Buy NowMultiple Buying Options Available$1,500 at Goal Zero$1,500 at REICommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyRating:8/10
WIREDNew LiFePO4 battery is rated for 4,000 charge cycles. Higher-output USB charging (140 watts). High amp output for tying into van and overlanding setups. 4 AC outlets. Excellent vibration resistance for off-road use.TIREDNo internal heater for low-temp charging. Price per watt-hour is on the high side.The heart of a reliable, powerful off-grid mobile electrical system is in the battery. Whether you're overlanding full-time with a remote job or just working from the road for a few days, you need a trustworthy power system that can handle personal devices, portable fridge, water pump, Starlink, and more.
I've built my own mobile systems, even wired together my own 24-volt battery, but for my current rig (a 4x4 truck, sometimes with a shell and roof tent, sometimes a full camper) I needed something more portable and more flexible. That's where Goal Zero's latest Yeti 1500 portable power station comes in. It's everything you need: battery, charge controller, and 2,000-watt inverter. It even has automatic power switching if you do have access to shore power.
Photograph: Scott GilbertsonThe main appeal of power stations is that they're all-in-one, turnkey energy systems. You don't need to worry about hooking up inverters or monitoring systems—it's all there, ready to go. The downside to power stations is that most of them are less robust than DIY solutions, which is particularly important when overlanding or doing any off-road travel. Vibration is hard on plastic, and I've had several previous power stations eventually break down after a few years on the road. Plastic cracks, uncovered ports get clogged with dust; I've even had soldered connections come apart inside sealed batteries. (Thanks, washboard road into Chaco Canyon.)
Goal Zero's new Yeti 1500 power station is one of the best-built power stations I've tested. Unlike nearly everything else, the containing box is primarily metal (aluminum). There are still some plastic vent screens, but overall it's very tough and has stood up well to life in a vehicle. Additionally it was specifically designed to survive high-vibration environments, like living in your van or off-road vehicle. While I haven't taken it on the road into Chaco Canyon yet, it did spend two weeks in the back of my truck bouncing around dirt roads in New Mexico and Arizona and is no worse for the wear.
This is technically the sixth version of the Yeti 1500 and the first to use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) chemistry for the battery, which is by far the biggest improvement over previous models. Older models used lithium polymer batteries. The difference is in the cathode materials. LiFePO4 uses lithium iron phosphate, while lithium polymer uses a variety of things, but usually nickel manganese or sometimes cobalt oxide. Don't worry if that means nothing to you. High school chemistry was a while ago for me too, but the upshot is that lithium iron phosphate has a longer cycle life (Goal Zero claims 4,000 charge cycles to 80 percent for the Yeti 1500), but slightly less energy density. LiFePO4 also performs better at both high and low temperatures, though it's worth noting the Yeti 1500 does not have a built-in heater and cannot be charged below freezing (a cheap heating pad can often overcome this, depending on your setup).
Photograph: Scott GilbertsonThe Yeti 1500 offers a good selection of ports, split into three sections: AC power outlets, USB power outlets, and 12-V power outlets. The AC section gives you four plugs with a max continuous power of 2,000 W and surge capacity of 3,600 W. This was plenty to run a residential fridge during a power outage. The USB options include a 140-W charging port, 60-W port, two 30-W ports, and two 18-W USB-A ports. I charged everything from a brand-new Dell laptop to some camera batteries. I even charged an ancient iPod without issue. The 140-W port is plenty powerful enough to fast-charge your laptop and other high-wattage devices.
All those ports are fairly standard for a power station in this class, and similar to what was on the previous model—although the 140-W USB port is new and very nice to have. Where the new Yeti 1500 shines is the 12-V charging options, which include a high-power 12-V port capable of 30 amp output. That's enough for most van and overlanding vehicle power systems, meaning you can tie the Yeti 1500 directly to your house power 12-V distribution panel. There's also standard Anderson connector outputs and a cigarette-lighter-style outlet available.
There are three ways to charge the Yeti 1500. There's AC wall power, which can charge at up to 1,800 watts, getting you from 0 to 100 percent in just over an hour. (There's a switch to slow this down to 1,500 W if you're plugged into a campground pole, which typically can't handle the full draw.) You can also hook the Yeti up to a max of 900 watts of solar panels. There are both 8-mm inputs and HPP inputs for Goal Zero solar panels. You don't need Goal Zero panels, though; you can use just about anything so long as you get the right adapters and stick within the charging limits (I use an adapter like this to plug just about any solar panel into just about any power station/charger). The rear charging panel is also where you'll find the ground lug for semi-permanent installs in a vehicle or off-grid tiny home.
Goal Zero's Yeti app allows you to control the system from your phone, potentially from the other side of the world if you have the battery connected to your Wi-Fi. I opted for direct connection via Bluetooth, bypassing the network, since I don't always have my Starlink network up and running in my camper. This still allows me to toggle all the output types on and off, get basic battery status like charge state, current power draw (by type), change the charge profile (there are four), and some charge and discharge history information. The latter is not as full-featured with direct connection as it would be with a network connection, and I found it often had trouble loading, but overall I found the app handled everything I needed it to do. I particularly like the ability to turn off the 12-V output from bed at night, shutting off all power to eliminate any phantom drains on the battery.
Photograph: Scott GilbertsonI've relied on a fourth-gen Yeti 1500 as supplemental power for many years now. I've run everything from power tools to space heaters to full-size refrigerators, and as a backup for my RV when I needed to do something to the built-in system. In all that time it's never let me down, and in my experience strikes the best balance between portability and power. It's heavy, but the dual handles make it pretty easy to carry. I've also tested the 1000X and the 500X models, which while lighter and smaller, lack some of the things that make the 1500 great.
That's doubly true of the latest version of the 1500, which now boasts the 140-W USB outlet, ground lug, and 30-A output, things you won't find on any of Goal Zero's smaller power stations, or for that matter on most competitors. Jackery has several 1500 models in its solar charger lineup, but none of them have 140-W USB charging. More crucially for overlanding or van life, none of them offer the 30-A, 12-V output of the Yeti 1500. Bluetti's roughly equivalent Elite 200 also lacks the high-amp 12-V port. For that you'll have to step up to the Bluetti AC200MAX, which, while very nice, is considerably more expensive, heavier, and larger (it also still maxes out at 100 W for USB ports).
For the money and at this size, I'm not aware of any competitors that can match the features of the new Yeti 1500. If you want an all-in-one power station that can function as both a backup battery at home and power a van or overlanding rig on the road, the Yeti 1500 is an excellent choice.
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