Ah yes, bureaucracy and the fear of the consequences of a possible unsafe situation will kill a lot of good options.
Places that I have regularly charged (note: this does not include any public charging as any experienced EV'er would expect) are at a home where I only had the privilege of street parking, since the owners of the property used the driveway. The good thing of this home was that it was in an area that lacked sidewalks, so you would park on gravel or asphalt right next to the fence around the yard. Pedestrians would usually walk at the side of the road and not squeeze between fence and cars, so I could run my 100ft extension cord from the car next to the end of the driveway, up the far side of the driveway as to not be a trip hazard and plug into an outdoor outlet on the garage (which was used as storage). At work we had an outdoor patio with tables and seats and also an outdoor GFCI outlet. That outlet apparently had seen little use for years, so its internal contacts were corroded and when I started plugging in regularly and drawing up to 15A current, it soon burned the contact of the GFCI relay and no longer worked. Since it was the only thing wired to a separate 20A breaker, the building manager allowed me to swap the GFCI outlet with a new 20A one and that has provided me service for several years. The only drawback of using the patio outlet was that I needed to roll out the 100ft extension cord from one of the parking spaces behind the patio and alongside the building to the outlet, but that was a minor thing. Since then we moved to a different building with only one outdoor outlet in a busy spot of the parking and in full use by the landscaping, so I don't even want to try plugging into that. Instead I found an outlet next to the access to the electrical room in the back parking lot and as a backup I can park near either one of two other emergency exit doors (without blocking or causing a trip hazard obviously) and sneak an extension cord under the door, but I have only used that solution once. Since almost 4 years I charged at home in my garage from a 120V outlet, even though I have a JuiceBox ever since its first release, my truck was fine being charged from 120V since its 240V inlet was an L14-20 and I would need the converter cable (which I did carry in the truck) to convert from J1772 to L14-20, so I only used it when I needed public charging which was rare. Since this year I now have a factory EV (2011 Nissan Leaf) which I occasionally plug into the J1772 at home or into the 120V outlet at work. The last development is a US Electricar S10 that I am equipping with Leaf modules. It has standard 120/240V charging and I am probably going to install a J1772 inlet on it to make it easy to plug in. I also have plugged in when visiting friends and you can see if you can find anyone (residence or business) near the office park that will allow you to plug in for a modest fee to cover for electricity and inconvenience. Success! 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. ________________________________ From: Seth Rothenberg [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, December 26, 2016 12:45 PM To: Cor van de Water; Electric Vehicle Discussion List Subject: Re: [EVDL] Level 1 charging battery Cor, Thanks. Yes to all the above. I actually got an opportunity charge when I visited my brother 53 miles from home. We visited a local Rabbi who treated us to donuts candles and power. I work in an office park. Everything is locked down by their Corporate....and requests for change go through our Corporate beaurocracy. The one avenue not yet explored is a gas station/repair shop. There is a hole in the cinder block big enough to run a 12 ga. Extension cord....but the nearest outlet is far and shared. If I have to work on a Sunday, that might work. On Dec 26, 2016 2:34 PM, "Cor van de Water via EV" <[email protected]> wrote: 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 <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 <tel:%2B1%20408%20383%207626> Skype: cor_van_de_water XoIP +31 87 784 1130 <tel:%2B31%2087%20784%201130> 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] <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 <http://www.ebay.com/itm/191753106437?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPag e%0d%0aName=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 <http://www.ebay.com/itm/191752917891?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPag e%0d%0aName=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 <http://www.ebay.com/itm/201705518062?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPag e%0d%0aName=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 <http://www.ebay.com/itm/191752917891?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPag e%0d%0aName=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 <http://www.ebay.com/itm/191753106437?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPag e%0d%0aName=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. 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