charging with portable generator

[jp54]

Hi,I'm newbie to the message board and to ev ownership.
Just bought used 2011 leaf with partially depleted battery. Does anybody know what is the amperage when charging the car with small portable generator? Is the amperage constant or fluctuating?
Trying to decide whether 1250W generator is sufficient.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge
John

[Durandal]

While technically getting a generator with 1300W capacity for L1 charging would work, it would be stressing out the generator to work at 100% like that. I would recommend 2000w generator for L1 charging, and a 5000w generator for L2 charging. If you want to bring it with you in the Leaf, you may want to consider Propane instead of gasoline as you won't have the stench of gasoline, and the generator will last longer. I would recommend L2 charging at 240v instead of L1 charging at L1 as it will cut the charging time 3x and is more efficient as well.

[jp54]

Durandal!
Thank you for expert advise. I know eventually I need to replace/refurbish the battery so while waiting for the procedure price to come down few extra miles goes long way. However portable power station seems to be less messy although more expensive option. What do you think?

[komondor5]

Why would you buy a car you need to charge with no electricity available?

[GerryAZ]

I am not sure what you mean by "portable power station", but any battery-operated units will not have enough capacity to charge a LEAF. You need a 2000 watt generator to charge at 120 volts because the Nissan EVSE allows the car to draw 12 amperes which is 1440 watts. The current ramps up quickly when the car starts to charge so you need some overload capability in the generator for the initial surge.

[BrianMoser]

It has several charging options. They all can be charged really fast at the bus voltage of 380V at one of the quick-charge stations. Supposed to be under 30 min to get to 80% charge from near zero.

They all also come with a 115V 15 amp compatible (uses 12 amps) built-in charger which will charge up the car from zero in about 21 hours. If you have a lot of solar, generating 115V at 12 amps (which is about 1400 watts) is not out of the realm of possibility. 2kW of panels would do it even with solar converter and inverter losses. We carry 1100 watts but could easily bump that to 2kW.

A Honda EU3000iS generator could charge it.

Almost all pay campgrounds have 115V 15 amp outlets, even the cheap army corp campgrounds.

The point is that it is a huge battery bank. Probably enough juice to run a rig for a week with no sun or generator. Not practical for the van camper maybe, but for a person who was considering a big lead-acid bank in a big rig...

[Oilpan4]

Hi,I'm newbie to the message board and to ev ownership.
Just bought used 2011 leaf with partially depleted battery. Does anybody know what is the amperage when charging the car with small portable generator? Is the amperage constant or fluctuating?
Trying to decide whether 1250W generator is sufficient.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge
John

No a generator like that with a floating neutral won't work no matter what the amps.
You need a generator with a bonded neural-ground.

[Linus]

[/quote]

No a generator like that with a floating neutral won't work no matter what the amps.
You need a generator with a bonded neural-ground.
[/quote]

Funny you say that, I was thinking about that last night. My Yamaha 2400i won't run my water heater in the house during a power outage unless I bond it.

I think I'll test it with the car one of these days.

[LeftieBiker]

I've been told that you can run one element of a water heater by powering it at 120 volts. I wish I'd known that during the 3 day outage of 2006...

[johnlocke]

I've been told that you can run one element of a water heater by powering it at 120 volts. I wish I'd known that during the 3 day outage of 2006...

I have a solar hot water system that uses a 13KW electric tankless water heater for backup. The 13 KW heater is good for everything as long as the main tank is over 85 degrees. If it falls below that then the 13KW tankless can't keep up when filling a bathtub. Still ok for a shower or doing dishes though. There is a 4500W element in the storage tank. I hooked that up to 120VAC for about 1100W and set the thermostat to 90 degrees. Works great. The house is on a 20KW backup generator with an automatic transfer switch because I got tired of 12 hour blackouts 4-5 times every winter. Plus now SDG&E shuts off power during high winds.