Use of Portable Generator to Charge the Battery in an Emergency

IssacZachary said:

JohnKuthe said:

Brharding said:

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If the genuine NISSAN EVSE or trickle charge cable was used with to connect the LEAF to the generator, wouldn't the needed communication indeed occur? Doesn't both the 120 V wall plug-in as well as generator plug-in perform the same function; i.e. providing a source of electrical power for charging? Unless I have a really bad generator, wouldn't the condition of the supplied electrical power be the same?

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Yes, basically. It's JUST electricity, electrical energy.

John Kuthe...

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I've only seen where pure sine wave inverter generators work (after the grounding issue is resolved). With construction type generators this is the only test that I know of and it didn't work:

VitaminJ said:

It does not work No matter what I do I cannot get a charge more than 1 - 1.5kw. My home 7kw EVSE does not charge at all on the generator, only the modified Nissan EVSE works and only at a low rate. Generator is putting out 240v I tested independently. I will look around maybe there is a magic box that can make the generator signal cleaner for the EVSE. I know that my plug adapter is correct because I use it at work and I get 2.5 to 2.8kw charge with my Nissan EVSE. It was posted in this thread that a true sine wave generator was needed but I just had to prove it to myself, luckily it was my friend's and free to test.

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I really think that the inverter generators work because they do not initially sag and catch up. The car"s charger runs on square waves and it could care less about the wave shape.

I know that my Champion 2K inverter generator works fine. My 3500W Harbor freight one does not.

A conventional generator puts out a sine wave, but the voltage magnitude and frequency drop if the voltage regulator and governor don't respond quickly to load change. With inverter type generators, the voltage and frequency do not depend upon engine speed so the response to load change is instantaneous.

The LEAF's onboard charger ramps the current quickly up to the level of the pilot signal from the EVSE if the battery is low. My inverter type generators must be in full speed mode to handle the initial current ramping, but can be switched to variable speed mode after the charging current stabilizes. If the EVSE is connected with the generator in variable speed mode, the current will start to ramp up and then charging terminates (like others have described for problems with conventional generators). Therefore, I believe that low voltage as the current ramps up is the problem. A conventional generator with twice the capacity of the EVSE should hold the voltage up well enough to get charging started.