even use three, or more if you have the MPPT charge controller module.

You just need to make sure that the 12V port in your vehicle can output more than 10A if you would like to combine two or more chargers. This information can usually be found in the vehicle manual.

If you have any questions that haven’t been answered, please leave a comment down below.

3 thoughts on “How Fast Does Goal Zero 12V Car Charger Charge Yeti/Sherpa?”

  1. I believe that if you use a 4x 8mm to Anderson combiner (and your Yeti has an APP input) that you could use up to 4 of the 12V chargers at 480W (many cars, especially modern SUVs, have multiple ports). This actually seems to me to be a little more cost efficient and less hassle than buying the very expensive Yeti Link Expansion Module with all the EC8 wiring which costs twice as much as has to be wired through the firewall to your battery. The only advantage to the latter is that it seems you can charge your car battery from solar through the Yeti and Yeti Link.

    Reply
    • Hey Adrian,

      Agreed, that’s a great way to do it! Just gotta make sure that the 12V port(s) can handle more than 10A output if you want to combine two or more.

      Jesse

      Reply
  2. Thanks for all this info. I’m wondering if anyone knows if I can use a 12v/8mm Jackery 240 car charger chord with my Goal zero Yeti 500x? Seem to be the same chord but uncertain about other specs. Thx!

    Reply

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