On Board Charger SWAP

[dmayoort]

Hi to everyone. I own an European eGolf (16A onboard charger) and I would like to know how difficult will it be to swap it out for the USA version (32A). It will be as ease as Swap it?
Thanks in advance

 

[JoulesThief]

Hi to everyone. I own an European eGolf (16A onboard charger) and I would like to know how difficult will it be to swap it out for the USA version (32A). It will be as ease as Swap it?
Thanks in advance

No, it will not be an easy swap, it's a very dangerous and difficult conversion. You have to rewire the whole car, from J1772 to charge controller, and then from new charge controller to battery. Also, you will have to modify the adaptations inside the Body control module, which is VW proprietary. In short, it will not be cost effective to do so.

 

[dmayoort]

As I Feared....
Thanks for the info

 

[JoulesThief]

Basic consideration now a days is to buy any german car exactly the way you want it from the factory... CANBUS electronics are a pain in the butt to modify, hack or mess around with. Many have tried to change something as simple as headlights from Halogen to HID's or LED's and the results have been disastrous. Buy it the way you want it, from the factory, and leave it, don't modify.

 

[dmayoort]

I agree with you, but here, in Europe we don't have the 7,2kw charger as an option

 

[JoulesThief]

I agree with you, but here, in Europe we don't have the 7,2kw charger as an option

Then you need to buy the other upgrade that charges you to 80% in 20 minutes. Not that it matters, the Netherlands is a 1 charge country. Buy petrol or diesel if you want to leave the NL, heck, even a bromfiets.

 

[dmayoort]

In Europe the DC Fast charger is not an option, is Stock. But, unfortunately, here, in Spain, there are very few DC fast chargers... (in Madrid we only have 3)

 

[JoulesThief]

In Europe the DC Fast charger is not an option, is Stock. But, unfortunately, here, in Spain, there are very few DC fast chargers... (in Madrid we only have 3)

Then perhaps an electric car is not such a good idea yet in Spain, maybe a VW GTE instead?

 

[dmayoort]

The car is already bought

 

[JoulesThief]

The car is already bought

Do your research and homework before buying, next time around.

 

[bizzle]

I did read on leaf forums where they have been buying and modding their cars to upgrade the chargers so it's at least possible on those cars.

 

[BarryMW]

I did read on leaf forums where they have been buying and modding their cars to upgrade the chargers so it's at least possible on those cars.

These guys are taking about the charger in the car itself. You I believe refer to the EVSE, essentially the power supply you plug into the wall.

If I'm wrong, can you please supply a link to these in car modifications?

Thanks

Barry

 

[RonDawg]

I did read on leaf forums where they have been buying and modding their cars to upgrade the chargers so it's at least possible on those cars.

These guys are taking about the charger in the car itself. You I believe refer to the EVSE, essentially the power supply you plug into the wall.

No bizzle is correct. Some have been able to upgrade the on-board chargers on the Leaf. Many have used a third-party on-board charger made by Brusa, but a few have done it using factory parts obtained off a wrecked Leaf.

It's NOT an easy process even with the factory swap, and not cheap.

If I'm wrong, can you please supply a link to these in car modifications?

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=12323 for the Brusa upgrade.