Aerovironment Turbocord - portable 120/240V EVSE

[protomech]

http://evsolutions.avinc.com/turbocord

Looks quite a bit smaller than the Clipper Creek EVSE that comes stock with the Empulse. It'll pull up to 16A on 240V, meaning you can tap a dryer outlet and charge as fast as any fixed J1772 EVSE.

$600 for the 240V version, $650 for the dual-voltage version. You want the dual-voltage version.

vs

[Jeff]

That looks awesome, but I thought at full tilt the Empulse pulls 24 amps?

[frodus]

Thats battery current. At 240v it will pull a max of 3kw. 120v is half that.

3000w would be less than 13A at 240v.

[protomech]

Scaled to approximately the same size for a better visual comparison.

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

That looks awesome, but I thought at full tilt the Empulse pulls 24 amps?

24 amps at 100v (+/-). The dash displays current at the battery, after the charger, not at the plug.

[barboo]

Nice find.

[plukcc]

may be here is some rules for the design of the charger that i don't know,
as i think it is more reasonable to place the heavy charger main body to the socket that attached to the bike than locate it to the power plug on the wall,
it is because at least there is a hook of connector on the power socket to the bike, while there is nothing to hold it tight with plug to the power socket on the wall

[protomech]

plukcc: part of the goal of J1772 is that the EVSE will not energize the high-voltage cable until the vehicle is ready. I think that is less of a concern with a portable EVSE, but that may drive a decision to locate the EVSE power electronics closer to the wall plug.

Personally I'd rather them integrate the power electronics into the gun, and provide swappable ends at the plug for nema 5, nema 6 (or the international equivalents, for you lucky bastards that can pull 3 kW out of a standard socket).

[Adan]

Looks to be about half the size (and weight?).  That would be really nice to have as bringing the cord along for that "just in case" situation is kind of a drag.  At that price though, it's a tough decision to say the least. 

Good to know our options though.  Thanks!

[protomech]

Right. At those prices, unless you plan to do a lot of touring - Shinysideup? - maybe it makes more sense to replace an EVSE, or to have a travel EVSE and one installed at home.

[Jeff]

Oh, SWEET.  Ok then this is getting very close to what I want for touring around.  As it is I'd have to carry both my level 1 and level 2 EVSEs somehow.

Right. At those prices, unless you plan to do a lot of touring - Shinysideup? - maybe it makes more sense to replace an EVSE, or to have a travel EVSE and one installed at home.

Or track use!  If you currently don't have a level 2 EVSE and want to do some track riding (which you all should ), this unit isn't that much more expensive than the Clipper Creek LCS-25 I bought, and if it can hook into the RV outlets at a track you'll be golden.

[7racer]

Oh, SWEET.  Ok then this is getting very close to what I want for touring around.  As it is I'd have to carry both my level 1 and level 2 EVSEs somehow.

Right. At those prices, unless you plan to do a lot of touring - Shinysideup? - maybe it makes more sense to replace an EVSE, or to have a travel EVSE and one installed at home.

Or track use!  If you currently don't have a level 2 EVSE and want to do some track riding (which you all should ), this unit isn't that much more expensive than the Clipper Creek LCS-25 I bought, and if it can hook into the RV outlets at a track you'll be golden.

That's awesome to know!! MSR Cresson where I raced the Tesla didn't have the RV outlets though. What's the end of the plug look like??

[barboo]

Looks like the end of the plug is non-RV. That's okay...you can get a RV plug adapter for it from Lowe's/Menards/etc.

Since I'm doing track/race days and one of my generators goes 240v, I'm going to pull the trigger on this. I'll let you guys know how it works.

[Adan]

Cool, definitely report back on this.  If I can charge at RV parks, then SF to Mendocino becomes a realistic Empulse journey.

[barboo]

Cool, definitely report back on this.  If I can charge at RV parks, then SF to Mendocino becomes a realistic Empulse journey.

Will do. Some more info on this...the Turbocord uses a NEMA 6-20 plug.

For my generator that uses a twist lock plug to work, I need a NEMA L6-20 to 6-20 adapter (the attached pic).