iMiev Power Box ?

Earlier this year I remember seeing an announcement that Mitsubishi would offer an inverter that would allow you to use the iMiev battery pack as a backup home power suppy in the event of a blackout. It was designed to plug directly the DC Quick Charge port. Here's a link to a story about it:

http://www.plugincars.com/mitsubishi-unveils-blackout-inspired-i-miev-power-box-114873.html

Yet, I didn't see any futher notice on it or how we could purchase it. The large number of blackouts due to Hurricane Sandy made me think of this again. Does anyone know about it? Even if it had to be special ordered from Japan, it might make sense to have one for emergency situations.

Dan

The Japanese 100V 50 Hz unit would be incompatible with some of our appliances (120V 60 Hz).

I recall reading somewhere that the inverter option which is offered in Japan was rather pricey . . . . something around $2K US

I would be surprised if they were to offer a US equivalent (120/240 60 Hz unit) since they have sold so few cars here. I would think it wouldn't be all that difficult to build your own version though and I'll bet it could be done for a lot less than $2K, assuming your car already has the CHAdeMO socket. A standard 12 volt to 120 AC 5 KW unit is on sale right now from Harbor Freight for $399 - That inverter would be more expensive to build than a similar one for our car because of the currents involved. A 5Kw 12 volt inverter must handle over 400 amps DC to provide the power . . . . a similar inverter running off the cars 330 volt battery pack could provide the same 5Kw drawing only 15 amps DC. If you only needed a 3Kw output, it could be done using less than 10 amps. Components for 10 amps would be extremely cheap compared to the 400+ amp components used in the $400 12 volt version

http://www.harborfreight.com/5000-watt-continuous-10000-watt-peak-power-inverter-96706.html

Keep in mind the usefulness of such an emergency power supply. Inverters cannot provide too much power for too long before the battery powering them is exhausted. If you bought a 5Kw gasoline powered genset, you could power most of your home with it . . . . probably everything except for air conditioning and do it for as long as you had gasoline to run it. With a 5Kw inverter unit attached to your car's battery, you could only get 5Kw from it for about 3 hours, assuming your cars battery was fully charged when you started

If you built a 1Kw inverter intended only to keep your rerigerator from defrosting, you could probably power your refrigerator with it for several days, *if* you weren't powering anything else with it. Your car could provide 1Kw of continuous power for only around 15 or 16 hours

A better solution would probably be something like a Honda 2000i genset. I've had one for years and I use it pretty regularly - It's a very handy tool to have available when you need portable or emergency power. Small, portable, reliable, lightweight and VERY fuel efficient because it uses an inverter so that the engine only needs to run as fast as the load requires it to - Most gensets must run at a continuous 3600 RPM even when they are powering very small loads because they must run a constant speed to output a steady 60Hz. The little Honda could provide about 1Kw for 8 or 9 hours on only a gallon of gas. If you bought such a genset, you'd find yourself using it for many things besides power outages, so you'd be getting lots more for your money - You could even use it in a pinch to recharge your car!

http://www.wisesales.com/eu2000ia-honda-generator.html?utm_source=GoogleBaseFeed&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=GoogleBase&gclid=CLjXyLHu3rMCFU6mPAodYV8AwA

Don

Thanks Don, I agree that the USA ChAdeMO inverter will be low on Mitsubishi's priority list. Hopefully a third party will crack that nut with an inverter for all CHAdeMO cars (and a second cable for the SAE Frankenplug!).
I've checked that there is no voltage on the CHAdeMO socket when unplugged in a LEAF, but not the i, as I don't have one, though it would be a safe assumption. The iMiEV wiring diagrams don't appear to show a contactor in the DCQC onboard wiring, so the i and I are a bit confused by that... Being able to conntct to CHAdeMO and input or output through one's own offboard hardware without hacking factory harnesses would be highly desirable.

That Harbor Freight inverter...how does it connect to the iMiev?

It doesn't - It's a 12 volt to 120 AC inverter . . . . one for the car would be a 330 volt to 120 AC

I just showed it as an example that an inverter shouldn't cost $2K - If one that can handle 400 amps DC can be made and sold at a profit for only $400, then an inverter which only handles 10 or 15 amps should be much cheaper

Don

If you want MiEV Powerbox for i-MiEV, let Mitsubishi know....

The big problem with constructing your own -- CHAdeMO style protocol to convince ECU to allow power to flow from battery to port. Good luck with that! Email to Mitsubishi is much easier and more likely to be successful.

It would be a lot easier and cheaper, and your refrigerator would run a lot longer, if you just bought a 3000 watt generator and a 5-gallon gas can - Plus, you'd still have your MiEV to run around in, trying to find gas for the generator, then you could charge your MiEV to find more gas to charge your MiEV :mrgreen:

The 3000w generator I wanted to buy at Harbor Freight was only $299 with my coupon, and it supplies both 110v and 220v with a 4-cycle engine.

Unfortunately, it's too big to fit in my MiEV to cure my range anxiety, unless I fold the back seats down - So I'm trying to decide whether to throw the dice on that little 800w/900w peak 2-cycle generator that Harbor Freight has for $89 w/coupon to see if it will charge the MiEV without throwing the generator's breaker and/or burning up. But that's another subject entirely. That little $89 generator would still keep a refrigerator and freezer cold in a pinch, even if it can't charge the MiEV so we can find more gas to charge the MiEV :lol:

Has anyone tested the MiEV Power Box on a North American spec Outlander or MiEV? I'm wondering if the car will communicate with the unit.

I'm looking to buy one with a view to hacking it for 120V 60Hz. Might be as simple as changing the oscillator and adding an output transformer.

This document from Mitsubishi says "Japan market version only" https://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/en/discoveries/motorshow/2012/pms2012/pdf/PMS_MiEV_PB.pdf

Someone in NZ was able to get it to work with an Outlander there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM0zzbxrt60

Andrew

Andrew, thank you for finding this modern version of what Mitsu had about ten years ago that was unobtainable to us then.

Since Japan uses both 50Hz and 60Hz, the frequency may be switch-selectable (as he alluded-to in the video).

Jacking up the voltage may be as simple as running the output through a Variac.

I'll also try to poke around and see if I can help find us a source - the most expensive item in that unit is probably the CHAdeMO connector itself.
Edit: this one says SOLD OUT
https://www.croooober.com/en/item/c...EV-POWER-BOX-In-Case-Of-Emergency-Or-Disaster
Another Edit: this unit looks exactly like the one from 2012
Still looking for a supplier...

BTW, I seem to recall that somewhere around 2014 the Nissan Leaf's CHAdeMO was enabled to be bi-directional.

I haven't yet found an economic source for a MiEV power box. I expect there are quite a few collecting dust. If I could get my hands on one for under $500, I'd be willing to roll the dice.

I think leafs were bi-directional capable for the 2013 model year.

Andrew