Power your fridge and few lights from MIEV (or Leaf) - $1800

MiEV power BOX specifications
External dimensions (not including projections) 395mm x 334mm x 194mm
Connecting cable length 1.7m
Weight 11.5kg (unit 9.5kg, cable 2kg)
Voltage 100V AC
Max. power output 1500W (15Amp)
Output terminals (100V AC socket)
plugs into the i-MiEV or MINICAB-MiEV's quick charging connector

Click to expand...

http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/publish/pressrelease_en/corporate/2012/news/detail0834.html

What an interesting plug on it. Looks like some sort of micro CHAdeMO that drops the latch and some of the weather proofing. Just the sort of thing a homebrew QC builder might want.

Looks like Japanese voltage standard. Will this work on US versions of the vehicle?

It would seem to me useful in a blackout or an EQ (we live in CA), but I am sure that it is not something you would use routinely as it would hurt the battery life.
wouldnt that be true, oh geeky EE friends of mine?
I dont even mind the price to have power in an EQ.
I just spent 6k to have my lovely, 80-year-old house EQ-reinforced.

so, how does it work?
The power coming out of the device is converting Leaf battery DC to AC.

So you simply plug into the chadmoe, and then the other end into what? a house outlet? that seems to be trying to go up a down street.
or do you need to have a special connection to power into the house?

For those of us who have pv solar and an inverter, is there a better way to connect as we are already doing the DC inversion.

According to my colleague, should work in USA and connect to Chademo side of MIEV

edit as suggested - Same picture but bigger, not better. Now in the first post

thankyouOB said:

It would seem to me useful in a blackout or an EQ (we live in CA), but I am sure that it is not something you would use routinely as it would hurt the battery life.
wouldnt that be true, oh geeky EE friends of mine?
I dont even mind the price to have power in an EQ.
I just spent 6k to have my lovely, 80-year-old house EQ-reinforced.

so, how does it work?
The power coming out of the device is converting Leaf battery DC to AC.

So you simply plug into the chadmoe, and then the other end into what? a house outlet? that seems to be trying to go up a down street.
or do you need to have a special connection to power into the house?

For those of us who have pv solar and an inverter, is there a better way to connect as we are already doing the DC inversion.

Click to expand...

I think "power your house" is a bit optimistic. It's only 15 amps! Yes, you can keep your refrigerator running along with a few lights a maybe your TV for a few hours.

To connect it into your house electrical system legally/safely, you'd need a transfer switch, just like a portable generator. But at only 15 amps, why bother. You'd just run an extension cord from the box to whatever you want to power.

EdmondLeaf said:

better picture

Click to expand...

Bigger, not better.

davewill said:

What an interesting plug on it. Looks like some sort of micro CHAdeMO that drops the latch and some of the weather proofing. Just the sort of thing a homebrew QC builder might want.

Click to expand...

As long as you don't want to quick charge it would be great. That cable can't support quick charging unless one considers under 8kw quick charging.

Buying a BEV is much cheaper than putting in power lines, over a long distance.

I think the earliest adopters of BEV-to-house, will be off-grid homeowners.

You could cut the size (and cost ) of your solar array and home batter bank dramatically, if you knew you could pick up an extra 10-20 kWh for, the next few days of stormy weather, just by stopping by a BEV charger, on your next trip to town.

And when you have excess solar production in the Summer, you have another place to store it.

thankyouOB said:

So you simply plug into the chadmoe, and then the other end into what? a house outlet? that seems to be trying to go up a down street.
or do you need to have a special connection to power into the house?

Click to expand...

You need a transfer switch to safely power the home. Otherwise plug appliances in direct. But at 100vac the voltage is low for US items. Lamp would work but too low for a motor such as fridge or furnace.

This is a simple power inverter designed to power a small electrical item, not power or connect to a home. My truck has one of these with the same output built into the bed from the factory, the one above simply runs off pack voltage. This would be far more practical at 3kw. At this price I would rather have a couple Honda 2K inverter generators for backup on propane. Sure this is easy for quick use but expensive for the limited output.

