Using the battery as an emergency supply

[9h1bw]

I was reading that mitshubishi marketed an emergency 200 v ac supply inverter for the Japanese market. Did it ever reach the european Market? If yes can one still buy one?

Alternatively can one source a 330 v dc to 230v ac Inverter?

I also read that one can tap the auxiliary 12v battery and attach an inverter to it. How feasible is this? How much power can one extract from the dc to dc converter?

 

[PV1]

I don't think the MiEV Powerbox (as the inverter is called) ever made it out of the Japanese market.

However, as you pointed out, we can use a 12 volt inverter attached to the 12 volt battery and use stored energy that way. The DC-DC converter in the car is rated at 80 amps, but you'd want to limit it to 60 amps or less if you're pulling power for a while. 60 amps at 12 volts is 720 watts. Considering the car's own power consumption to maintain READY mode, a full charge would last about 15 hours at that rate.

The Powerbox is capable of about 1,500 watts if you can find one, but the big unknown is if non-JDM I-MiEVs have the code to support power output through the CHAdeMO port.

 

[Luddite]

Hi All,

New user here. I just bought my ion (2011 model) 3 weeks ago.
The 12v option looks like it will work for pretty much all EVs.
Just stumbled upon this video published today -

How To Power Your House In an Emergency From Your Electric Car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADqk4IjzjXs

Hope this helps.

 

[9h1bw]

Thank you both for your informative reply.

I had a look at the Transport Evolved video you posted and it is just what I was looking for.

I do have a 1kw inverter which I use for my ham radio activities and so I do not need to invest in anything. In fact I could use my radio , with in limits, (I have to get home) during a field day (that is ham speak to operate in some field away from the grid) . It would eliminate the use of a generator. Or lugging a heavy lead acid battery.

I will have to carry out some tests to see what autonomy I can depend on.

Thanks once again.

Chris.

 

[jray3]

One possibility to not overlook is using the i-MiEV in parallel with a larger 12V battery (or battery bank) attached to the inverter. A permanent pigtail on the i-MiEV battery using an Anderson SB50 connector rather than jumper cables does the trick. This would allow much larger intermittent loads than the 830 W or so that our DC-DC should peak at (13.8Vx60A). I just spent a week 'off-grid' on a sailboat with a 3 kW inverter, and was able to use the 120 VAC microwave, hot plate and coffee maker as desired with no more inconvenience than remembering to not use all three at once! (Onboard solar and wind kept the three Group 31 AGM batteries topped off.)

 

[9h1bw]

That is an excellent idea and will try it. My 100 w transmitter draws 20 amps on peak. I will need to find a load that will give me the right average current consumed during duty cycle of reception and transmission and see how many hours of autonomy per notch on the fuel gauge will give me.

Regards

Chris

 

[pbui19]

Since we live in the hills and sometimes the roads get closed; I am also planning to charge the i from the roof top solar panels when it's sunny out. Unfortunately I don't think it's possible to charge the i while in ready mode; but not a problem since it'll be day time and sunny.

 

[Aerowhatt]

Since we live in the hills and sometimes the roads get closed; I am also planning to charge the i from the roof top solar panels when it's sunny out. Unfortunately I don't think it's possible to charge the i while in ready mode; but not a problem since it'll be day time and sunny.

You are in luck though because during charging L1 or L2 the dc to dc converter is powered and charging the 12 volt battery under the hood. So you can pull 12 volt power off the system while it is charging too.

Aerowhatt

 

[jray3]

UPDATE- found my answer in the best resource, this here forum! (A CANbus signal is required.)
http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1751

Does anyone know if our DC-DC is 'turned on' via a CANbus command, or is it simply connected downstream of a relay, such that it only sees HV input when the car is charging or turned on? I'm interested in using salvaged i-MiEV dc-dc in other applications. (but haven't done my own research yet by studying the wiring diagrams) :roll:

Seattle EV Assoc had a presentation this week from Craig Smith of http://opengarages.org/handbook/ , in which it came up that Teslas prior to a certain build date only turned their DC-DC on via CANbus commands, but since that time have energized any time they see a HV input, making them more DIY-sirable

 

[pbui19]

You are in luck though because during charging L1 or L2 the dc to dc converter is powered and charging the 12 volt battery under the hood. So you can pull 12 volt power off the system while it is charging too.

Aerowhatt

would the i have to be in non-ready mode ? i believe L1/L2 charging only occurs in off ? Thanks for the tip by the way.

 

[Aerowhatt]

You are in luck though because during charging L1 or L2 the dc to dc converter is powered and charging the 12 volt battery under the hood. So you can pull 12 volt power off the system while it is charging too.

Aerowhatt

would the i have to be in non-ready mode ? i believe L1/L2 charging only occurs in off ? Thanks for the tip by the way.

Start charging first then you can turn the key to accessory or on, either one. You can use the fan and all other electronics inside the car. The DC to DC provides the power. Powering an inverter off the 12 volt battery is the same deal, power comes from the wall (or solar system) through the DC to DC converter. As long as you started charging L1 or L2 with the key in the off position to start with. Then you can turn the key on and do whatever you want to (except drive the car) The charging does not stop because the key was turned on!

Aerowhatt

 

[9h1bw]

Hi all I just found the time to experiment using the battery as an emergency supply.

Using an inverter I attached a 95watt electric bulb and monitored the consumption using a kill a watt meter. I let the load on until one notch on the fuel meter was consumed.

The result is not very exciting since I consumed 0.24kwhr at the kill a watt meter, while the fuel meter showed I used up one notch. According to my reckoning each notch is equivalent to 1kwhr. Thus way more energy was consumed than used by my load.

Am I mistaken in my calculations?

 

[wmcbrine]

Am I mistaken in my calculations?

It's possible that most of that "notch" was already gone when you started. Plus we know the gauge is non-linear. I think you'll need a more accurate way to measure the car's charge. (Canion?)

 

[9h1bw]

Before I took the measurement I allowed the load on until the first used notch was used up.

Do you have any recommendations on how I can measure the consumption more accurately?

 

[kiev]

yes, purchase an LX OBDlink dongle for $50 from scantool.net and download the android app, Canion, to monitor the voltage and current of the pack. It will be the best $ ever spent...

 

[9h1bw]

Thank you for your recommendations.
Just to clarify what I did. I had the engine set to Ready during the test.

 

[9h1bw]

I have just found a dc to ac inverter which has an input voltage of 380 volts dc to 230 v ac. Do i have to programme the iMiev to be able to use the dc charger output ?

Does anyone have the pin connection for the dc plug?

 

[kiev]

i have a labelled picture on myevblog site, here's a link:

http://fsamw.myevblog.com/i-miev-technical-stuff/dc-quick-charge-notes/

 

[9h1bw]

Kiev,

That is a very interesting blog you have put up. Do you have photos of the relay and how to get to the relay and Chadomo?

I am assuming you have tried to use the Chadomo dc output to an inverter. What were your findings and how well does it work?

Thanks

Chris

 

[kiev]

i just did it to learn how to get access to the pack voltage terminals. i made some 9mm terminals to plug in, but haven't used them for either charging or as a power supply. This was back before i could read the CAN buss data so don't know what kind of messages get sent out by the car while doing this, but it would be interesting to read some time.

Here is a diagram and photo of the relay to go along with the instructions on the blog:

You will likely get better efficiency running direct vs using Ready Mode--avoids the ON state overhead loads.