[Paul_Moxhay]

Now this is funny... I saw this tweet this morning so I cannot confirm that this is genuine but I have no reason not to believe it...

Edmund Bullingham, who owns a Pink Nissan Leaf, seems to be rescuing a petrol/diesel car by the side of the road that had run out of fuel.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/387852764644376577

 

[Siraff]

This makes me think. Why is there not some kind of emergency piggyback system for ev's? Say you run out - it happens sometimes to almost everyone - why is there not some kind of pack you could buy/rent that could just be placed in the car, plugged in and run it for a few miles to get to a charge point? Even a 1kwh pack would be able to get 2-4miles and would be pretty portable at that. EV equivalent of a can of fuel.

 

[Sandy]

Not trying to be fattest (because he clearly is) but an EV would not suit his needs. Just isn't enough big gulp holders or spare Pizza trays (seats).




FYI i'm no skinny mini haha and my glass house has all its windows panned in.

 

[EVPotential]

I'd have though AA RAC etc will be keeping an eye on this and will eventually have a van with say 10kWH on board and a set of Chademo / CCS leads. Don't know about AC charging though? Would they stick in a 22kW inverter? Probably best to bring a flat bed.

 

[Sandy]

I'm sure some Renault documentation had a picture of an AA van with a massive box genny in the back to charge cars via AC.

 

[Siraff]

I'd have though AA RAC etc will be keeping an eye on this and will eventually have a van with say 10kWH on board and a set of Chademo / CCS leads. Don't know about AC charging though? Would they stick in a 22kW inverter? Probably best to bring a flat bed.

Well if the AA/RAC need to go out to a few ev's I think it would be worth them just having a PTO genset. Rapid charging at the flick of a switch. 10 mins and the ev is back on it's way - not far off the time it takes to put a gallon in an ice.
I was thinking more from a petrol station POV - they could keep a few jump pack style boxes then if someone runs out they just walk to the garage and pick up some juice in a box - just like an ice. Then return the box once they've got themselves sorted back out.

 

[Siraff]

I'm sure some Renault documentation had a picture of an AA van with a massive box genny in the back to charge cars via AC.

A full on self powered genset with enough power to rapid charge would be massive. A PTO system is about the size of the electric motor.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

I was thinking more from a petrol station POV - they could keep a few jump pack style boxes then if someone runs out they just walk to the garage and pick up some juice in a box - just like an ice

Even a 1kWh pack would likely be heavy and you would more likely need more than 1kWh I expect to get to a charger.

Even using the batteries in the car it would take about 13kg of battery to store 1kWh of energy (pack weighs about 300kg IIRC). These are rough figures but in the right ballpark.

It wouldn't work IMO.

Petrol is incredibly energy dense and so incredibly light for the range it gives.

 

[EVPotential]

A full on self powered genset with enough power to rapid charge would be massive. A PTO system is about the size of the electric motor.

Not necessarily. There's one strapped under the boot of my i3. 25kW!

 

[Siraff]

Not necessarily. There's one strapped under the boot of my i3. 25kW!

You're not going to get 400v at 80a+ from that though.

 

[Siraff]

Even a 1kWh pack would likely be heavy and you would more likely need more than 1kWh I expect to get to a charger.

Even using the batteries in the car it would take about 13kg of battery to store 1kWh of energy (pack weighs about 300kg IIRC). These are rough figures but in the right ballpark.

It wouldn't work IMO.

Petrol is incredibly energy dense and so incredibly light for the range it gives.

To me 13kg isn't that bad. A normal can of fuel is around 7kg so it would only be like carrying two - maybe two 0.5kwh packs could be a better option.
Thing is if I was stuck half a mile from a charger I would love to know that option was available to me. It's not ideal but it would be better than having to wait for a tow. Also if the AA/RAC did decide to take it on, they could have 25kg ish packs - what H+S say you can carry - so possibly around 2kwh. Should get most people to most chargers unless they were quite a long way off in the first place.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Petrol weighs about 800g/l so 5l would weight 4kg... plus perhaps a kg for the container so about 5kg.

13kg is a lot of weight to carry what might be a mile or two (or more!). Try it Then you'd only have 3-4 miles extra range for all your efforts.

 

[Sandy]

Its AC and its 5kw.


Original source. http://www.jtmpower.ie/index.php?target=news

 

[Matthew Knott]

How about using a converted ice cream van. Don't they run a compressor for the ice cream machines directly off the engine? Swap the compressor for a generator and problem solved.

 

[Siraff]

How about using a converted ice cream van. Don't they run a compressor for the ice cream machines directly off the engine? Swap the compressor for a generator and problem solved.

That's how a PTO generator works. It uses power from the engine to run it. Wouldn't add a lot of size or weight to a recovery van/truck and could run quite fast charge rates.

 

[Andy4Solar]

I've thought about attaching an inverter to our hybrids battery or even charge off the inverter/motor direct. About 7kw available. . Buffer battery built in

 

[BlackLeaf]

The RAC had a trial with a single van that was equipped with an EV charger - somewhere around Birmingham I think. Don't believe it went anywhere.

A genset is the best bet, however, also bear in mind that any "emergency" batteries would not need to be multiple-cycle lithium ion ones. You could use semi-disposable Al-Air ones which have a far higher energy density (nowhere near petrol, but sufficient to give you 20+ miles from your 20kg).

 

[T'leaf]

Did Carlos Ghosn mention that they have trucks in Japan that come roadside and charge you up? Might of been in Robert Llewellyn's Utube

 

[CraigB]

There is no reason for anyone other than a Disney Princess to ever own a pink car. It must be a Nissan thing , the worst I ever saw was in Glasgow's Merchant City - a pink Micra convertible with front and rear parking sensors. I think if you go to a car dealer and ask for one of those you should be forced to surrender your licence on the spot.

 

[AndyG]

You dont need a charger you just need a tow rope and a big pick up truck