Supplemental Battery

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jray3

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Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
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Location
Tacoma area, WA
A boost battery for occasional road trip use, or to prop up a degraded pack has long been on this community's want list. There finally appear to be some practical options, one example below.

First, the Bluetti AC200P ]has 2 kWH of LiFePO4 batteries in a 67 lb package that includes a pure sine wave inverter, 120 VAC output. It can also output 12V and 5V USB. It accepts charging inputs of 120VAC, up to 150 VDC directly from solar modules, and 12-24 VDC from a vehicle. That 2000W output is continuous, and it handles up to 4800W surge loads for starting RV air conditioners, etc...

Of course, this would only be for charging the i-MiEV while parked, but it could also provide supplemental cabin heat, etc. and might make the difference for winter practicality for some owners. It also has great potential for emergency genset use, RVs, cabins, tiny homes, boats etc...

This unit appears to be better-made and safer than most if the affordable options that I've seen, though I've just scratched the surface for investigation. The full access screen for BMS data (cell voltages, temperature senders, etc.) is impressive, and I think this one may have excellent potential for mild hacking to add storage capacity with supplemental DC packs, and for future DIY rebuilds of a degraded pack.

Just a conversation starter- I found it while deciding whether to buy another vintage Outback PS-1 (3 kW grid-tied solar inverter with battery backup and automatic transfer switch) for my next solar array project...

https://www.bluetti.com/products/bl...000w-portable-power-station?sscid=11k5_2yl8w&
 
jray3, thanks for this. For the life of me, I don't recall seeing this post earlier this year.

Graveaxis said:
Do you know if a US Imiev can accept single phase 240 like from a European inverter?
Funny you should ask, because about six years ago after a discussion on this forum I bought a 48vdc inverter to Australian specs which puts out 230vac single-ended (which means one of the terminals is grounded) and not the North American split-phase (where both terminals are hot and read 120vac to ground or neutral).

I remember assembling it and hooking it up to my 48v battery pack and actually charging my i-MiEV with it through my SPX Power Express EVSE. IIRC, I had a problem using this setup with our Mitsu EVSE but I never pursued this (Line1 and Line2 reversed?). I put the inverter back into its box as I intend to eventually mount it on my solar trailer isolated from everything and use it only to charge the car. Whoops, I no longer have the SPX Power Express EVSE..., yet another project.

Looking at the J1772 specifications and pinout and wiring diagram,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772

It would seem to me that as long as the single-ended 230vac power Line1 and N are connected to the appropriate J1772 pins, there should be no issues. Whether it works with our Mitsu EVSE is yet another question to be answered...

Anyone?
 
No objections from here, Joe. There's also a competitor to the Bluetti coming soon,
https://ecoflow.com/pages/delta-pro
 
JoeS said:
It would seem to me that as long as the single-ended 230vac power Line1 and N are connected to the appropriate J1772 pins, there should be no issues. Whether it works with our Mitsu EVSE is yet another question to be answered...

Anyone?
That's how they charge these cars on every other continent except for North America - Granted, they're using a slightly different EVSE than the wimpy 120 volt ones that come with our cars, but I'd bet the car would charge with a correctly oriented EVSE

Don
 
jray3 said:
No objections from here, Joe. There's also a competitor to the Bluetti coming soon,
https://ecoflow.com/pages/delta-pro
Bluetti and this one are too expensive. I bought similar one 3 years ago for $270. it had only 500WH, but you can connect them together to get more power available.
 
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