Portable power stations

Two capacities, 614 and 1,024 Wh, the same chassis and the same pure sine wave inverter. The Volta 1000 comes in olive, the 1600 in four colours.

Power station, portable power station, portable battery: the same machine

All three names describe the same thing: a lithium battery, an inverter that turns it into 230 V, and sockets. Manufacturers say “portable power station”, camper sites say “portable battery”, we say “power station”. If you are looking for any of them, you are in the right place.

What it is not is a generator. There is no engine, no petrol and no exhaust: nothing stops you using it indoors, in a closed camper or under a tent, and it makes no engine noise at all.

Two figures, and they do not say the same thing

Watt-hours (Wh) measure the reserve: how long it lasts. Watts (W) measure the flow: what you can run at the same time. A 1,024 Wh station able to put out 1,600 W will run a kettle; a 614 Wh station limited to 1,000 W will not, whatever its reserve.

That is why every product page carries a runtime table calculated from the unit's real capacity and continuous output, item by item: a phone, a laptop, a camping fridge, a fan, a string of lights. The times there are calculated, never typed in by hand, and appliances that exceed the continuous output are flagged as such instead of being passed over in silence.

LiFePO4 cells and a pure sine wave

Both Voltas use lithium iron phosphate cells. Compared with the NMC cells in bike or power-tool batteries, they take considerably more charge cycles and cope better with heat. It is the usual choice for stations meant to last several seasons rather than get you out of trouble once.

The inverter delivers a pure sine wave, that is, current of the same shape as a wall socket's. Motor-driven appliances, laptop power supplies and medical devices need it; a so-called modified wave, cheaper to produce, makes them run hot or whine.

Where they earn their place

In a van or a camper, to avoid drawing on the starter battery. On a site with no connection, for a tool charger or a work light. On a terrace or a pontoon, for lighting and a speaker. At home, to keep a fridge and a router going through a power cut.

They recharge from the mains, from a 12 V socket, or with a folding solar panel when there is no socket within reach.

What we commit to

2-year warranty, support in France, same-day reply on weekdays. The test reports we hold are published with their number and the laboratory that issued them on Our checks — and we write down the ones still missing too.