EV charging from battery/ inverter problems

[silverramp]

I have a 6kwh 48v lithium battery bank, 930watts of solar panels and a 120v 3500watt inverter (ECO-WORTHY 3500W 48V Pure Sine Wave Inverter https://a.co/d/3JzmpDW). I plugged in my RAV4 prime / J1772 charger to the inverter on a sunny day, and the car charging seemed to work fine for a half hour or so, but then spontaneously the inverter briefly turned off and on a few times before it turned on but didn’t put out 120v anymore. I never tested the output, but the screen of the inverter showed 20V, and low voltage appliances (refrigerator, phone chargers, etc) continued to work. But high voltage stopped working (induction stove top for example). The manufacturer replaced the inverter, but I’m curious, should I be able to power my car charger from my batteries/inverter?

 

[Any name you wish]

The voltage should be the same on both outputs of that inverter. Are you mixing voltage with amperage?

 

[silverramp]

I don’t think so! After the on/off cycle it appeared that the output of the inverter was now 20v.

 

[Any name you wish]

Do you have a multimeter to have verified the output? Dropping output to 20V would have shut everything down. Higher amperage draws though (cooktop, car) can cause issues and shut inverters down.

 

[silverramp]

My multimeter is broken at the moment, so can’t easily verify. It was super strange how certain things work and others don’t (for example the displays on the induction stovetops still work, but they don’t heat when plugged into the inverter) Seeing as I got a replacement inverter already, I suppose my more pressing question is: should I be able to power my car charger from my solar/battery/inverter? I had run induction stovetops quite successfully for some time prior to this. The car charger only pulls about 11amp at 120v, so less than the stovetops (and I’d run two of them at once).

 

[MattiFin]

You should be able to power ev charger from good high quality inverter.
unfortunately eco-worthy is typical hit and miss chinese ”quality”

 

[silverramp]

You should be able to power ev charger from good high quality inverter.
unfortunately eco-worthy is typical hit and miss chinese ”quality”

That’s what I was wondering! Good to know.

 

[Any name you wish]

Can confirm. Using a 2kW PSW inverter at 24V and am charging my car with the excess solar production. I tell the car to charge at 8 instead of 12 amps just for battery stress as I don't have a lot of capacity yet.

 

[Scott SD]

I am curious if the inverter is the cause of failure in your case. I ordered a Ford Escape plug-in and plan to charge occasionally during the day with a 1200w array, 400ah lithium, and a Victron 3k Multiplus. The Zencar 120v charger is adjustable down to 6amps. I was thinking about testing the system at 6 amps and then increase.

 

[chrisski]

I am curious if the inverter is the cause of failure in your case. I ordered a Ford Escape plug-in and plan to charge occasionally during the day with a 1200w array, 400ah lithium, and a Victron 3k Multiplus. The Zencar 120v charger is adjustable down to 6amps. I was thinking about testing the system at 6 amps and then increase.

Have not assembled my level 1 solar charger project, but I would expect 1 to 2 miles per hour at 6 amps. Based off the numbers I ran and IME of have using 1650 watts of flat panels on my RV, the amount of panels you mentioned should be fine during peak hours. For me in the winter when I bring the EV out would be three hours. 115 summer days, I don’t bring the RV out in summer.

I get the EV delivered in October and will try level 1 charging form the RV, and based off that, may assemble a level 1 charger for the house.

 

[Scott SD]

Have not assembled my level 1 solar charger project, but I would expect 1 to 2 miles per hour at 6 amps. Based off the numbers I ran and IME of have using 1650 watts of flat panels on my RV, the amount of panels you mentioned should be fine during peak hours. For me in the winter when I bring the EV out would be three hours. 115 summer days, I don’t bring the RV out in summer.

I get the EV delivered in October and will try level 1 charging form the RV, and based off that, may assemble a level 1 charger for the house.

Seems like we are trying to build something similar. The 1200w of panels will be on the top of my toy hauler that is stored next to where the Escape will be parked. I also have a few 100w ground mount panels that I will add. My thought is that we use the trailer about 4 times a year. I want to utilize the solar production when stored next to my house. Sorry to hijack the thread, but I get all geeked about solar stuff.

 

[HRTKD]

I stress tested the system in my RV by charging my Nissan Leaf. I used the 110v AC EVSE adapter from a 2015 Leaf instead of the 220v AC EVSE adapter that came with my 2019 Leaf. I ran the test for about three hours without a hiccup. The system performed well but the test pointed out that I needed better airflow in the compartment where my Victron Multiplus 12/3000 is located. It's a medium sized closet (for an RV) that doesn't normally have any air flow.

So yes, charging an EV from battery/PV is possible, even for such a small system as mine. However, my test was of the trailer system, not really a test of EV charging. After about 3 hours I got a few miles added to my range. The LiFePO4 battery bank started at 100% and I stopped the test at about 39%. No hot spots in the system other than the hot air in the trailer from the inverter.

560 Ah LiFePO4 (2 x 280 Ah 4s batteries made up of EVE 280 Ah cells)
Overkill Solar 4s 120 amp BMS
Victron Multiplus 12/3000
Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/50
640 watts of PV

 

[chrisski]

I am curious if the inverter is the cause of failure in your case. I ordered a Ford Escape plug-in and plan to charge occasionally during the day with a 1200w array, 400ah lithium, and a Victron 3k Multiplus. The Zencar 120v charger is adjustable down to 6amps. I was thinking about testing the system at 6 amps and then increase.

I’m curious. Is that 6 amps at 110 volts or 220 volts?

I am getting a Tesla which can charge at 5 amps, but the documentation is lacking at whether that’s 120 volts or 220 volts.

 

[Scott SD]

I’m curious. Is that 6 amps at 110 volts or 220 volts?

I am getting a Tesla which can charge at 5 amps, but the documentation is lacking at whether that’s 120 volts or 220 volts.

The zencar charger is 120volts. It would probably take a week to charge a Tesla battery with 5a at 120v. Must be 220v. I will utilize the 120v charger because the Escape plug-in battery is only 14kw, significantly smaller than a full EV.

 

[time2roll]

I’m curious. Is that 6 amps at 110 volts or 220 volts?

I am getting a Tesla which can charge at 5 amps, but the documentation is lacking at whether that’s 120 volts or 220 volts.

Pretty sure Tesla is universal at 100 to 250 volts. Set the amps and feed the voltage you have.

 

[chrisski]

Pretty sure Tesla is universal at 100 to 250 volts. Set the amps and feed the voltage you have.

Wouldn’t it be nice if an answer to a rather easy question like that was in the owners manual. From what I read, I think the 5 amp setting is level 2, but I could be wrong.