I spent some time traveling with my mom going on hiking trips with adventure groups and local guides. It started at nice hotels and no gear but our hiking boots. The next trip was at a nice hotel with limited wi-fi, and we had backpacks and hydration packs. Every trip got a little more rugged, with a little bit more gear. Eventually, I turned to car camping because I couldn't bear to spend the money on hotels and I couldn't commit to camping in a tent. When it was just me and my phone, I could usually turn on my car to charge it or allow it to charge while driving. But my trips got longer and I started to bring more things with me. I didn't always have friends and family with me and I didn't always charge things completely before I left. The best I could see was that I needed a bigger battery or one that I could recharge while I was on the road that was suited for outdoor activities.
When I got into the research of everything, I was initially sold on the Jackery. It's fairly popular and has plenty of reviews that suggest it is reliable and can get the job done. The one downside that I think I ever really saw was that they had a unique setup where the battery wasn't able to connect to non-Jackery solar panels. I don't see this ever really being an issue, at least for me. In general, it is a best practice to use the same brand in those situations. Universal is nice but things do work a lot better when they are custom-designed.
There were a few other options that I considered such as the EcoFlow and the GoalZero. Ultimately, I settled on the Bluetti. What really sealed the deal for me was the charging time. They claim on their website that the battery can charge to 80% in just 45 minutes. As somebody who often plans at the last minute, being able to get things ready to go quickly is super important. The last 20% doesn't take all that long either. In the few times I've had to charge my Bluetti, it has charged faster than I can complete a load of laundry. It sits well in storage as well. It's been over a month since I last charged it and there hasn't been a change in the battery percentage. Out on trips, this thing has worked pretty great. The one downside is that if it is on, the battery will continue to run down. Even if there isn't anything plugged into it, the Bluetti will continuously lose battery.
I have reached out to the company regarding the car charger, and have yet to hear a response via email.
May 2024 Update
I had been doing some last-minute checks for my road trip prep and decided to check if there was a car charger for the AC2A yet. The car charge is available for purchase but it was just my luck that it was sold out via the website or would take over two weeks via Amazon to get to me, which meant I wouldn't be able to use it for the trip. My guess is that we were all waiting on the car charger and everyone who had purchased the AC2A ordered the charger as soon as they saw it was available.
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