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question from newbie about Portable Chargers.

4K views 27 replies 9 participants last post by  proddick 
#1 ·
Hi, I am completely new to EV, got my 2015 Zoe 3 weeks ago (22kw - 80-90miles). Only just now I discovered you can buy a portable chargers and charge on a go?

I don't have a garage so installing anything is out of the question and also would need UK adapter to charge the portable battery/charger at home - is that how it works?

How does that work? Any recommendations for good "on-a-go" portable chargers/batteries? :)
 
#2 ·
Some terminology would help,
The Car contains a charger and this is used with an EVSE ( Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. ) to charge the battery in the car. True chargers are DC units for most EV's otherwise known as RAPIDS and are very expensive, there are portable versions but expensive and heavy.
The ZOE 22kWw is AC only and can not use a DC Rapid. For faster charging a 22kW 3 phase supply can be used, found in some destination chargers - filter in Zap-Map to find them, some RAPIDS have a 43kW AC outlet for use with a ZOE.
An EVSE can be a so-called "Granny charger" which plugs into an standard 3pin socket. These are portable and you can take them with you to plug into a suitable socket. Note that the 10Amp draw can cause problems with poor quality sockets and old wiring.
It can be a wall box with a tethered cable or a socket, price depends on what is needed when fitting and if you you need to take solar into account (Zappi for example). not portable!
You will need to carry a Type 2 cable if you are going to use the EVSE destination chargers (7/11/22kW) in carparks / supermarkets /beside the road etc. These are a socket and you supply your own cable. For a ZOE you will need a 32A 3phase cable to be able to use the 11 and 22kW units.

All Destination and Rapids need some form of RFID card / App / credit card / to get them started and to pay if not free.

For Rapids most have a type 2 lead but not all! and some do not do AC Charging.

Hope this helps
 
#3 ·
I don't have a garage so installing anything is out of the question and also would need UK adapter to charge the portable battery/charger at home - is that how it works?
Do you have a drive or parking next to your house?

You can mount a charger on the outside wall of your house, which would be preferable.

Note that the granny charger is quite inefficient with the Zoe, as well as a potential fire risk over time.
 
#4 ·
Hi, I live on a council estate so can't mount anything, here I go and charge for free at Tesco but Im more interested if I want to drive away, M3 for example doesn't have ANY good charging stations which I find ridiculous - 0 charging stations on motorway, I wanted to go from London to Winchester (65-70miles) and no charging stations - unless I exit the motorway.

The government wants people to go electric but doesn't provide charging stations.
 
#7 ·
I wanted to go from London to Winchester (65-70miles) and no charging stations - unless I exit the motorway.
Looking at ABRP you can go from London to Winchester and charge at Fleet Services on the M3 without leaving the Motorway. Ecotricity charger so should be perfectly fine on AC with an old Zoe. A quick 10 minute top up and you're on your way again.

Am I missing something?
 
#8 ·
That is just a fancy granny charger with a commando plug option, Unless you can find a 3phase commando socket it will be limited to 7.2kW on a single phase commando or 10 Amps (2.4kW) using the UK 3 pin plug - the screwfix 3pin unit is slightly cheaper....

Ecotricity Rapids have AC cables as @80698 mentioned, check rapid status on ZapMap.
 
#17 ·
Yeah this is just an adapter so you can plug in to any socket. It’s not energy storage. A battery big enough to charge your car would literally be the size of the battery in your car (1m long, 600kg)
 
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#18 ·
The juice booster is just a granny cable, all be it a more powerful one you can attached to a commando socket.
The problem comes from the use of charger to describe granny cables, wall boxes and other AC devices, for these the charger is in the car, the box is just a fancy mains socket.
The only device you can really call a charger is the DC part of a Rapid, that is the CCS or Chademo part, these connect directly to the battery and charge it. The older ZOE does not support DC charging.

There are no high power portable ac units, DC units exist, I linked one above, £7000 and very heavy as in reality its a cars battery pack on small wheels. :rolleyes:

I see @TJEV got there first
 
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#19 ·
ohhhhh Im glad I didnt buy it.... £1000 would be wasted.
When I saw it I got bit too excited and hopeful but, I guess public stations is all I'll have (IF they bloody work) I need to go to Winchester next week from London (70ish miles) with my 80ish miles Zoe and back so help me God ha!
 
#28 ·
Any recommendations for good "on-a-go" portable chargers/batteries? :)
There's a lot of noise above... It isn't feasible to charge a car from a portable battery! It can only be charged from a private (home) or public charging station.

In my books you are brave to have an older Zoe with no home, residential or work charging. In some areas councils are installing residential charging using lamp post (or adjacent bollard) sockets for people like you to charge overnight. It may be worth asking yours if they have plans.

Be very careful charging at Tesco as many have a parking limit and you can be fined for going over it. Also, the intent of those charging points is for customers to get a top up while shopping, so don't be surprised if Tesco change it from free to "free for 1 hour" if nearby residents are abusing the facility. We have already seen that with supermarket rapids and based on how busy some Tesco ones seem to be, I won't be surprised to see a change.

To charge on a journey you need to find either a 44kW AC rapid charger or a 22kW "fast" AC post. Unless you have a Q Zoe model, I recommend the latter as they are often cheaper or occasionally free. You can set a filter in Zapmap to see just those. On the way to Winchester, Fleet services have two Ecotricity units and despite what some say, they are generally reliable for AC charging a Zoe.

For tips, you may want to read my blog from when I had a small battery Zoe for a week. Start from bottom...


they take ages to deliver the recycling plastic bags - install a charger suuuuuuuuure hahahahahah

I live in the worst, most ignorant council in London.
Which council? You may be surprised...
 
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