Factory PHEV - WAY under $42,000

You are thinking of inverters. Older inverters made unclean or square waves and newer ones (though not all) make cleaner ones.

Generators powered by an engine almost always make sine waves. They may not make 60hz exactly and that is one problem they would have charging sensitive electronics such as the Leaf. Of course the generator also needs to support the amp requirements as well. If the Leaf wants 2000 watts you can not charge it on a 1000 watt generator twice as long.

 

It may be as clean as Volt's gas engine as these meet or exceed EPA emission standards.

 

I doubt those numbers are correct, since 2000 watts at 9.6 hours is 19.2 kWh of energy by burning 1 gallon of gasoline which contains 33.4 kwh of energy. This gives an efficiency of 58% percent which is not possible in an internal combustion engine.

Edit:

OK I looked up this generator and it runs 1600 Watts (Rated) for 4 Hours on 1.1 gallon of gasoline.

This is 6.4 kWh of energy, or 17.4% efficient (1.1 gal gasoline = 36.74 kwh).

1600 Watts is 4.7 mph using the EPA's rating

Burning 1 gallon of gasoline with this generator will give you 17.1 miles, or 17.1 mpg.

 

The EPA standards for generators are much looser then for gas cars.

 

Funny. I think CARB and EPA should lower standards for PHEV to allow for a inexpensive generator, but not nearly as low as generator standards. Those standards are for outdoor use, not inside an enclosed space like a car or garage. They also allow much higher levels than LEV. Volt is ultra low emission, and under new proposed Lev III regs would qualify for SULEV.

I am glad that people like the idea of serial phev with inexpensive generators. I hope a car vendor will build one. If CARB lowers the regs in Lev III it may even be toyota or nissan. It would be sweet in a RAV 4 ev with extended range genset.

 

Whoops! I meant the cleanliness of the electricity emitted (sags, surges, frequency varying, etc.) and not emissions from its ICE running.

 

Sipnfuel corrected part of this, I'll correct the rest.

2000 W is max load, not rated load.

Rated load is 1600 W, and it will burn through the 1.1 gallon tank in 4 hours. At 1/4 of rated load, the tank will last 9.6 hours.

Honda generators.

 

The Leaf probably can't charge (with the generator running) while being driven. The charging port is in the front of the hood also.

 

That makes far more sense.
Of course, they only list max load on the website:
Honda Power Equipment - EU2000i

 

The Leaf manual doesn't say WHY you shouldn't use a generator, but it probably has nothing to do with the frequency or waveform purity. The Leaf requires a 110 - 120 V, 20A outlet. For fastest charging it probably takes all 20A, which corresponds to a minimum of 2200W. A 1600W (2000W peak) generator will be overloaded very quickly and will either shut down or overheat.

I think the idea of carrying a small generator is sound, but 2kW is too small. The manual should give more useful information.

Richard

 

This generator has an inverter to give a very clean 60 Hz sine AC, designed to be used for sensitive electronics.

The inverter is also a regulator, and the inverter will keep the voltage very stable, while limiting the amps to 13.3 A sustained (rated). This will keep the generator from overheating or exceeding any ratings.

Perhaps someone can provide insight whether the Leaf charger can adapt to a regulated constant voltage power source that is limited in current.