Charging - 220 vs 110


D

DirtSurfer

Member
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Location
Portland, OR
I don't (currently) have a 220v "quick" charger set up in my garage.. instead, I've been plugging my PHEV car into a 110v household socket, which of course takes forever, but it works.. (I just leave it plugged in over night).

The Varg EX mentions having a 220v adapter as standard, w/ a 110v adapter "available" (likely for a fee).

Curious what folks experience is w/ all this, contemplating just putting a 220v in the garage to support both use cases..

Thanks for the input!!!
 
J

joer

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21
Location
Ottawa, ON
I find it’s handy to have at times. I generally will charge up to 80%-ish overnight and just top up before I leave for the track.

At 240V, you get about 1% a minute, give or take. (The EX may be slower since the battery is larger.) At that speed, it's reasonable for me to get home from work and finish the charge while I get changed and load up the car.

Also, when I get home from the track, I can throw it on the charger and in fairly short order get the battery back above 20% if I happened to drain it way down that day.

Just speaking from my experience at an MX track: Having 240V track-side charging is a huge plus and makes the bike really easy to live with. I tend to use a bit more than one battery's worth of riding on most days (before my body wears out). If it's quite muddy, the battery drain is noticeably faster. I think it would be less pleasant if I was limited to 120v track side charging.
 
D

DirtSurfer

Member
Likes
7
Location
Portland, OR
joer said:
I find it’s handy to have at times. I generally will charge up to 80%-ish overnight and just top up before I leave for the track.

At 240V, you get about 1% a minute, give or take. (The EX may be slower since the battery is larger.) At that speed, it's reasonable for me to get home from work and finish the charge while I get changed and load up the car.

Also, when I get home from the track, I can throw it on the charger and in fairly short order get the battery back above 20% if I happened to drain it way down that day.

Just speaking from my experience at an MX track: Having 240V track-side charging is a huge plus and makes the bike really easy to live with. I tend to use a bit more than one battery's worth of riding on most days (before my body wears out). If it's quite muddy, the battery drain is noticeably faster. I think it would be less pleasant if I was limited to 120v track side charging.
Click to expand...
Do you use a generator for track charging? (If so, what do you use, and does it work well?)
 
J

joer

Member
Likes
21
Location
Ottawa, ON
No generator. I went kind of over-board and did this:

My 240v Battery/Inverter Track Side Charging Setup

For anyone that’s interested, here’s my setup for topping up my Varg at the track. I didn’t really want to deal with the maintenance and fuel on a gas generator. I got the Varg because I was sick of changing oil and cleaning air filters. :) So I went for an external battery instead. I had...
electricdirtriders.com electricdirtriders.com

That said, it's working really well and comes in handy during the off season if there's a power outage. Or at least, that's how I'm justifying it to myself. :)

The LiFePO4 batteries I recharge with a 120V charger (15 Amp) and they will comfortably charge over-night. I'm not nearly as careful with those.
 
C

Chadx

Well-known member
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166
Location
SW Montana
Yes the Stark chargers come with a 240v plug. They sell a 120v adapter, for use in a 120v outlet. Max charge rate is about 1,600watts on 120v and 3,200watts on 240v.

Having a 240v charge source is great if you forget to charge the bike or need to charge it fast, but most of the time, it's better to charge at a slower rate. But you can do that even when using a 240v outlet by setting the charger rate slower via the apps. Meaning, 1,600watt charge rater is 1,600 and doesn't matter if you are using a 120v outlet and charging at max (for 120v) or plugged into a 240v and lowering the app from the 3,200watt charger tater to 1,600watt charge rate. Meaning, there is no downside to having a 240v outlet available. With that, you can charge fast or slow. Only the expense of the install. And it will be handy for your PHEV.

Research what 240v outlet to use. There are many instances of a 240v outlets melting even when used within their power rating. This because EV use was never imagined with them. Typically it's stoves or dryers, etc. Not pumping max rate through them for 5+ hours straight like with EV. The Varg won't draw enough to worry about it, but your PHEV might. A BEV definitely would, so might as well future proof it and get a good heavy duty 240v outlet from the start so you don't have to replace it all later if you get a BEV.
 
D

DirtSurfer

Member
Likes
7
Location
Portland, OR
Chadx said:
Yes the Stark chargers come with a 240v plug. They sell a 120v adapter, for use in a 120v outlet. Max charge rate is about 1,600watts on 120v and 3,200watts on 240v.

Having a 240v charge source is great if you forget to charge the bike or need to charge it fast, but most of the time, it's better to charge at a slower rate. But you can do that even when using a 240v outlet by setting the charger rate slower via the apps. Meaning, 1,600watt charge rater is 1,600 and doesn't matter if you are using a 120v outlet and charging at max (for 120v) or plugged into a 240v and lowering the app from the 3,200watt charger tater to 1,600watt charge rate. Meaning, there is no downside to having a 240v outlet available. With that, you can charge fast or slow. Only the expense of the install. And it will be handy for your PHEV.

Research what 240v outlet to use. There are many instances of a 240v outlets melting even when used within their power rating. This because EV use was never imagined with them. Typically it's stoves or dryers, etc. Not pumping max rate through them for 5+ hours straight like with EV. The Varg won't draw enough to worry about it, but your PHEV might. A BEV definitely would, so might as well future proof it and get a good heavy duty 240v outlet from the start so you don't have to replace it all later if you get a BEV.
Click to expand...
fantastic, thank you!
 
F

FYR

Active member
Likes
38
Location
Central Valley, CA
Stark supplied a 120v adapter with my 2024 Gen 2. Very good quality piece, actually. If I were to guess I'd expect that the new EX bikes will deliver with one as well.
 
C

Chadx

Well-known member
Likes
166
Location
SW Montana
FYR said:
Stark supplied a 120v adapter with my 2024 Gen 2. Very good quality piece, actually. If I were to guess I'd expect that the new EX bikes will deliver with one as well.
Click to expand...
Most dealerships were not provided one with the bike, so buyers were not either. but dealers had them for purchase. My dealership made me buy one from them.

Curious if all, that received the bike directly in the U.S., got the 120v adapter for free? Or free if you asked for one? or if some direct delivery buyers had to purchase it, too?
 
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