The OP doesn’t sound like he is advocating and off-grid set-up, just a simple means to power small electronics. That is easily done plug and play through a 12v cigarette outlet.
I’m with you in terms of scaling up the system. I’m running nearly 4k watts off a battery bank that is recharged by generator(C4H10, C3H8, or diesel) solar, and or wind. My cabin is completely off the grid and I’ve never struggled for electricity. A system such as this is not plug and play and not for a novice to undertake - it took me a ton of research and some trial and error to get it right. Charging a laptop in your car, on the other hand, is plug and play.
The inductive load on startup of a motor like that can fry a small inverter.
Even one of the little 450 watt units like I have here in the house for easy access requires that you know what your load is, how it starts up, and what effect it has on your equipment.
You can't run a radio off of a square wave inverter very well. ;)
Get an inverter, sure, and practice with it. You can kill batteries, kill inverters, and kill appliances. Sometimes, if you are really lucky, you can do all three, and still leave your brother-in-law alive.
/johnny