Seth, I presume this is still so you can charge your Leaf at work? Really the simplest way is to find a Level 1 plug to plug into. It does start with scouting around the building if there is any accessible plug, either on the outside or near enough to a door that has enough gap underneath to allow a cord strung from your parking to that outlet. I have even considered an outlet on the roof (all commercial buildings here have HVAC on the roof, often with extra outlets sitting around that are either no longer needed or can be controlled from switches or timers. Even parking lot lighting might be an option, though there is usually no provision for additional power beyond the service the lights already are wired to, so you'd need to live on reduced budget and there is also the question of if it permanent power or on a timer? When powering from an inaccessible outlet, so you need the cord to stay in place it is recommended to not leave the power on outside the times you use it, so either get a remote controlled outlet switch or a timer to only power the cord at times you are there, to avoid abuse.
Now for your idea of the bike battery: Those packs are often optimized for bike use which typically draw around 400W so you might see 24, 36 and 48V packs with around 15-20A max draw and my experience (though that is a few years old) has been that many of those cheap pouch packs are hard pressed to maintain even 1C discharge (which would be 30A in case of a 30Ah pack. The standard Leaf trickle charger draws exactly 12A from 120V so 1440 Watts. This requires at least 2-3kVA inverter and such an inverter if such an inverter comes from a UPS that has an internal battery pack, is typically designed to work 5 minutes at full power and then run out of battery. So, if you are supplying external power you must de-rate the inverter or it will quickly overheat. For example it may use a transformer that *can* generate 2000VA but it is cheap and lossy so it produces a lot of heat and it is not cooled since it only needs to work 5 minutes before shutdown. If you want to use a larger bike pack to recharge the Leaf through an inverter, scout for an inverter from a UPS that has external battery connectors and can be wired to a large number of packs to provide real backup power, or start with an inverter designed for off-grid supply and get one that is known to have a rugged quality. Someone several years back blogged about his experience with a Chinese made and designed inverter from Power Jack which he essentially re-designed to work: https://ludens.cl/Electron/chinverter/chinverter.html I have had good experience with PowerWare a solid US brand UPS that I believe is now owned by Eaton, another UPS maker. That inverter worked off external 120VDC battery packs, so an ideal combination with the EV that I used to drive which had 120V lead-acid pack, so I simply wired the inverter to that pack and have used it to provide backup power for hours. I am no longer using it as I sold the EV. Recently I bought an APC SURT to see if I can run it off a Leaf pack in my truck. I rather spend my money on high quality used stuff rather than questionable quality new stuff, but have to accept that it looks used. For charging I hardly ever plug into L2 charging, just L1 and at work I can park in the back, in front of the access door to the electrical room, where I plug the trickle charger into a standard wall outlet. I also carry a 100ft extension cord, just in case. Cor van de Water Chief Scientist Proxim Wireless office +1 408 383 7626 Skype: cor_van_de_water XoIP +31 87 784 1130 private: cvandewater.info http://www.proxim.com This email message (including any attachments) contains confidential and proprietary information of Proxim Wireless Corporation. If you received this message in error, please delete it and notify the sender. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution, or copying of any part of this message is prohibited. -----Original Message----- From: EV [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Seth Rothenberg via EV Sent: Monday, December 26, 2016 9:42 AM To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List Subject: Re: [EVDL] Level 1 charging battery I'm taking another look at Level 1 charging. I saw a post by a kind knowledgable member here about Volt modules. I think new batteries and inverter(s) would be easier for me to work with. Does anyone know of a single source for both an "ebike pack" with charger and inverter? Barring that, I am considering an ebike battery/charger and an inverter 48v 50ah Lifepo4 Lithium Battery Portable Battery E-Bike Scooter Power Packs+BMS http://www.ebay.com/itm/191753106437?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPage Name=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT $800.00 or 48v 30ah Lifepo4 Lithium Battery Portable Battery E-Bike Scooter Power Packs+BMS http://www.ebay.com/itm/191752917891?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPage Name=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT US $580.00 My first throught was to buy one 30ah pack and if it works, get a second. Either to use in parallel or in succession. The 30ah size is smaller and lighter, more manageable. But I don't know if the 30ah battery pack would supply enough amps continuously. Maybe I need the 50ah. I am told the Leaf charger draws 12amps I appreciate your throughts. Seth Pure Sine Wave Inverter 3000W Power Inverter 48V to 120V Off Grid LED Display US $313.20 http://www.ebay.com/itm/201705518062?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPage Name=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT (They also have a slightly smaller one for a few dollars less) Details on the batteries: 48v 30ah Lifepo4 Lithium Battery Portable Battery E-Bike Scooter Power Packs+BMS http://www.ebay.com/itm/191752917891?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPage Name=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT US $580.00 48V 30Ah LiFePO4 Battery pack is made of 16 pcs of 30000mAh LiFePO4 Cells * One Special 16 cells PCB with balance function is installed with battery pack to protect battery from over charging, over discharging and over drain * Voltage : 48V * Capacity: 30Ah * Cut-off voltage: 34V * Max. discharging current: 30Amp * Max Continuous Discharging Amperage: 25 Amps * Rated Discharging Amperage: 20 Amps * Charging Current: <5 Amps * Charging Voltage: 57.6 Volts * Lifecycle: > 85% capacity after 1000 cycles. * Lifecycle of single cell: >85% capacity after 1500 cycles, > 70% capacity after 3000 cycles. (<1C discharge rate and <1C charge rate) * Dimension: 280X170X150mm * Weight: about 14kg 48v 50ah Lifepo4 Lithium Battery Portable Battery E-Bike Scooter Power Packs+BMS http://www.ebay.com/itm/191753106437?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPage Name=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT $800.00 One Special 16 cells PCB with balance function is installed with battery pack to protect battery from over charging, over discharging and over drain * Voltage : 48V * Capacity: 50Ah * Cut-off voltage: 34V * Max. discharging current: 100Amp * Max Continuous Discharging Amperage: 50 Amps * Rated Discharging Amperage: 40 Amps * Charging Current: <5 Amps * Charging Voltage: 57.6 Volts * Lifecycle: > 85% capacity after 1000 cycles. * Lifecycle of single cell: >85% capacity after 1500 cycles, > 70% capacity after 3000 cycles. (<1C discharge rate and <1C charge rate) * Dimension: 290X220X190mm * Weight: about 21kg -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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