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In reply to: Charging With Extension Cable
The battery I have is 1.9KWh which would be enough for a few extra miles. My off grid solar power system has 1200w of panels with a 24v 225Ah battery bank which would help out in a power cut. It also has a 500w grid tie inverter which can help to charge the car while plugged into the EVSE cable so instead of pulling 2.2Kw fron the grid, it would only be 1700. I will look into all this when the 2015 Zoe comes out. I think it is getting announced at the Geneva show between the 5th to 15th March so it should be out soon after.
In reply to: Renaults new aluminium air battery!
This battery uses a tank with electrolyte. So it needs infrastructure to fill the tank with electrolyte. Not so nice.
In reply to: Charging With Extension Cable
Oh, just found that Wikipedia has an interesting photo that sounds similar to the idea of carrying a removable battery around… An *external* engine for charging the battery!
There’s also the ZOE Tender.
In reply to: Charging With Extension Cable
Yeah, I also have doubts this’d be worthwhile. To add any meaningful range you’d be taking about a large battery that weighs a lot. There’s a reason most EVs have a range of around 100mi; batteries are pretty bad for the power you get from the weight.
There are “range extender” vehicles you can buy that are EVs, but with an ICE to charge the battery. Unlike a hybrid, driving is always pure electric, but they can generate electric from fuel via a small ICE. I’d say they’re better than hybrids, but obviously worse than EVs; but if you’re concerned about EV range/charging; could be an option.
Oh, just found that Wikipedia has an interesting photo that sounds similar to the idea of carrying a removable battery around… An *external* engine for charging the battery!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_extender_%28vehicle%29#mediaviewer/File:Acp_tzero_DSC00467.jpg
The trailer is an ICE that can recharge his battery. Around town; leave it in the garage, and you’ve got an electric car. Need to go 400 miles? Tow the engine and fill up at petrol stations; and it’ll charge your batteries as needed. Interesting idea!
In reply to: Charging With Extension Cable
Nice idea but I don’t think it would be practical. The cars 22kWH battery weighs about 300kg, so a 7kWH battery would probably weigh over 100kg which would not be practical to lift, any lower capacity probably wouldn’t add sufficent range. You would have to put significant effort into securing it down so it doesn’t go flying in the event of an accident. I don’t think it would be safe to have such a large store of energy in the crumple zone in the event of a rear shunt. The wires to connect it up would be really thick as they would have to carry 65kW to the motor. It’s an almost limitless current 400V DC supply, the safety systems put in place to protect the user would have to be substantial.
In reply to: Charging With Extension Cable
Your idea would make for a smart accessory if Renault could engineer your thinking into the car’s design for a future revision…
What if the boot could take an extra battery, say about the size of a suitcase, that supplemented the existing battery.
If you need the boot space, take it out.
If you need the extra range, put it in.… that would be an accessory worth having!
In reply to: Charging With Extension Cable
I’m just thinking about your idea to carry a battery and an inverter as an emergency top up.
On the surface, sounds like very clever thinking… The inverter and battery would be to your Zoe battery what a little jerry can is to a fuel tank.
However (and again, I’m not an expert at all), I have my doubts this would work. Isn’t Zoe supposed to be very fussy about being grounded? Surely an inverter supply wouldn’t satisfy the electronics?
The other thing that maybe makes the idea flawed, perhaps… How big and heavy is the inverter and battery? I’m just wondering if your idea is counterproductive (the weight dragging down your range, so the fact you’re carrying it would cause you to need it)
In reply to: Charging With Extension Cable
I will see if I can persuade the people at Renault. I will just bring my extension with me and test it at their dealership. The cable will be going across our garden so no liability issues there. I was also hoping to charge the car using my off grid solar setup as I have a 3Kw pure sine inverter which should work. I have looked around and it seems that nobody has ever used an inverter to charge an electric car. As a range extender idea I have a large lithium polymer battery which I could keep in the boot with the inverter and then use it to get some emergency miles if I ever run out.
The person on the phone at RCI speculated that you would pay the extra mileage fee on the 4th direct debit (the one after a completed quarter) which would make sense. However, she wasn’t sure and has asked someone to come back to me.
The monthly price is as the table in the current Zoe brochure. So you can increase the battery rental charge any time you want but you can only decrease it once in a 12 month period.
Makes sense I guess as otherwise people would abuse it an increase their contract on for a few months
