DIY Range Extender + Charging Solution

[tripzero]

As I posted before, I opt'd out of power share and the $4k installation price to go with a more flexible option. These portable batteries gives me 9 extra KWh (6KWh shown) and can charge up to 3KW. This is primarily useful for remote destination charging such as camping/backpacking where I can add some miles when I park, charge the "range extender" with some solar panels over 3-4 days come back to a full range extender. If needed I can add another several KWh over a couple hours in an emergency.

With 800W Solar panels on roof top. The batteries fit in the bed with the panels for mobility.

I also use the batteries to charge daily. My commute takes about 4% CT battery so I either charge up the bluetti batteries during the day with solar, or top them off at night when rates are cheapest. The software on the bluettis already supports Time of Use and solar PV priority.

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[Woodrick]

Do you know how many miles that 9kWh of batteries represent?

Do you know how many hours it will take to add them to the truck?

 

[Spacenoddle]

9 kwh might get you about 27 miles in low speed. 800w solar panel might get you close to 8-9kwh per day if you are at no shade area in sunny states( doesn't work in state of Washington for sure).

If you need to leave the CT parked for a few days after you almost run out the bratty after the closest supercharger when you reach you destination, then it might worth it.

but for daily driving, 9kwh only costs about 1 dollar at current rate, so you need about 10 years to recoup your $4000 investment back.

 

[tripzero]

9 kwh might get you about 27 miles in low speed. 800w solar panel might get you close to 8-9kwh per day if you are at no shade area in sunny states( doesn't work in state of Washington for sure).

If you need to leave the CT parked for a few days after you almost run out the bratty after the closest supercharger when you reach you destination, then it might worth it.

but for daily driving, 9kwh only costs about 1 dollar at current rate, so you need about 10 years to recoup your $4000 investment back.

Great math! 27 miles is a stretch but it's certainly over 20 miles in some of the worst cases. Same with the 10 year estimate. My battery calculator has 10.1 years if you can recharge with solar. 16.5 years if you have no solar and just charge off-peak.

Until V2H ever gets grid tie capabilities, powershare has an infinite payback period... so there's that.

I'm expecting around 5KWh of production per day. It should be recharged in a 2-3 days.

Do you know how many miles that 9kWh of batteries represent?

Do you know how many hours it will take to add them to the truck?

Takes about 2.5 hours to deplete the battery.

One downside to the plan is that if you completely drain the batteries, the firmware doesn't turn the inverter back on when it wakes up. So I'll have to be smart when I set the truck's charge limit before I walk away. Probably set it to +5% and let the truck charge and maintain that. Hopefully that keeps phantom drain (which is my primary concern) away.

 

[Pops]

I admire your gumption. Even if its not a practical solution, its a well executed one. This would work well for camping trips!

 

[AlmostHuman]

Yay nerd stuff!! Fun to see, thank you for sharing!!

We keep an EcoFlow Delta Pro around the house for random emergencies and camping. Normally gets used for the neighbors as we have Powerwalls and solar.

 

[tmeyer3]

This is an amazing camping solution! I've done something similar while doing week long trips to the beach. Leaving camp with more range than you arrived with is pretty nice

 

[carsly]

Love the ingenuity! Any issues with a ground connection for the Tesla mobile charger?

 

[REM]

How do you have these secured/anchored in the bed?

 

[RoboTaxi]

I camp a lot on public lands and have thought about a similar setup. I will say from my camper van experience with solar, if you can tilt the solar panels and track the sun it will almost double their energy input.

 

[No-ICE]

It would be a nice feature if you could just plug those Solar panels into a PV port on the CT.

Thus, eliminating the need for external, batteries, inverters, and a NACS charging plug.

Recovering the cost of just external panels would be much quicker than using a ECO Flow set up.

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[RoboTaxi]

It would be a nice feature if you could just plug those Solar panels into a PV port on the CT.

Thus, eliminating the need for external, batteries, inverters, and a NACS charging plug.

Recovering the cost of just external panels would be much quicker than using a ECO Flow set up.

N.ICE

Would be sweet if the range extender had a PV port that supported a decent amount of wattage input.

 

[Woodrick]

Takes about 2.5 hours to deplete the battery.

One downside to the plan is that if you completely drain the batteries, the firmware doesn't turn the inverter back on when it wakes up. So I'll have to be smart when I set the truck's charge limit before I walk away. Probably set it to +5% and let the truck charge and maintain that. Hopefully that keeps phantom drain (which is my primary concern) away.

That appears to only have 120V 15A charging, so that's only 2 mph.

 

[charliemagpie]

I don't think I will ever need be more than an hour's drive to a charger, and as crazy as this might sound to some, if required, I am willing to drive out every few days to top up.

I will have a portable battery, but I will use the CT to charge that. No need for solar blankets either.

In exceptional circumstance sure, i.e. for north AU, solar panels are the go.. an excellent option, but mostly there is more than one way to skin a cat, and I wonder why we bother. Each to their own, just saying.

 

[Crissa]

Nice setup ^-^

I guess I could do the same if I put an inverter on my motorcycle.

-Crissa

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