driving while the charger is plugged in?

[JChabot]

Hi, I am sure this has been discussed before just can't seem to find anything on it. How do i get my car to start and drive with the charger plugged in? I found the trick to get the Honda EU2000 to charge but my EGolf won't start with it plugged. How do i trick it?

 

[miimura]

Hi, I am sure this has been discussed before just can't seem to find anything on it. How do i get my car to start and drive with the charger plugged in? I found the trick to get the Honda EU2000 to charge but my EGolf won't start with it plugged. How do i trick it?

This is a safety feature so you can't accidentally drive away when plugged in. Driving with a portable generator plugged in and running is inherently a bad idea. Please give it up.

 

[eeedub]

Curious if you ever got this working?

I agree its not the best idea, but I don't think its the most dangerous thing you will see out on the road.

Thinking a hitch and rear basket/platform with a little gen to help squeak a bit of range out of the car would be really nice. I have had a lot of trips recently that are just a bit too close to the range of my e-golf so I leave it in the driveway and fire up the dirty diesel...

 

[forbin404]

Curious if you ever got this working?

I agree its not the best idea, but I don't think its the most dangerous thing you will see out on the road.

Thinking a hitch and rear basket/platform with a little gen to help squeak a bit of range out of the car would be really nice. I have had a lot of trips recently that are just a bit too close to the range of my e-golf so I leave it in the driveway and fire up the dirty diesel...

You know it takes an hour to get 5 miles to get an eGolf with a Level 1. This idea is just rube goldbergy.

 

[Jeremy1026]

Curious if you ever got this working?

I agree its not the best idea, but I don't think its the most dangerous thing you will see out on the road.

Thinking a hitch and rear basket/platform with a little gen to help squeak a bit of range out of the car would be really nice. I have had a lot of trips recently that are just a bit too close to the range of my e-golf so I leave it in the driveway and fire up the dirty diesel...

You know it takes an hour to get 5 miles to get an eGolf with a Level 1. This idea is just rube goldbergy.

Not to mention the added weight of a trailer, generator, and fuel will probably knock those 5 miles of range off the e-Golf.

 

[bizzle]

When I was contemplating this idea suitably sized generators were in the $7K-$10K range.

 

[95GLX]

Everyone does realize that this is clearly a troll post right?

 

[forbin404]

Everyone does realize that this is clearly a troll post right?

Those are the best!

 

[eeedub]

You know it takes an hour to get 5 miles to get an eGolf with a Level 1. This idea is just rube goldbergy.

Right so lets assume you use the generator in the original post which should run a level 1 charger. If drive 60mph, in the course of an hour driving you drive 60miles and offset 5 of those, thats about a 9% range savings/ increase. if you drive slower it gets better, if you have a destination which involves a stop (with no charging station) you leave the gen running and have more miles than when you got out of the car. Obviously the car isnt gonna take you cross country with this setup, but in day to day stuff it might make it a bit more usable, in some cases an extra 5-10 miles would make all the difference.

A larger generator would give better results, and if you can put together the right DC generator (making the car a REX) then you could have unlimited range.

I know it might not be the most cost effective setup or practical, but hey, there are plenty of people who would say that a car that can only travel ~80 miles and then needs to sit in a specific spot for 4 hours is not practical either...

 

[forbin404]

You know it takes an hour to get 5 miles to get an eGolf with a Level 1. This idea is just rube goldbergy.

Right so lets assume you use the generator in the original post which should run a level 1 charger. If drive 60mph, in the course of an hour driving you drive 60miles and offset 5 of those, thats about a 9% range savings/ increase. if you drive slower it gets better, if you have a destination which involves a stop (with no charging station) you leave the gen running and have more miles than when you got out of the car. Obviously the car isnt gonna take you cross country with this setup, but in day to day stuff it might make it a bit more usable, in some cases an extra 5-10 miles would make all the difference.

A larger generator would give better results, and if you can put together the right DC generator (making the car a REX) then you could have unlimited range.

I know it might not be the most cost effective setup or practical, but hey, there are plenty of people who would say that a car that can only travel ~80 miles and then needs to sit in a specific spot for 4 hours is not practical either...

That's why I said Rube Goldbergy, you get an additional 5 miles. You also have to factor in all the extra weight that the generator and whatever you are towing it with (Because if you stick a generator in the car .. you die from the carbon monoxide), you also have to modify your software to allow this.

Way too much work for 5 miles.

 

[eeedub]

"software change" could be a checkbox in vcds, dont have a cable so cant say for sure

extra weight is ~50 lbs for the gen or about the same as the extra crap most people have sitting in their trunk, not gonna cause a significant decrease in range

Thanks for the info on CO

And let me re-iterate, this might not be cost effective or practical, but that doesnt mean its not worth discussing... There are a few kits on the market that do basically what we are discussing, just permanently installed with a bit more capacity

 

[Jeremy1026]

What about the trailer, the hitch, the fuel, the added drag? Is that all sitting in the average trunk too?

