Is Nissan researching a gasoline based electricity generator

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DanCar

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Joined
Apr 24, 2010
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Location
SF Bay area, 94043
Is Nissan researching a gasoline based electricity generator? One that could be towed or possibly fit in storage compartment? I live in Phoenix but occasionally travel to Tucson. Would love to rent a generator for the longer trips.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genset_trailer
 
Fit in a storage compartment, don't count on it; generators that powerful are too big and heavy to just move in and out, and there's all sorts of noise, heat, and pollution issues. Towable, there already are towable generators, although someone will need to hack the vehicle to accept a charge while in motion, and the vehicle will have to be capable of towing. If it's at all possible, I'm sure someone like AC Propulsion will do it. It really seems the logical solution; I mean, a single trailer could be shared among a dozen different people. They readily lend themselves to rental or all sorts of other similar systems.
 
DanCar said:
Is Nissan researching a gasoline based electricity generator? One that could be towed or possibly fit in storage compartment? I live in Phoenix but occasionally travel to Tucson. Would love to rent a generator for the longer trips.
I suspect Nissan is lookning more towards a charging infrastructure - charging stations placed like gasoline stations currently are along the freeway. Specifically for us Phoenix/Tucson people, I doubt we'll have to worry about this. I would imagine that there will be one or two charging stations somewhere between the two cities to let us "fill up" and be able to make the trip.

We'll have to wait and see.

Jason T
 
KarenRei said:
Fit in a storage compartment, don't count on it; generators that powerful are too big and heavy to just move in and out, and there's all sorts of noise, heat, and pollution issues.
Yes, the vehicle would have to be designed from the beginning to handle those issues. The "heavy" issue can be handled by the rental station using a crane. Athough I'm not sure it has to be that big. What if it only supplied an additional 5kW? That still would be helpful. Worst case is that you would have to drive at 50mph on the freeway. In cold climates the heat would be helpful. Anyways, the trailer idea seems better. Too bad GM didn't chose this option for the volt.
JasonT said:
I suspect Nissan is looking more towards a charging infrastructure ... I would imagine that there will be one or two charging stations somewhere between the two cities to let us "fill up" and be able to make the trip.
I'd rather tow a generator then wait 30 minutes at a gas station. Also I can head down to Mexico if I wish, with out worrying if there are charging stations.
 
5kW generators are still like 200lbs -- not the sort of thing you want to load in and out. And even if the Leaf used 250Wh/mi at 55mph, that would take almost 14kW to sustain.

Trailers are the way to go. Hopefully Nissan will make this a possibility. Just give us a trailer hitch that can tow 500lbs, have an option for a rear charging port, and we're a go. :) I really do believe that's going to be the best solution for the general public until rapid charging becomes fast and common enough, wherein that will become the solution until ranges get long enough that you can do a full day's driving on a single charge. Wherein who cares how fast you can charge, so long as you can fill up overnight and during meals. ;)

57457d1261144928-ex-7-electric-rx-7-conversion-long_ranger_tom12.jpg
 
LTLFTcomposite said:
For a longer weekend trip wouldn't it be easier to just rent a regular car?
I think many people, like myself have a personal attachment to their car. The rental process is a pain including the visual inspection. I would think picking up a trailer would be easier, or even easier if a few neighbors shared one.

I've had 4 cars in my household. Long term (7 years) would be good if all were electric and had one trailer to share among them.
 
KarenRei said:
5kW generators are still like 200lbs -- not the sort of thing you want to load in and out. And even if the Leaf used 250Wh/mi at 55mph, that would take almost 14kW to sustain.

I've wondered about this. To be sure, you would need a 20 to 25KVA generator. Nissan should provide a charger at the back.

How much is that Rav4EV trailer in terms of continuous kw ?

edit : Something like this. 17.5 KW. 10 hours operation @ 1.6 Gallons/hour.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200379773_200379773

165883_lg.jpg
 
evnow said:
KarenRei said:
5kW generators are still like 200lbs -- not the sort of thing you want to load in and out. And even if the Leaf used 250Wh/mi at 55mph, that would take almost 14kW to sustain.

