Building a mobile L2 charger

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BRBarian

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 11, 2011
Messages
125
I want to build a vehicle based mobile L2 charger.

Of course, one could buy a 4000W 240V generator lug that around and get that to work, but that's not what I'm looking for. I'd like to have a reliable vehicle based system, where the van can double as a camper.

Basic idea:

1. Get a diesel Van (e.g. Sprinter)
2. Variable speed idle
3. PTO 12V isolated ground, wired to +12V and +24V
4. Voltage regulators
5. Automatic Charging Relays (2)
6. Lithium Ion batteries (two 400Ah@12V)
7. Equilizer Autotransformer EQ 12/24-50
8. Inverter/Charger Magnum MS4024PAE
9. Leviton EVB22-3PM

Has anyone built something like this? If so, can you share your wiring diagrams?

If not, can we develop a community based wiring diagram that will work and not be too expensive?
That also has safety features (appropriate fuses, circuit breakers,...) and monitor/control capabilities.

Thanks...
 
That's it? Zero responses? No one wants a mobile L2 charger that doesn't involve hauling around a large and noisy generator? I can think of all sorts of ways to use such a thing.

I'll work up a modest design and post it (hoping for comments).
 
BRBarian said:
I want to build a vehicle based mobile L2 charger.
Click to expand...
Well, you already have one. It is in your LEAF. ;)

I guess you mean you want to charge at L2 using a mobile 240 volt source (an EVSE), is that correct? And, you are going to get that 240 volts at 16 Amps or so from the Diesel van without using a 240 volt generator?
 
OK. Here's a first attempt. The cost is too still high, and it weighs about 700lbs.
But it would allow for quiet L2 charging for about 5 hours.

The RHS (about 600lbs) could, in principle, be stored in the LEAF itself effectively doubling its range,
but seriously limiting loading capacity to about 250 lbs.



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Comments are welcome.
 
ebill3 said:
BRBarian said:
I want to build a vehicle based mobile L2 charger.
Click to expand...
Well, you already have one. It is in your LEAF. ;)

I guess you mean you want to charge at L2 using a mobile 240 volt source (an EVSE), is that correct? And, you are going to get that 240 volts at 16 Amps or so from the Diesel van without using a 240 volt generator?
Click to expand...

I have two thoughts on this.

One idea is to add a PTO to a diesel van, and use both alternators to produce enough power to run the EVSE. The van would need to be running while charging.

The second idea (design posted above) is to have enough extra battery to run the charger quietly for 5 hours. The design I posted would work on nearly any vehicle, and the vehicle would not need to be running (but running would extend the charging duration).
 
Well, you're asking if anybody else has done this... The lack of answers probably means: no.

But I think I understand what you're trying to do: You'd like your ICE camper to charge and EV at "base camp" without using a standalone generator. I'm not a fan of the idea of running an ICE to charge an EV but if using the ICE itself is not an option for you, then why not.

I am assuming that you want to use the car's diesel engine to power the generator. I am not sure how good a mechanic you are but I'd be curious to know how you plan to connect the car's engine to the generator. If that fails, not only you won't be able to recharge your EV but you may also not be able to drive your ICE too. That would suck.

Next, I think the idea of generating 24V DC and converting this to 220 AC makes your system more complicated than it needs to be and inefficient. I would suggest to look for a 4KW 220V AC generator and focus on building the engine speed regulator to maintain the correct RPM the generator needs. This way you can get rid of everything in your list between #3 and #9. If you want something reliable, keep it simple.
 
ericsf said:
Well, you're asking if anybody else has done this... The lack of answers probably means: no.

But I think I understand what you're trying to do: You'd like your ICE camper to charge and EV at "base camp" without using a standalone generator. I'm not a fan of the idea of running an ICE to charge an EV but if using the ICE itself is not an option for you, then why not.

I am assuming that you want to use the car's diesel engine to power the generator. I am not sure how good a mechanic you are but I'd be curious to know how you plan to connect the car's engine to the generator. If that fails, not only you won't be able to recharge your EV but you may also not be able to drive your ICE too. That would suck.

Next, I think the idea of generating 24V DC and converting this to 220 AC makes your system more complicated than it needs to be and inefficient. I would suggest to look for a 4KW 220V AC generator and focus on building the engine speed regulator to maintain the correct RPM the generator needs. This way you can get rid of everything in your list between #3 and #9. If you want something reliable, keep it simple.
Click to expand...

A few points:

It's not only for base camp. It's also a "rescue" vehicle, or a range extender in general. There are lots of potential uses. If you put the batteries in the LEAF itself, you can nearly double its range.

Most of the time, the extra batteries in the vehicle (about 22 kWh) would be charged using shore power, and not by running an ICE. The design above only uses a trickle charge from the alternator (about 360 watts).

Level shifting from 12v to 24v or 48v can be done with about 94% efficiency. That's not a major issue.

With a PTO, there is no generator, just a second alternator. Two 200Amp alternators can produce the power needed if you also have a fast idle option (many diesels have this), and nearly all allow for a PTO.

The use of an ACR (automatic charging relay) protects the main vehicle battery from being drained. That's why its there.
 
My feeling is....

If you're going to spend this much money to put something together, why not spend a little more and make it a portable Chademo setup so you can provide a faster emergency charge. L2 is only 1 mile every 5 minutes....

It doesn't have to provide the full 50kW, but maybe something well above 3.3 kW....
 
Randy said:
If you're going to spend this much money to put something together, why not spend a little more and make it a portable Chademo...
Click to expand...

That's a great idea. Does anyone sell a CAN bus communicator? Does anyone know how to do this? Do we have all the relevant specs?

I think the basic requirements should be:

1. Less than 1000 lbs and less than $10,000, compact.
2. One shot rapid battery to battery charge dump (higher voltage on van side)
3. Slow subsequent recharge of van batteries by solar and/or alternator when driving
4. Primary subsequent recharge method is via shore power or L2 charger
 
Just use an inverter

http://www.theinverterstore.com/7000-watt-heavy-duty-power-inverter-240vac-24-volt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
kcmusa said:
Just use an inverter

http://www.theinverterstore.com/7000-watt-heavy-duty-power-inverter-240vac-24-volt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Click to expand...

That's what the design I posted above is based on (Magnum MS4448PAE).

But you also need the rest of the infrastructure (e.g. batteries, ACR, voltage controller, equilizer, meters,...)
 
Around 300 amps from a 24 volt battery to make 7000 watts of 240v AC, right?

So, Level 2 type "4-hour" charging, to charge about 1/3 of the LEAF in about an hour.

Or, a 15-minute charge with about a 100 amp-hour 24v battery, assuming that the 2013 LEAF has a 7 kW L2 charger built into the car.
 
It's been done http://chevysparkforum.com/topic/2966-portable-l2-charging" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

/
garygid said:
Around 300 amps from a 24 volt battery to make 7000 watts of 240v AC, right?

So, Level 2 type "4-hour" charging, to charge about 1/3 of the LEAF in about an hour.

Or, a 15-minute charge with about a 100 amp-hour 24v battery, assuming that the 2013 LEAF has a 7 kW L2 charger built into the car.
Click to expand...
 

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