Factory PHEV - WAY under $42,000

surprised someone hasn't built one of these for their Leaf, yet...


BTW - would this skirt CARB and EPA emission laws?

 

The Honda EU2000 is rated at 2000 watts, and claims 9.6 hours on 1 gallon of gas (at rated power?). The Leaf claims 34 kWh / 100 miles.

So:
A 1 hour charge would get you 5.8 miles.
A tank (1 gal?) would get you 56.4 miles.

Running the generator while driving (NOT RECOMMENDED!) would allow you 5.8 mph sustained.

Interesting.

 

DO NOT want to be in that yellow car in an accident.

I imagine these generators cannot produce the watts needed unless quite large.

 

Somewhere in my past posts about a year ago, I suggested this several times. I think it's a brilliant idea. I would say it's just a matter of time before one of the major automakers, such as Nissan, starts making a generator like this and marketing it specifically for hybrid cars. Perhaps a 15 minute "quickie" charger to get you five miles to the nearest charging station or power plug.

If you've ever run out of gasoline two miles away from the nearest gas station (I did once when I first started driving many years ago), then you know that 5.8mph is golden compared to alternatives (walking, pushing, waiting 40min for AAA to show up).

Did any of you think of having a friend push the car up to 10mph, hopping in, shifting to neutral, then using regen brakes on the downhill section and at the stop light? Duh! We didn't have regen when I was a kid!!!

Let's see how long it takes before Honda starts taking credit for this.

 

I'm sure Nissan thought of this, but there is one big problem CARB. I'm sure if a car vendor sold this on an BEV, CARB would require a catalytic converter and 15 year warranty on emissions control.
A removable generator is a great idea, but I doubt we will see them in the united states except as kits.

 

Ah, I should have been clearer. Running a generator inside the cabin while you are driving is not recommended due to fume issues.

 

Don't knock the T-Zero. At it's introduction, it's the fastest electric car ever build. It's built like a race car. Trailer generator is nothing new.
Rav Long Ranger

 

JP Nissan Leaf users manual states do not use any generator.
It is designed to charge the battery using grid electricity.

Ken@Japan

 

So, charge your Leaf by generator at your own risk.

I'm curious how US Leaf users manual states about this.

Ken@Japan

 

Well, it can be referenced here: 2011 Nissan Leaf , but I haven't seen anything about it. As a general rule, I never liked powering complex power electronics with generator current without some sort of decent filtration/conditioning.

 

Thank you for the manual link, caffeinekid.

Code:

Only charge using a standard 110 -120 volt, 20A dedicated electrical
outlet (For example do not use an electric generator). Failure to do so
may cause charging to fail and could cause damage to the Li-ion battery 
charging equipment due to power surges.

It is almost same as JP's.

Ken@Japan

 

34kWh/100 miles includes aggressive high speed driving. Local driving consumes only 20kWh/100 miles (200 Wh/mile). Dave has done it with his Leaf.

EU3000IS generator should be able to run the Leaf at 15 mph (@200Wh/Mile). The generator is under $2,000.

 

i think leaf warning is for old generators
newer ones have a better sine(cleaner)wave.
and if power surgers can also happen on grid i think the charger wil be damaged if any and not the battery pack.

 

I think for generators to be effective, it needs to bypass the charging circuit and go directly to the battery or the motor with DC output to achieve sustained city speed at the least. The extended range RAV4 EV uses 20kw DC output to allow the RAV4 to travel at highway speed.

 

And how long before some organization like AAA adds this to their "services" although it will probably be like a rather large diesel generator that puts out 240V.

 

I'm not surprised. I've always heard the output from generators is pretty dirty. I also am unsure if some of them don't put out a pure sine wave and thus could cause other issues.

Also, at the Nissan Leaf events, they mentioned that you can't drive off if still plugged in. This is confirmed by the manual which says:

 

FWIW, apparently these were used during the Leaf road tour events:
Nissan Leaf road tour gets help from a diesel truck with 440V chargers — Autoblog Green

If it's 440 volts, then it's DC, so no issue of AC possibly being not pure sine wave.