Charging House batteries from an EV charging station.

[Izabarack]

Friend just sent me a link to a US based Full Time van dweller who charges house batteries from any convenient EV charging station. I'm short of details of what connectors are involved, how EV charging voltages are handled in getting to charge voltages for house batteries, and dangers involved. One interesting comment was that it cost the Van Dweller 31 cents US to charge his house battery setup.

My initial interest is that I do carry a small petrol generator for emergencies and avoid going to a powered campsite to essentially top up batteries in cloudy weather so using an EV station sounds like an attractive alternative.

Lots of ideas are sparking now as the opportunity to get a EV campervan setup is getting cheaper. Running an EV Aircon unit while parked up appeals to me. Maybe I jump from my current campervan to a fully electric 22nd Century ready version that charges from standard EV charging installations.

[T1 Terry]

Do you tow a vehicle behind? You could put an EV on a trailer and use a V2L (Vehicle to Load) as a big battery storage and feed that in through the 240v input .... You can top up charge the EV when you have good solar, and charge it at EV charging stations at the cheaper rate or free while you do the shopping ......

T1 Terry

[supersparky]

How would you go with a flat towed EV and use the regen braking system to charge the house system, via the charge lead?

[T1 Terry]

How would you go with a flat towed EV and use the regen braking system to charge the house system, via the charge lead?

I've been doing some research into that, using the EV as a take off assist and hill climb assist and regen braking down the other side ...... the catches are, it is illegal to have a powered vehicle without a driver at the wheel, and the lead between the towed vehicle and the motorhome would be another problem because of the unsafe voltages involved ....
I think I can get around the first part by using remote operating worm screw servos or even direct feed into the throttle pot for one pedal driving, not sure how to get around the power cable part though ...... it would be a safety concern if involved in an accident, hit from behind or roll over in particular

T1 Terry

[supersparky]

So, just wait a while til Elon gets the autonomous stuff sorted and just worry about making the regen bit work. The voltage interrupt shouldn't be too hard to work out how to make it fail to safe.

[T1 Terry]

So, just wait a while til Elon gets the autonomous stuff sorted and just worry about making the regen bit work. The voltage interrupt shouldn't be too hard to work out how to make it fail to safe.

The problem is, unless the motor is driving, even at a speed equal to vehicle speed and known as "hyper mileing" it is in regen mode. This creates a drag load on the tow vehicle, but more importantly, it continues to charge the EV battery until it gets over charged. The system is designed to start off in a long down hill run that never actually uses any energy back out of the battery.

You can't flat tow an EV without the system turned on, it locks the transmission and applies the emergency brake, which are a separate set of pistons on the rear disc brake callipers to hold the wheel locked.
There is an electric motor that generates the brake fluid pressure and if the main computer sees the rear wheels are rotating via the hub sensors, and it can't generate enough pressure to stop them turning, it sacrifices the transmission and applies the park pawl ... a fail safe to stop the vehicle ever simply rolling away or driving away without anyone at the controls ..... there is a sensor in the seat and the system continuously looks for driver input with the steering .... all designed to stop a self driving malfunction from occurring .....

T1 Terry

[supersparky]

So what you are saying is, you can't flat tow an EV ?

[Busman]

Elon is supposed to be building a Tesla factory in India, that will make the orange man happy !

[T1 Terry]

So what you are saying is, you can't flat tow an EV ?

Correct, not even a hybrid, unless you can disconnect the drive wheels link to the transmission. Trailer or skid tray in the case of an accident.

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

Elon is supposed to be building a Tesla factory in India, that will make the orange man happy !

He thinks he can ride rough shod over the people in the US, he doesn't understand Indian politics at all. A job in India is a job for life unless the worker wants to change jobs, you can't simply sack them or terminate a contract. The two race classes won't work together, the higher class will not work with a lower class and only the higher class get the education levels to be able to even understand the complexity ..... I hope he does build a factory over there, he needs to learn a lot of life rules. Just because his family could get away with that sort of nonsense when they were in Pretoria South Africa back before they left, he thinks it is his birth right to do the same sort of thing in the US and any where in the world .......

After working with a number of white South Africans, he is stereo typical, they think they are born to lead and treat others like lower class or even cattle ... his personal protection team must be on constant high alert .... they won't nick his ear with a bullet

T1 Terry