(02-14-2024, 05:56 AM)ElwoodBlues1 link Wrote:A 12v $60 Jump Starter will start your EV but you cant charge the battery with them, a Jackery or Bluetti type powerstation at the top end might be able to supply 1800-2000watts which could give you 10-12 kilometres worth of juice but thats going to set you back $3-4K.
You can use your EV to power your home, you need a bidirectional charger so you can convert DC back to AC for your home.....I believe but dont quote me that a couple of the present Mitsubishi's one being the Outlander PHEV can be configured for BiDirectional charging. Id expect it to become the norm across all EVs as well as being able to power appliances directly.
Think I read that a EV from Nissan was trialled in Japan and powered a house for 4 days.....

(02-14-2024, 05:03 AM)northernblue date Wrote:As i have stated previously that I'm not an ev owner but my understanding is that "fast chargers" use DC and most home chargers use AC.

(02-14-2024, 06:52 AM)LP link Wrote:All batteries are charged with DC, whether the charge circuit converts DC to DC or AC to DC makes no difference, most EV cars have smart sockets for both AC or DC charging. DC can mean CW(Constant Wattage, Constant Current, Constant Voltage) or Pulsed dependant on the charger design, but it's all DC. Some modulate power by varying voltage, others use PWM(Pulse Width Modulation.)

If you have a 12v / 240v inverter, you can use a 12v source like a lead acid battery to charge your EV enough to get it to a charge station. You could use jumper cables to run an inverter off the idling petrol or diesel vehicle, and the outback charge stations are often just diesel generators which have an integrated 240v inverter, coin or credit card operated of course.

Most portable SolarPV won't have anywhere near the power to give any useful range via an inverter, at least not in a single day of charging, it would be like trying to warm your bath water with a candle. The best rooftop SolarPV panels are much more efficient than the portables and yet roof top panels typically only deliver a few hundred watts each day, I think the very best make it to about 650 Watts on a perfect conditions. Good portable panels are about 50% of the solid roof top variety. Your EV battery and motors are measured in tens of Kilowatts, I think a low end Tesla is in the order of 60 ~ 70Kw!

An interesting point, it you bolted a solid SolarPV to the roof of your Tesla in a weird attempt to extend the range, you would actually lose range, because the weight and drag of the panel more than offsets the energy it creates.

(02-14-2024, 06:20 AM)northernblue link Wrote:Yeah, it all comes down to battery capacity and load.
I've spoken to guys with tesla powerwalls (20Kwh ?) and plugging in their 70odd Kwh cars and lasting 3-4 days.
The bottom line is its all doable with some planning on your part and the gov.

Speaking of governments role, I also believe that the NT still has 3 large scale solar arrays that have been completed for 2+ years but our electricity distributor hasnt ticked them off to allow them to connect to the grid !
Sitting there idle.

I've spoken to guy overseas who has just handed back his electricity meter because for the past 2 years (I've seen pics of his bills) his consumption charge was $0 per month.
He was happy to pay the daily charge to have mains  backup but got constant grief in the form of various random inspections because they didnt believe he was using no power.

(02-14-2024, 07:09 AM)ElwoodBlues1 link Wrote:The NT was/is always a bit of a mess with solar, think an Italian conglomerate own a few of the facilities and the system up there has too many cooks in the kitchen. They wont connect those solar facilities to the grid because of storage battery issues and a fear the ageing infrastructure will fall over plus when you connect a lot of solar arrays at once you get poorer regulation which means dirty power which spikes the line up to very high voltages which kills older infrastructure so they switch those feeds off.
They will probably need to get a 3rd party Engineering Consultant company in to test and sign off on the system because thats how it usually works and they dont come cheap.
NT Government give good rebates on EV vehicles dont they?

(02-14-2024, 06:52 AM)LP link Wrote:If you have a 12v / 240v inverter, you can use a 12v source like a lead acid battery to charge your EV enough to get it to a charge station. You could use jumper cables to run an inverter off the idling petrol or diesel vehicle, and the outback charge stations are often just diesel generators which have an integrated 240v inverter, coin or credit card operated of course, and which of course completely invalidates the carbon neutral use of an EV.

(02-14-2024, 08:04 AM)kruddler link Wrote:Just curious, because i have a foldable 200W solar panel which i use to top up my 2nd (and 3rd) batteries while i am camping. 1 is lithium.
My 2nd battery is hooked up to the car and charges while i drive and cuts off if it gets too low. It lives permananetly in my canopy.
The 3rd battery is encased in a cheap battery box that i pull out of the canopy and sit next to my camping fridge for days on end. Powers lights and my phone.
I've also got a Milwaukee charger that comes with a 12v cig socket that can charge up my tool batteries....which i use for lights, chainsaws, radio, whatever.

With that setup, even if overcast or raining, i can pretty much be self sustaining for....as long as i need to be. Recently i set up the solar panel underneath our gazebo (in the shade, while it was raining) and it was still getting enough sun to charge my battery.

I also have a 1500W invertor i can use to get 240v plugs if required.

So...if i can live outdoors with that setup, surely it could help me charge a car. Not sure what type of current draw they take, or how much power storage is typically on board, but to me it seems like a half decent alternative to hooking up to the grid.
Obviously, you could get bigger outdoor solar panels pretty easily to beef up the system as well. They are relatively cheap.

(02-14-2024, 09:56 AM)kruddler date Wrote:Id like to see some more of his videos to get a better understanding of how serious he is with that as it appears to be one big piss take to me.

But he'd do a lot better if he turned his car around 90 degrees to face the sun rather than be side on to it.

...but at least it's somewhat plausible.

(02-13-2024, 11:29 PM)Baggers link Wrote:Anyone else effected adversely by those ferocious winds yesterday! We were lucky (in West Gippsland) to not lose power... though I was waiting for the lights to go out! However, internet is not much better than dial-up at present!

Thought of you, David (DJC) when reports of 6 power towers being blown over in the Greater Geelong region tripped Loy Yang A!

As a humourous aside, I was outside with our dog (Doberman) when the wind and thunder hit hard... her hackles went up as she barked at the skies but when the rain came she ducked for cover!