DJI gets serious about portable power

After launching its first portable power stations last year, DJI just launched the Power 2000 with double the capacity, more output power, and big scalability.

Unlike a fixed Tesla Powerwall solution, DJI’s followup to the Power 1000 I reviewed last year is designed to scale in support of your day-to-day energy needs no matter where you go while also offering the fastest charging times for your DJI drones.

For example, you can take the Power 2000 along to a job site or weekend barbecue. Add solar panels and a few expansion batteries for longer car-camping trips or a vanlife summer, and then stack on a few more batteries when you return home to provide hours of home backup during the next blackout emergency.

The Power 2000 is built around a 2048Wh LFP battery and 3000W inverter making this a mid-level unit. It comes slathered in ports, including two 140W USB-C, two 65W USB-C, four USB-A, and four AC outputs (the US model swaps one jack for a 30A RV outlet). It also features a pair of DJI’s dongle-loving SDC ports to fast charge DJI drones; add outputs like a 12V socket and inputs for solar panels; or to connect one of DJI’s Super Fast Car Chargers to tap into solar and/or the excess charging capabilities of your car’s alternator. All the ports can be monitored and controlled inside the DJI Home app.

For home owners, those proprietary SDC ports can also be used to daisy chain up to ten of DJI’s existing Power Expansion Battery 2000 modules back to the Power 2000. That’s an impressive 10:1 ratio for a power station (most are 2:1 or 6:1 max in this class) for 22kWh of total stored energy capacity. A typical US home consumes about 29.2kWh per day, but not every device is needed during a blackout. Vanlifers require far less capacity and power — I use about 1.6kWh per day in my own van.

The Power 2000 can pull up to 2200W from a standard wall jack to charge its internal battery from zero to full in about 75 minutes. It can be charged more slowly at a reasonably quiet 30dB if the noise produced by the internal cooling fans is a concern. In the event of an outage, the Power 2000 features a very fast 0.01 second cutover to act as a UPS for your most sensitive electronics.

By building its 22kg / 48.5lb Power 2000 systems around relatively lightweight (16.5kg / 36.4lb) 2kWh expansion modules and off-loading infrequently used interfaces, DJI’s Power 2000 solution should be easier to move around than competing 3kWh battery systems from Anker, Bluetti, EcoFlow, and Jackery. Those devices, however, are more suited to supporting homes, even when those homes have wheels.

For example, the Power 2000 lacks a high-amperage output to directly power 12V RV electrical systems, and DJI doesn’t offer a subpanel option that integrates directly into your house’s electrical system to intelligently offset your energy costs. But these are tradeoffs I imagine many will happily make in the name of increased portability so long as they can avoid having to buy too many proprietary SDC dongles (which can easily get lost). And given DJI’s rapid embrace of the category, I wouldn’t be surprised to see those advanced options made available in the future as the company’s Power lineup matures.

The DJI Power 2000 is available today starting at $1,299 / €1,399. Maxing out the system with ten expansion batteries will cost close to $10,000.