Feasability of going from gas to only electric

[Isaac Zackary]

Originally Posted by sendler

Adding another 6kW outboard charger to plug in through the dc port would allow using two J1772 public chargers at the same time or full use of a 14-50 RV outlet. I'm surprised I'm having trouble finding an off the shelf solution since most of the newer Leafs have a dc quick charge port and allow using the dc and 1772 charging at the same time. It would be plug and play.
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This guy does a really nice charging mod for the Leaf.
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Example II | Upgrade My Leaf
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Yes. And those Bursa chargers are now cheaper on eBay. If I did add another Leaf battery in the trunk (or put that +600lbs of battery on a trailer) I could use a couple of these chargers to charge up 48kWh's in the normal up-to-4-hours time.

One thing I've noticed is that after 80%, the charging becomes slow. I can charge up from 30% to 80% in just a couple of hours, but then from 80% to 100% in another couple of hours. So the idea of having more level 2 charging stations around would make it faster to just charge up to 80% more or less quickly and then keep going instead of having to charge up to 100% and still not probably make it to the next station.

[Isaac Zackary]

The thing about DC quick charging and Level 1 and 2 charging is that they all have communication between the vehicle and the charger or EVSE. So you could make a device with several Brusa chargers to provide the DC current for quicker charging off of one or more 240V outlets through the ChAdeMO port. But then you'd need a way to communicate through the CHAdeMO charging port between chargers and the vehicle.

When I stick my DMM in the CHAdeMO port I get no voltage. That tells me there's an open relay that the car keeps open until it establishes communication with a CHAdeMO charger. Otherwise I could just hook up 400V worth of solar panels with a hefty diode and just plug into the CHAdeMO port and charge.

[sendler]

The J1772 protocol is very simple. A couple restors of various values set the charge current rates and tell the computor it is ok to close the relay. It's not logic or communication in any way. Just the voltage coded signal from the resistor. Maybe Chademo is the same way.

[freebeard]

Do you follow EVTV? https://www.google.com/search?q=evtv+chademo

They do a lot with ChAdeMO, like DC all the way from the [new] solar panels to car's battery. I don't recall all the details, but where the standard has a range of voltages deemed acceptable, the equipment in the field doesn't accommodate the bottom of the range or something.

You have a greater need to know than I.

[sendler]

$2,700 just for a chademo connector!!! No wonder there are no aftermarket chargers that plug in like that.

[Erasmo]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zackary

After looking at some YouTube videos as well as a blog a guy did on adding more chargers to his Nissan Leaf it does look possible to simply tie in a (400V!) solar panel where the cable to the motor controller connects to the battery. More (400V!) batteries could also be connected in parallel to the main battery by the same means. Or, like in the blog, add another J1772 charge port and charge twice as fast with two Level 2 chargers.

But then you'd lose the opportunity to charge really fast at ChaDeMo chargers.

Maybe is something similar to this something for you?


Portable 22kW charger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jV02MiWrhc

AC goes in, DC goes out and you can use the existing ChaDeMo port. If your next car has CCS simply swap out the leads.

Originally Posted by Isaac Zackary

Yes. And those Bursa chargers are now cheaper on eBay. If I did add another Leaf battery in the trunk (or put that +600lbs of battery on a trailer) I could use a couple of these chargers to charge up 48kWh's in the normal up-to-4-hours time.

One thing I've noticed is that after 80%, the charging becomes slow. I can charge up from 30% to 80% in just a couple of hours, but then from 80% to 100% in another couple of hours. So the idea of having more level 2 charging stations around would make it faster to just charge up to 80% more or less quickly and then keep going instead of having to charge up to 100% and still not probably make it to the next station.

After 80% the charging slows down to protect the battery. 20-80% can be done in about 20-30 minutes with DC fast charging.

[oil pan 4]

That 22kw charger requires 3 phase 400 volt power.
3 phase isn't something that any one is going to have at their house and in the US 400 volts is a non standard voltage.

[Erasmo]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

That 22kw charger requires 3 phase 400 volt power.
3 phase isn't something that any one is going to have at their house and in the US 400 volts is a non standard voltage.

It can also handle 380V and lower but the new norm for the European net is 400V for three phase.

Wait are you telling me that even new L2 charging stations in the US don't have 3 phase?

[Isaac Zackary]

Originally Posted by Erasmo

It can also handle 380V and lower but the new norm for the European net is 400V for three phase.

Wait are you telling me that even new L2 charging stations in the US don't have 3 phase?

No three phase. All level 2 chargers are two phase, 240V, usually 30-50amps. In the US the price to install three phase is the main reason you don't see very many DC quick chargers. It's the main cost. If I remember correctly, it can cost upwards of $50,000. For that price I could buy up to 10 used Nissan Leaves and leave them strategically placed in storage sheds or willing friend's homes with a solar panel placed on the top of the shed and "exchange" my car along the way.

The best all-electric way of charging here would be to upgrade the EVSE so that it can handle 240V and up to 24amps. (Or possibly up to a maximum of 30amps.)

Solar panels would be hard to transport. Doing the math, I get one kilowatt every 10 feet on an 8 foot wide trailer. So level 1 (1.5kW) charging would require an 8' x 15' trailer. Or a 5' x 8' that's stacked in three that can fold out into a 15' x 8' surface. Or have 6 solar panels that are 4' x 5' stacked inside the car on the rear seats or with the rear seats removed. Or 12 2.5" x 4" solar panels might fit just fine in the trunk.

A 3kW trailer would need to be twice that size. Imagine an 8' x 10' trailer that has three solar panels stacked on top of each other. Or for 6kW, I'd need an 8' x 20' trailer with three sliding solar panels.

A 6.6kW solar panel would be possible to tow along behind the Leaf. Obviously it would have to fold up/stack several times in order to be small enough to transport. It would be impractical to tow an 8' x 65' trailer behind the Leaf.

It would be nice if I could design the solar panel to be 400V and then directly charge the battery through the CHAdeMO charge port whenever I stopped and pulled over. But if not, there are others of accessing the battery directly.

However, although a 6.6kW (or larger) portable solar charging system would be awesome the price would be extreme. There are 1kW solar kits on eBay for as little as $250. So 6kW would be around $1,500. But by the time you add in the frames and glass I'm sure it's not going to be worth it.

If I were going to go all-electric I'd try to simply get from charging station to station. Another 6.6kW charger would make it quicker to charge at each station, provided I'm the only car at the station (they all seem to have only two charging cords.) All I'd need would be some sort of emergency backup. A 1.5kW solar panel stacked up in the trunk would be feasible. Of course when the weather is bad and hurting the range would also be when the solar charger wouldn't be of much help. But a small portable generator could work as well. Obviously the generator would've be "all-electric." But it would only be for those emergencies when I didn't make it to the next charging station. I would only use it to get enough charge to get to the charging station.

[Isaac Zackary]

Really, the most ecological mod for increasing range would be a boat tail.