Battery Bank to charge the Alta

[privateer703]

Just based on the fact that there are 504 cells in our packs, the battery charger would need just as many. I'm thinking a cheap price for good 18650's is around $3.5 ea, which is almost $1800, that doesn't include the inverter. I was going to go with a tesla pack, which is around $1800-$2000 as well. Someone might have a cheaper battery source though.

 

[Matt]

I think you can rename your own thread, can't you? Yes, the title wasn't as exciting as what you are describing.

What should it be named honestly idk what to call it. Battery "gas can"

 

[Philip]

How about Battery Bank to charge the Alta?

 

[Philip]

For $1K and 80 lbs each I would buy five of those. Two to charge my Altas and three to add an electric rear drive to my ProMaster.

 

[B37]

Goal zero has some options here. Now they can sustain 2kW and have packs up to 6kWh. At a price though.

 

[Philip]

Goal zero has some options here. Now they can sustain 2kW and have packs up to 6kWh. At a price though.

Charging at 2kW from 110V makes little difference at the track when you have just a half an hour to charge. You really need the Rapid charger running at 240V and pulling 16A, so that is almost 4kW.

 

[C5tor]

What should it be named honestly idk what to call it. Battery "gas can"

Battery Battery. Or Charger Charger.

 

[Oded]

I may be missing something here, but why not take 10 - 15 6S 5800 Mah lipo packs, the kind we use for our Remote Control vehicles.
Making it 60S - 90S (not sure what voltage ia needed for the Alta's charger).
Price is not high. Here is an example.

 

[enjoythesilenc]

Isn't the inverter the key component here? Start with one that will feed the 240v charger properly and then work from there.

for example, the yeti 3000 has batteries at 3S configuration so it uses a typical 12 volt inverter? We don't need 300 volts here but we do need 6000 Watt hours. Recycled EV batteries would be most cost effective, i'm guessing.

 

[maybackgl]

I was talking with a battery builder out of Ohio who will build lithium packs for us that can recharge our bikes at fast charger speeds for one full charge for under $1000. This would include the inverter also. If anyone is interested in this let me know. I am sick of my loud ass generator and most of the time I never need more than two full charges so having a battery backup that can charge the bike back up once is all I really need. He estimated it would weight somewhere between 80 and 90 pounds. I have been asking around different battery builders to see what it would cost to build one of these. Most companies that do it won't unless it is a bulk order but the guy I was talking with will do smaller orders. If anyone is interested let me know below

I would be interested in purchasing that instead of a generator.

 

[Matt]

The guy I had talked to I haven't been able to get in contact with since this thread. I apologize for getting people's hopes up. I had talked to the guy for a while in-depth on the subject so I was surprised he dipped. Either way, I think this thread highlights the interest in a product of this nature.

 

[Philip]

Maybe he realized that even the cheapest battery technology still does not allow making a 6 kWh battery bank with a 240V inverter-charger, selling it for $1K, and also making a profit. Pick two!

I have been trying to do this for about $3K using an old Tesla battery, but @bluefxstc says he does not want me to blow up my van. An expensive BMS might be needed.

 

[Matt]

Maybe he realized that even the cheapest battery technology still does not allow making a 6 kWh battery bank with a 240V inverter-charger, selling it for $1K, and also making a profit. Pick two!

I have been trying to do this for about $3K using an old Tesla battery, but @bluefxstc says he does not want me to blow up my van. An expensive BMS might be needed.

I was a bit surprised when he said he would do it for under a grand. I think you could do it if you wanted to. I have looked into building my own. I think the hold up for me is the tools necessary to build it. I think parts wise excluding tools you could keep it under 1k using used 18650s. The BMS and cooling may be difficult if using cheap cells.

 

[bluefxstc]

@bluefxstc says he does not want me to blow up my van..

@Philip, Just trying to keep you around. If you burn your self up in your van, who will run the forum? I don't what to be responsible for everyone here going into AOF withdrawals.

On the original topic of the thread, one of the projects I have been thinking of looking into is, can power a standard charger with DC and forgo the use of an inverter. If the first circuits in the charger are the bridge rectifier, then everything from that point is DC anyway. All we have to do then is get the polarity correct and the DC will go right in. I have done this with other DC power supplies (Vicor), but don't know if we can do it with the Alta charger. I believe this is the case, but have not confirmed, so I still need to do some work on this. The voltage range of the Elcon PFC charger is 85-265VAC which I think works out to 55-181VDC (DC=AC*0.636). I have a couple of Elcon PFC 2500 chargers around here from past projects, so if I ever get some time (maybe this winter) I will do some experimenting.

If we can go straight into the charger with DC then we don't have to buy an inverter which will substantially reduce the cost.

 

[Oded]

As I wrote before, i think it can be done with RC lipo pouch packs. The kind hobbyking.com sells.

 

[F451]

@Philip, Just trying to keep you around. If you burn your self up in your van, who will run the forum? I don't what to be responsible for everyone here going into AOF withdrawals.

Off topic, but this does bring up an interesting conundrum. Who covers for Phillip if he is not able to discharge his duties? Who's our "AOF Designated Survivor"? (just started watching that series on netflix, so just call me paranoid, Lol).

No seriously, Philip, if you don't already have a backup moderator assigned, I'd be happy to volunteer and basically do nothing (read don't screw anything up), unless you needed some help with things. I've moderated a number of forums over the years and have learned less is more in that capacity, would be happy to help out. -Ed

Ps: I'm excited to hear you guys talking about these battery banks. I really need to learn more about all of this. This is about my knowledge level of all things electrical:

 

[Philip]

Off topic, but this does bring up an interesting conundrum. Who covers for Phillip if he is not able to discharge his duties? Who's our "AOF Designated Survivor"? (just started watching that series on netflix, so just call me paranoid, Lol).

No seriously, Philip, if you don't already have a backup moderator assigned, I'd be happy to volunteer and basically do nothing (read don't screw anything up), unless you needed some help with things. I've moderated a number of forums over the years and have learned less is more in that capacity, would be happy to help out. -Ed

Ps: I'm excited to hear you guys talking about these battery banks. I really need to learn more about all of this. This is about my knowledge level of all things electrical:

@snydes is our Moderator.
@AndyB is a second Administrator.
These two guys should be able to do anything this forum needs if I decide to live in a van off-grid.

 

[F451]

@snydes is our Moderator.
@AndyB is a second Administrator.
These two guys should be able to do anything this forum needs if I decide to live in a van off-grid.

Right on! I can surf easy now, Lol.

Back to our regularly scheduled battery bank discussion (taking notes).

 

[C5tor]

I think you need to start with this motovan, and just put a bike rack on it. I'm not sure where you are going to plug it in to charge it, but the battery part is covered.

 

[Redwolf]

I think you need to start with this motovan, and just put a bike rack on it. I'm not sure where you are going to plug it in to charge it, but the battery part is covered.

View attachment 6078

I think you might be on to something here!