 

[JoulesThief]

"software change" could be a checkbox in vcds, dont have a cable so cant say for sure

extra weight is ~50 lbs for the gen or about the same as the extra crap most people have sitting in their trunk, not gonna cause a significant decrease in range

Thanks for the info on CO

And let me re-iterate, this might not be cost effective or practical, but that doesnt mean its not worth discussing... There are a few kits on the market that do basically what we are discussing, just permanently installed with a bit more capacity

Buy a BMW i3 REx if you want that feature, or a Chevrolet Volt.

 

[forbin404]

"software change" could be a checkbox in vcds, dont have a cable so cant say for sure

extra weight is ~50 lbs for the gen or about the same as the extra crap most people have sitting in their trunk, not gonna cause a significant decrease in range

Thanks for the info on CO

And let me re-iterate, this might not be cost effective or practical, but that doesnt mean its not worth discussing... There are a few kits on the market that do basically what we are discussing, just permanently installed with a bit more capacity

Buy a BMW i3 REx if you want that feature, or a Chevrolet Volt.

you know , the only real reason to use this device. You went camping in the eGolf and found out they don't have power.
You power up the generator, leave it on for 12 hours, and get about 60 miles of energy.

 

[bizzle]

I wrote earlier you are going to have to buy a generator that cost more than the price of the car to do this. I can't remember the formula but I worked it all out when I was thinking about this.

This Honda EU2000 will not provide 5 miles of charge in an hour. Do the calculations to figure out the Ah output. I tried to find out where I figured it out last year, but in the meantime read these comments about the EU2000 specifically. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/trawlers-and-trawlering/Mz_l1eTaN3s

It looks like they are getting around 100Ah. Am I using Ah correctly? It looks like it would take nearly two weeks to fully charge an eGolf's battery.

 

[JoulesThief]

I wrote earlier you are going to have to buy a generator that cost more than the price of the car to do this. I can't remember the formula but I worked it all out when I was thinking about this.

This Honda EU2000 will not provide 5 miles of charge in an hour. Do the calculations to figure out the Ah output. I tried to find out where I figured it out last year, but in the meantime read these comments about the EU2000 specifically. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/trawlers-and-trawlering/Mz_l1eTaN3s

It looks like they are getting around 100Ah. Am I using Ah correctly? It looks like it would take nearly two weeks to fully charge an eGolf's battery.

The Honda Eu2000i will put out about 4 miles of distance recharging, in an hour. It pulls 1400watts doing so, your car might get 1.25kw after recharging losses. The Generator will run about 5 to 5.5 hours on a gallon of gasoline when pulling 1400 watts. That would give you maybe 20 to 25 miles of added range, while listening to and smelling a stinky generator with no pollution control devices on it. As a RV owner and a Honda Eu2000i owner, I am well aware of this limitation.

 

[bizzle]

Is the discrepancy because they are using 12v chargers in that conversation I linked?

I was basing my reply off my memory of what I figured a year ago. I seem to have conflated the fact that I found it pointless to drag a generator around to get 4 miles of range with my conclusion that it wouldn't output that much. But what I do remember is that the generators I was looking at, and the only ones that made sense to me at the time, would be outputting 240V@40A (something like this http://www.electricgeneratordepot.com/honda-electric-start-10-000w-120-240v-full-gfci-protected-commercial-gx-engine-generator-with-imonitor-lcd-and-two-wheel-kit?google=1&CAWELAID=230006220000000025&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=19685621051&CATCI=pla-107152781531&gclid=CM3_rZOJ-tECFYGAfgodSRQKUg)

 

[JoulesThief]

Is the discrepancy because they are using 12v chargers in that conversation I linked?

I was basing my reply off my memory of what I figured a year ago. I seem to have conflated the fact that I found it pointless to drag a generator around to get 4 miles of range with my conclusion that it wouldn't output that much. But what I do remember is that the generators I was looking at, and the only ones that made sense to me at the time, would be outputting 240V@40A (something like this http://www.electricgeneratordepot.com/honda-electric-start-10-000w-120-240v-full-gfci-protected-commercial-gx-engine-generator-with-imonitor-lcd-and-two-wheel-kit?google=1&CAWELAID=230006220000000025&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=19685621051&CATCI=pla-107152781531&gclid=CM3_rZOJ-tECFYGAfgodSRQKUg)

A 10KWH generator, capable of 240V single phase would do it.

 

[miimura]

I don't know specifically how picky the e-Golf is about the waveform, but it is well known that some EVs will shutdown charging if they don't get a clean waveform. A clean waveform that is stable in voltage and frequency can only be produced with an inverter generator. So, I don't think the EB series Honda generator linked above is the best choice. The Honda EU series of inverter generators is known to work well with picky EVs.

 

[bizzle]

I don't know specifically how picky the e-Golf is about the waveform, but it is well known that some EVs will shutdown charging if they don't get a clean waveform. A clean waveform that is stable in voltage and frequency can only be produced with an inverter generator. So, I don't think the EB series Honda generator linked above is the best choice. The Honda EU series of inverter generators is known to work well with picky EVs.

It was just one of the cheaper Honda 10K generators. I can't find an EU of that capacity and it would be much more expensive, right?