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In roughly 40 years, humanity will be trekking the cosmos in starships using antimatter engines with dilithium crystals acting as catalysts to create unfathomable energy in the form of warp plasma. Don’t worry; Dr. Zefram Cochrane has another 38 years to get this all figured out. For now, we can carry around energy using regular ol’ lithium for storage. The DJI expansion battery is officially here for to increase the its Power 1000 energy storage capacity by 200%.
Back in June, I tested the Power 1000 along with a solar panel and a few other accessories to see how well it could power outdoor activities or even operate as a small home backup. At 1,000 Wh, it was great for camping or even running a few household appliances. It’s an impressive piece that’s easy to use and sturdy. It won’t run a refrigerator for long, but for things like keeping my electronics running or even charging an e-bike, it was great. Since then, I found a good workaround for an emergency fridge. But, DJI also figured out how to supply more storage capacity in a modular package. With the DJI Expansion Battery 2000, you can now build out a realistic home backup solution. The shipping box also included a new Bluetooth module so everything can work with the DJI Home smartphone app.
The Bottom Line
First, the price. This is all current as of the time of publishing, but these units are from China and the tariff situation is constantly evolving. When I tested the Power 1000 in June, it was relatively new. It was new and a list price of $999.00, but was on sale for $699.00. To the best of my knowledge, it’s been “on sale” for 700 bucks the entire time. The Power Expansion Battery 2000 has a retail price of $1,169.00. As you may have guessed, you can get a discount. On Amazon, an instant coupon brings it down to just $899.00 including the cable you need to plug it into your existing Power 1000.
To use the DJI Expansion Battery, you’ll need to update your Power 1000. I reached out to DJI. This is true whether you have an older unit or buy the two units together today. I’ll go into this more below, but if you don’t consider yourself computer-literate, it may take a little work. Once you’ve spent a few hours getting everything figured out, it goes back to the same level of simplicity I found using just the Power 1000.
The expansion battery will only feed the power station, you can’t plug straight into it. You can chain up to 5 of these together to the base power station for a total of 11,264 Wh of capacity. You can also add up to 300 Watts of solar panels. That means you’re now getting into a real home backup system. The caveat being, if you take your Power 1000 out of the house, the batteries at home are now non-functional.
Several competitors offer 3,000 Wh(or larger) single devices, but those start getting pretty unwieldy for something portable. For most of my away from home activities, the 1,000 Wh unit is plenty of capacity. So, I like the idea of modularity. The DJI is competitively priced with the Jackerys and Bluettis of the market, but there are other less expensive brands. If you’re an Apple user and you aren’t comfortable using Terminal in MacOS, then you may want to think twice or make friends with a nerd. If you already own a DJI Power 1000, and need more capacity, this is a no brainer.
| DJI Power Expansion Battery 2000 | |
|---|---|
| Quality | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 5/10 |
| Durability | 8/10 |
| Value | 8/10 |
| Overall | 7.5/10 |
The DJI Expansion Battery 2000 Is a Black Box of Energy
When DJI called this an expansion battery, they weren’t kidding. That’s all it is. It has two ports, both referred to SDC, although one of them is “lite.” The Bluetooth dongle uses one of the SDC ports on the Power 1000. Solar panels or other charging devices, like the car charger for example, need to plug into the expansion battery. Also, the connector cable between the expansions and the power station is long and not very flexible. It’s not a very elegant solution. While I’m on the subject, when you stack units on top of each other, there is no physical referencing. One just sits on top of the other with no positive positioning. Again, not a huge deal, but some tabs and slots, or feet and holes would make it feel a lot more premium.
Having the expansion battery plugged in allows a higher draw when charging from a 120V wall outlet. With just the Power 1000, I saw a maximum of 960 Watts input on the device’s screen. The power monitor I was using on the wall consistently registered 1 to 5% higher. With the expansion plugged in, I saw a jump to a maximum of 1,429 Watts input, it’s rated at a max rate of 1,450 Watts. Off a wall socket, I was able to get both units in just over an hour—I never took them down to zero.
Updates for the Upgrades
I’m not an IT guy, but I’ve been using Apple computers since they came in a variety of fun colors. Updating the firmware was time-consuming for me. I know several people who would’ve gotten frustrated and boxed it back up for return. According to DJI, the only way to update the firmware is by using the DJI Assistant 2 on your laptop, connected to the Power 1000 with USB. Installing the DJI app requires using Terminal, because your computer will flat out tell you it doesn’t want the software, because it isn’t vetted by Apple. Again, I’m not an IT guy, I’m not going to decide if this is a good or bad idea for you.
My test unit had firmware that a few generations old, the instructions made it sound like I could start with the latest. After it failed a few times following a video’s instructions on the DJI website, the Googles told me that I needed to start with the oldest first, and progress through each sequential version. After that initial update, it can be done using the DJI Home App over Bluetooth from your phone, after you’ve also bought the $25.00 dongle. All of this is responsible for the low Ease of Use score above.
The Verdict on the DJI Expansion Battery
The update process to get a Power 1000 base station to work with the Expansion Battery 2000 is time consuming at best. At worst, it’s a deal breaker if you aren’t computer savvy. But, in theory, that’s a hurdle that you get over the first day and never need to revisit—hopefully, future production from DJI will come with the latest firmware. But, let’s focus on how it functions.
For $899.00 you get a 2,048 Wh expansion that functions as well as the base unit. It’s simple and effective. The Power 1000 bases station has a power button, a button to turn on the AC 120V sockets. DJI now offers the ability to monitor and control the Power 1000 using a smartphone app. I’ve been testing multiple brands of power stations concurrently; I have yet to see an app that justifies its existence.
The Expansion Battery 2000 is the same size as the base station, 18 x 9 x 9 inches, although it’s heavier at 37 pounds. Having handles on both ends is my preferred design for something like this, it’s much easier for me to use than the folding basket handle found on some competitors. And, it reminds me of my old G4 Mirror Door Power Mac, probably the best looking desktop computer case ever.
As I said above, I like the modularity of the system DJI has designed. I like being able to have up to 11 kWh (11,000 Wh) of home back up, with the ability to only grab the 1000 Wh base station when I heading out for a day of RC cars or planes, some car camping, or even for charging batteries in the pits at my son’s robotics tournament. The competition in power station and solar generator market is huge, as I’ll demonstrate in the coming weeks with several more reviews. The DJI system is made up of high-quality pieces, from a reputable company, that is a pleasure to use. If you can get around the initial setup, this is solid choice if you’re looking for modularity and easy portability in power station and home back up system.
