Charging with L1 portable generator?

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Canardian

Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2013
Messages
7
I wonder if a portable 230V/9.5A 2200W generator can be used to charge my Nissan Leaf Tekna.
It would fit perfectly in the trunk of the car (47cm/60cm/47cm, 44kg), so I would have no range limits if it would work.
It looks like the electricity output is similar to my home electricity (230V/10A), or is there some other things to consider too?
 
There are several problems. The amperage the generator puts out is too low to do more than trickle charge even at full throttle, the power is probably "dirty" square-wave output instead of sine wave, and the exhaust would have to be routed outside the car. This is in addition to the obvious environmental, efficiency and common sense objections...

This idea comes up all the time even in two-wheeled EV forums. Yikes.
 
Ok, good to know that I need to check for a sine wave type generator. Exhaust is no problem since I would just carry the generator outside of the car when running it. But theoretically if charging takes 12h to 100% (=250km@60km/h), then charging for 1h could already give 40km range (since charging at lower % is faster), which could be enough to reach the next 30min->100% fast charge station.
 
No experience on the Leaf yet, mine is coming sometime in July, but there was a huge thread about this on teslamotorsclub.com. I suspect the Leaf would be similar. The title of the thread was something along the lines of "Hack charging on a generator".

As was mentioned here, for it to have a chance of working, you want an inverter based generator that can create a true-sine wave. The cheaper non-inverter generators just put too much noise in the power. The other thing that seemed to help was to turn the charging current down. If the generator was only running at half-capacity, it had a better chance of working.

Like you mention, this was primarily being planned as an emergency type situation where you hit Turtle mode away from any charging, so you plug in to get your vehicle charged enough to make it to a "real" outlet. While it could be done, I wouldn't want to be lugging around a gas generator in the back of the Leaf. Who wants to smell that gas all the time for the odd time that you run out of charge. Just preemptively stop somewhere and top off.
 
To avoid redundant threads please search the threads using the google search tool, this topic is covered extensively.
 
Note that most such generators will not properly handle the ground test of the EVSE and thus will not charge. You can make an adapter with a plug and a couple of resistors to solve this problem. This was discussed in detail in the other generator thread on the forum...
 
TomT said:
Note that most such generators will not properly handle the ground test of the EVSE and thus will not charge. You can make an adapter with a plug and a couple of resistors to solve this problem. This was discussed in detail in the other generator thread on the forum...
Is that true with 230/240 volts? I thought the ground/neutral bonding check was just a 120 volt issue.
 
LeftieBiker said:
EVDRIVER said:
To avoid redundant threads please search the threads using the google search tool, this topic is covered extensively.

It would have been helpful to http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=4047 LINK to a topic, too.

This would be a full time job. It would be helpful if members would try a simple search first. Feel free to provide this service:) Unfortunately this forum needs far too much baby sitting and has far too many redundant threads.
 
smkettner said:
TomT said:
Note that most such generators will not properly handle the ground test of the EVSE and thus will not charge. You can make an adapter with a plug and a couple of resistors to solve this problem. This was discussed in detail in the other generator thread on the forum...
Is that true with 230/240 volts? I thought the ground/neutral bonding check was just a 120 volt issue.


EVSE upgrade can lift the ground if needed for generator use, without resistors.
 
EVDRIVER said:
LeftieBiker said:
EVDRIVER said:
To avoid redundant threads please search the threads using the google search tool, this topic is covered extensively.

It would have been helpful to http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=4047 LINK to a topic, too.

This would be a full time job. It would be helpful if members would try a simple search first. Feel free to provide this service:) Unfortunately this forum needs far too much baby sitting and has far too many redundant threads.
Actually I did search, but didn't find any L1 generator thread. The other one was talking about a trailer with a generator and the other one about L2 generator.

L2 generator would of course be nice, but I think they would be too big and too heavy to be carried regularly on longer trips around.

Anyway thanks for the experiences, so far what I could gather is:
- make sure the generator produces true sine wave (can be probably measured with a oscilloscope)
- if charging does not work, try half-trottle
- the smell of gas should be eliminated (perhaps by storing the generator in a sealed plastic case)
- main purpose is only for emergency charging to get to the next outlet and avoid expensive towing (leaf must be towed with 2 wheels on the ground, with 4 wheels on the ground it will damage the car)
 
Canardian said:
EVDRIVER said:
LeftieBiker said:
It would have been helpful to http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=4047 LINK to a topic, too.

