Charging cable for 2009 iMiev

I have a 2009 iMiev and was recently very disappointed to discover that the 16 amp charging cable (Mennekes charger) is not compatible with this model. I was advised by Zero Carbon World who sells the cable that a software update to the on-board charging unit would overcome the problem, but Mitsubishi Motors UK will not even engage in a discussion about it. Does anyone out there have any experience with this or know of a solution? It could become quite a problem as I have been advised that the 13 amp three pin charging stations will soon be phased out. :roll: Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi jonathanwilson.

The trouble is we have not yet invented the electric car because we still have to invent the plug. AC is a no go it must be 3 phase or it is not europe. I hate it.

Actually cutting off the Mennekes plug and connecting only L1, neutral and ground plus pilot and proximity should work. You might try L2 for an AC heater and L3 for a hair dryer but I have not tried that because the Mennekes plug is far too expensive for me. Proximity is used by european stuff for keying 16A or 32A so there hides trouble.

I'd say it is not a Mitsu problem but it is a Mennekes problem. They sell chargers for cars that still have to be built be european car makers in the first place.

I have got a second charger, no, it is not a charger but an EVSE, an Electric Vehicle power Socket Enabler, from Voltec for Opel Ampera. I guess you might get one for the Vauxhall Ampera. Next I am building something to override what the EVSE is telling the car so it will charge 16A whenever I want.

There will be a meeting for electric cars Saturday March 20. Maybe I can learn more at

http://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/de/de/alternative-antriebsformen

Okay, so here's a possible solution:

The early Mitsubishi i-Mievs in the UK (The ones which were part of the CABLED trail) seem to adhere to IEC 62196 (mode 1) charging, using the Type 1 J1772 connector.

If you look at the charging cable you got with the car, you'll notice that the cable itself is just a pass through of a standard 13A UK plug to the J1772 plug. There's no control box or portable EVSE on it. Big alarm bells there, so I thought it'd be worth checking the voltage across the pins at the J1772 end when the cable is plugged into the wall.

As I feared, it's always live -- 240V across N and L. That also means it'll always arc when you plug it into your iMiev.... but that's a different problem.

Anyway - the early cars appear to not be J1772 Type 1 compliant. They don't need an EVSE to work, just the J1772 connector wired to whatever you want at the other end.

UK Charging stations, the type 2 ones, require communications on the control pilot before they'll turn the relays inside them on. But I don't think the early Mitsubishi iMievs have anything connected back to the on-board charger for either PP and CP.

If I'm right, there's a solution: but it requires some DIY skill.

http://modularevpower.com/Active_Vehicle_Side_Control_development.htm -- Here's the Modular EV power J1772 active vehicle side control board. AVC1 and 2 I believe.

These boards are designed for EV conversion fans, to enable them to build EVs with off-the shelf chargers which talk nicely to J1772 charging stations.

But in this case, I believe early Mitsubishi i-Miev drivers should be able to use them to make their i-Mievs J1772 compliant.

Down side? I'm pretty sure it'll work, but you'll be stuck at 13A. Still, it does mean you'll be able to charge. And 13A charging is better than no charging, right!?

it's also possible to build a circuit using a couple of resistors and a diode, but I don't think it'd be as easy to implement as fitting one of these boards.

Thoughts? Comments?

I don't have an iMiev (only a Leaf and a Volt) but my friend just purchased a CABLED 2010 Mitsubishi i-Miev and we noticed it didn't want to work with Type 2 charging stations yesterday. So I started digging... and thinking.

As a side note: I used to own a Twizy (got rid of it after a short while because it wasn't reliable) and I built a J1772 adaptor box so I could plug the 13A TWizy into J1772 Type 2 units. It works a treat, using the two resistor, diode arrangement listed here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772#cite_note-brusa-16

Aminorjourney said:

Down side? I'm pretty sure it'll work, but you'll be stuck at 13A. Still, it does mean you'll be able to charge. And 13A charging is better than no charging, right!?

Thoughts? Comments?

Click to expand...

13 amps @ 240 volts is 3120 watts - The car's onboard charger is only capable of 3300 watts, so you'd have 95% of the maximum charging capability. Certainly 'better than nothing'

Don

Hi, anyone know where can I get a spare charging cable for my 2009 IMIEV (J1772 to 3 pin UK plug)? Apart from asking Mitsubishi.
Cheers

Wizzaman said:

Hi, anyone know where can I get a spare charging cable for my 2009 IMIEV (J1772 to 3 pin UK plug)? Apart from asking Mitsubishi.
Cheers

Click to expand...

If it's hot wired as I suspect in a Mode 1 fashion... you could probably make one if you can find a J1772 plug.

To be honest though, I'd be more tempted to do the 'AVC2' Mod.. (NOTE: no-one has tried this yet, it's only theoretical at this stage)

You'd end up with a Type 1 'compatible' iMiev which could use standard public charging stations with a Type 2 to Type 1 cable. It'd still be at the 10 or 13A limit of the original charge cable, but would give you more functionality.

http://www.gelcoservices.com.au/gelco_products.htm

This might be a solution for 2010 imievs

Gs 1011

Has anybody upgraded the charging on one of the 2009 cars now and is it easy to do?

Yes I have done it. You need to make an adaptor cable. I was given a set of instructions in German by someone I contacted through the forum. The parts cast around £100 and it requires a bit of DIY skill in wiring and soldering - nothing too complicated, but not completely straightforward. It wroks and I can now use any 7-pin charging unit which is really useful Do you want me to send you the instructions?

Hello. Yes some instructions would be a good idea for starters. I had a charging point put in and no one noticed the small print " not for I-miev on the CABLED trial" so I am charging from a 3 pin plug. Works well as I have a dedicated circuit for it but it gets warm and I wouldn't risk it on a random socket elsewhere.

I have a 2010 MIEV with the cable I got with the car - which seems to be a plain passthrough cable to the mains - no fancy control magic.
I live in Australia and the other end of the cable is a standard 15A male plug, like air conditioners, stoves and caravans use.

I ordered a second J1772 cable off ebay - one without the wall plug end (for a spare I can take around with me in the car, while leaving the primary one at home) and wired it to a shiny new 15A outdoor plug. I then tried charging the car with this new cable. It doesn't quite work.

When I plug it in, the car seems to sense the new cable but won't charge off it.
I get the yellow exclamation mark dash warning.

The main 3 wires (VAC, neutral and ground) are cabled correctly and an ohm meter says they're wired same as my main working cable.

I didn't wire the control pilot wire/pin anywhere. Maybe that's why it isn't working.
Should I have wired it somewhere?
Or is it possibly some faulty circuitry inside the J1772 "handle" (bulky make plug that goes into the car)?

Any advice appreciated!!

Thanks!

The GELCO site has some great info from Australia, and they sell an upgrade kit for early non-J1772 i-MiEV, part GS1011
http://www.gelcoservices.com.au/gelco_electric_vehicle.htm
(I have no relation to the vendor and no experience with their product)

I have a 2010 i-MiEV using the same cable charging system and want to upgrade it to the EVSE type so I can use public J1772 chargers.
At the moment it has the correct J1772 plug and socket with the proximity pin connected, but no pilot pin...so nothing happens when using a public J1772 charger.
I can fit a pilot pin in my cars socket and have bought an AV2C J1772 EVSE circuit from Modular Power to install in my car to replicate the EVSE signals.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261833304900

Has anyone done this before, would like to know the best way top do it?
I'm wondering if I upgrade to EVSE I won't be able to use my old charging cable anymore and will need to use an EVSE cable to charge at home?