In theory, couldn't you just turn off the main breaker to the home, then connect this up to a regular outlet? Whichever half of the outlets in the house that share the same leg in the breaker box should be energized. And with the main breaker off, it wouldn't be going out to the grid.

adric22 said:

In theory, couldn't you just turn off the main breaker to the home, then connect this up to a regular outlet? Whichever half of the outlets in the house that share the same leg in the breaker box should be energized. And with the main breaker off, it wouldn't be going out to the grid.

Click to expand...

In theory you could do this, but utilities dont want you to electrocute their linemen..

Very interesting!

For the power level, it is a little pricey. If it was 3 kW, 120/240V you could power things like table saws for construction and it would still be fairly light. 6 kW would be nice, though it will be a bit heavier and bigger.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) announced today that it will bring to market on April 27 the new MiEV power BOX power feeder which is capable of supplying large amounts of electrical power from an electric vehicle (EV). Supplied by a Mitsubishi Group affiliate, the MiEV power BOX will be offered as a dealer option for the company's i-MiEV *1 and MINICAB-MiEV EVs.

Click to expand...

So we don't know that it's compatible with the LEAF yet, they're using the ChaDeMO port but are they using standard protocol that's also supported by the LEAF, even so it needs to be tested for interoperability. They might be using something non-standard, either for convenience, oversight, or to intentional have it work only with the MiEV. Early Chevy Volts were J1772 but they didn't allow enough time for the portable Nissan EVSE to initialize, so you couldn't a Volt with it. Later Volts fixed this. The standard may not have been specific enough on this time period so you end up with twp compliant products that will not work together. Hence, this needs to be tested with a LEAF before we know for SURE that it is compatible with the LEAF.

It might be hard to get without ordering the car, they say you can order with the car, but make no mention if it will be available as a spare part or for order without the car.

Then you need the 120V 60Hz version for the American market. 100V can work for some applications instead of 120V but things like motors could overheat and not perform as well due to the lower voltage.

It would also be nice to know if this is modified sinewave or a true sinewave inverter. Motors and transformers overheat on modified sinewave inverters due to the excess harmonic power frequencies that end up as heat from the near-squarewave that marketroids have called "Modified Sinewave".

Still very interesting. I'll be watching for more information as it comes! Might consider getting one, but the Nissan's "LEAF to Home" is 6 kW via the ChaDeMO port and more versatile, though it's not something you can carry with one hand! http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6619" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

adric22 said:

In theory, couldn't you just turn off the main breaker to the home, then connect this up to a regular outlet? Whichever half of the outlets in the house that share the same leg in the breaker box should be energized. And with the main breaker off, it wouldn't be going out to the grid.

Click to expand...

absolutely
edit but I am not licensed electrician just common sense, knowledge of proper code is required to be on the safe side

EVDRIVER said:

davewill said:

What an interesting plug on it. Looks like some sort of micro CHAdeMO that drops the latch and some of the weather proofing. Just the sort of thing a homebrew QC builder might want.

Click to expand...

As long as you don't want to quick charge it would be great. That cable can't support quick charging unless one considers under 8kw quick charging.

Click to expand...

Fascinating...you act like you know the current rating on that connector...and I'm pretty sure you don't actually know anything about it except that it's pictured here. Besides there's been lots of talk of homebrew CHAdeMO in the 6-12kW range on the site.

Simply turning off the main breaker does not meet code.
I believe you need a lockout device.

thankyouOB said:

I am sure that it is not something you would use routinely as it would hurt the battery life.

Click to expand...

It would also void your Leaf warranty if any damage was done, as the "what's not covered" part of Nissan's CYA language includes "using the vehicle as a power source."

TT

adric22 said:

In theory, couldn't you just turn off the main breaker to the home, then connect this up to a regular outlet? Whichever half of the outlets in the house that share the same leg in the breaker box should be energized. And with the main breaker off, it wouldn't be going out to the grid.

Click to expand...

In theory, yes. In practice, you're one mistake away from killing a linesman! :shock:

Also:
1) With one 15 amps available, you're likely to overload the poor thing.
2) If the power comes back on and you turn on your main breaker without disconnecting the inverter first, you're likely to destroy it and possibly damage your car! :evil:

Not worth the risk!