This would be a full time job. It would be helpful if members would try a simple search first. Feel free to provide this service:) Unfortunately this forum needs far too much baby sitting and has far too many redundant threads.

Anyway thanks for the experiences, so far what I could gather is:
- make sure the generator produces true sine wave (can be probably measured with a oscilloscope)
- if charging does not work, try half-trottle
- the smell of gas should be eliminated (perhaps by storing the generator in a sealed plastic case)
- main purpose is only for emergency charging to get to the next outlet and avoid expensive towing (leaf must be towed with 2 wheels on the ground, with 4 wheels on the ground it will damage the car)

1- Make a grounding plug (covered in other threads)
2- Make sure the generator is operated at "continuos load" amp setting and not above (it may be called a 2kW genset, but only capable of 1.6kW continuous). Divide the kW by the voltage (120/240) to get how many amps you can pull. So, 1.6kW / 120 volts = 13.3 amps. With such a limit, you could operate at the typical stock 120 volt - 12 amp setting of the EVSE. If you have your EVSE so modified, you could select the exact amperage of the EVSE to match the generator limits.
3- Hauling gasoline in a passenger compartment is potentially deadly and illegal. Consider storing your gasoline in a small, sturdy container under the hood, strapped or bolted down. Or, add a trailer hitch receiver and use a simple external rack to place the generator and gasoline.
4- Towing is free with a LEAF for three years. Also, while 4 wheel towing might be discouraged in the owner's manual, if the car is in neutral, you aren't going to hurt anything. It will merely turn the motor freely like coasting down the road. Sorry, there's no bogey man there.

MODERATORS - Please merge this with the appropriate thread.
 
Canardian said:
Actually I did search, but didn't find any L1 generator thread. The other one was talking about a trailer with a generator and the other one about L2 generator.

L2 generator would of course be nice, but I think they would be too big and too heavy to be carried regularly on longer trips around.

Anyway thanks for the experiences, so far what I could gather is:
- make sure the generator produces true sine wave (can be probably measured with a oscilloscope)
- if charging does not work, try half-trottle
- the smell of gas should be eliminated (perhaps by storing the generator in a sealed plastic case)
- main purpose is only for emergency charging to get to the next outlet and avoid expensive towing (leaf must be towed with 2 wheels on the ground, with 4 wheels on the ground it will damage the car)
Actually the generator in the first post was 230 volts. I call that L2. Maybe the title should be changed.

L1 is 120 volts AFAIK.
 
A Honda EU2000i is rated for 2000W, 120v
Weighs 46lbs.

At full 2kW load, it will run 4 hours on 1.1 gallons of gas.

The L1 EVSE uses 1350W. Figure 5 hours, then?

So, a 5hr L1 charge at 1.1 gallons is good for 27 miles, or... 24mpg.

= pointless
 
toasty said:
...So, a 5hr L1 charge at 1.1 gallons is good for 27 miles, or... 24mpg.

= pointless
If it were the only way to get from point A to B, then I could see doing it once or twice. However, electricity is pretty much EVERYWHERE. I would think that in most instances, an outlet could be found. You might have to ask nicely, or offer to pay, but you should be able to find one most times.
 
If you live in an area where there are frequent power outages, having such a generator at home would keep you from being stranded, if you only owned EVs. Of course, people who live in such areas probably already have one.
 
leafedbehind said:
If you live in an area where there are frequent power outages, having such a generator at home would keep you from being stranded, if you only owned EVs. Of course, people who live in such areas probably already have one.

Yes, but they aren't usually sine wave types. The little Champion gen I have for outages might be able to charge the Leaf on L-1 (or even L-2) but I don't think I'd risk it.
 
Why would it need to be a pure sine wave? Surely, the first thing an EVSE switch mode current limiter would do is rectify the input waveform to feed DC power capacitors?
 
Virtually all generators are sine wave. Although some loads will cause significant distortion. Sine wave is the natural form when a coil of wire passes next to a magnet on a regular basis.
 
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