I've wondered about this. To be sure, you would need a 20 to 25KVA generator. Nissan should provide a charger at the back.

How much is that Rav4EV trailer in terms of continuous kw ?

20KW DC, the LongRanger trailer also weighed in at # 350

see darels link: http://www.evnut.com/rav_longranger.htm

Mitch
 
After market applications are possible. There is no way a major OEM is going to launch into generator sales. (Even Honda isn't jumping on that bandwagon and they make a series of excellent ones)
 
sjfotos said:
After market applications are possible. There is no way a major OEM is going to launch into generator sales. (Even Honda isn't jumping on that bandwagon and they make a series of excellent ones)
Hopefully the OEM makes it easy to add one by having a power socket on the back, trailer hitch, and computer connection. The computer connection should allow the cars computers to indicate when it should turn on and off. Would be nice if you could see on the dash how much fuel is available in the generator.
 
DanCar said:
Hopefully the OEM makes it easy to add one by having a power socket on the back, trailer hitch, and computer connection. The computer connection should allow the cars computers to indicate when it should turn on and off. Would be nice if you could see on the dash how much fuel is available in the generator.

Lawyers will make sure such commonsense approach will not be taken :-(
 
I feel like I'm missing something here - if you want a gasoline range extender, why not just go with the Volt instead? Not every car fills every need - my Mazda Miata will only carry two people, and can't go off-roading (heck, it sometimes can't handle speed bumps). Obviously different limiations apply when it comes to the Leaf

Do I wish the Leaf had more range? Certainly. But I wouldn't dream of hitching a gas engine to it - I'm getting the Leaf to get away from a gas engine!
 
JasonT said:
I feel like I'm missing something here - if you want a gasoline range extender, why not just go with the Volt instead? Not every car fills every need - my Mazda Miata will only carry two people, and can't go off-roading (heck, it sometimes can't handle speed bumps). Obviously different limiations apply when it comes to the Leaf

Do I wish the Leaf had more range? Certainly. But I wouldn't dream of hitching a gas engine to it - I'm getting the Leaf to get away from a gas engine!

Yes, of course. However, for the occasional trip you need to make beyond the range of the Leaf, and to not bother with inconvience of a rental, a group or number of people could have a towable generator, that is shared among them. That is what we are discussing. It's not for everyday use, its for when you need to go on that 300 mile drive once or twice a year, and there aren't Level 3 charging stations on the way, once the entire country is "EV ready" there would no longer be a need for these trailers.

It certainly cheaper than having a 2nd spare vehicle for those trips, and easier than a rental.

as far as the Volt is concerned, well, I won't bore you with what my opinions on that subject are.
 
JasonT said:
if you want a gasoline range extender, why not just go with the Volt instead?

Why lug the generator around all the time - when I need it only 2 or 3 times a year. Besides with volt evey week I'd have to use gas once or twice.
 
I suspect that the firmware in the Leaf is designed to Charge OR Drive, but not both at the same time.
Parts of the "charging" circuitry might even be occupied with Regen, and not available for an "external" charge.
 
garygid said:
I suspect that the firmware in the Leaf is designed to Charge OR Drive, but not both at the same time.
Parts of the "charging" circuitry might even be occupied with Regen, and not available for an "external" charge.

you could be right, that's why 3rd party aftermarket companies will pop up with all kinds of mods, similar to what's happened with the prius, I can think of a few already, the towable range extender, after market rear wheel skirts, doubling the level 2 charger to 6.6kw (which Nissan is rumored to be working on but not for the initial Leafs), and of course someone will come out with an inverter to run your house during a blackout, I'm sure the Leaf will be hacked....
 
I would expect Nissan to make their firmware difficult to hack.

However, I think they would be wise to make it easy to update in the field ... perhaps using an encrypted update file, maybe even S/N or VIN-specific.
 
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