Tesota Overland has built an excellent power delivery system worth consideration for your vehicle-based adventures

A lot of times when first getting into the whole offroad/adventure travel realm, you start with getting the essential– a vehicle to get you onto the trails so you can explore. Then before you know it, the build list starts to accumulate. You add lights, a radio, switch panels, a winch–maybe even a fridge to keep the food lasting for those longer excursions. Then you realize that with all that added electrical demand, one main vehicle battery just isn’t going to cut it. So now it’s time to choose a proper way to power everything on your rig.

There are a few different ways to go about this. One that’s been tried and true for a long time is the dual battery system. It can become either a complex system or just a relay to connect the batteries when charging. However, a smarter and more intuitive setup will have a DC-to-DC charger at the least to make sure the batteries are charged properly and safely. In my opinion, electrical systems should not be built carelessly. It’s easy to cut corners and do things quickly and cheaply, but that usually results in components failing down the road or even worse– electrical damage or fire. This is why quality is important in electrical systems, and a good quality electrical system benefits from fuse protection and proper wire sizing that make sure things work well and as designed. Of course, when you start adding all these parts together, things start to get quite complex.

But they don’t have to be.

The Auxiliary Power Distribution System (APDS) by Tesota Overland aims to help with bringing all these components into one nicely laid-out panel. Everything from your DC/DC charger, solar, start battery, aux battery, and outputs from 15 amps up to 75 amps all connected easily on the panel. It has eight 15-amp outputs, five 30-amp outputs, and two 75-amp outputs. All the fused outputs also have LED indicators so when a fuse blows you can easily tell which one it is. WAGO lever terminals make it possible to connect wires to the board without a single tool. Solar input amperage is up to 60 amps and the continuous amperage load on the board is 75 amps which is very impressive. The heavy copper circuit board is stout and built to handle the abuse that our offroad rigs demand. Another bonus is the lifetime warranty! You don’t see that with a lot of products nowadays. Installing the APDS into the Montero was straightforward and, like any electrical build, just took some thinking on how I wanted to lay things out. Tesota has very helpful install tips and diagrams as well just in case you get a little stumped here and there.

Even though my house build is pretty simple, I like that there is room to grow. With as many inputs as it has, I don’t need to worry about not having a place to add accessories—which would be a tragedy. Honestly, it’s hard to come up with any negatives about the APDS. It has been working flawlessly, which is great because I don’t have to worry about my electrical system failing on me! If the electrical demands of your build are really high, this might not be for you since its continuous load rating tops out at 75 amps. But for most overland builds, this will be a great addition.

A safe and reliable electrical system in a rig is an important thing to get right and can be daunting, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Therefore, I recommend that if you aren’t confident in your electrical knowledge to leave it to a professional. A properly laid-out electrical system not only looks good but makes future additions and diagnosis much, much easier. Tesota has made a great product that should be in your next build, however big or small. It has great functionality and it’s made in the U.S.A!

To learn more about the APDS and more from Tesota Overland, go to www.tesotaoverland.com

OutdoorX4 Magazine – Promoting responsible vehicle-based adventure travel and outdoors adventure