Got a question for BlueGo (or anyone really of course).
If all goes well next week (dealer doesn't try to change the out the door price we've agreed on), I'll be the proud new owner of a 2013 Zero DS 11.4kw bike. It charges off 110v. I'm wondering what modification (if any) I should do to charge it from the external outlet of the chinook? Ultimately I may want to run a dedicated cord for the bike to charge with while mounted on the back hitch. I'll call that "charging 2.0" though. So, is the outlet strong enough for this? Can the generator charge the bike some too? The charge times are like 8 hrs though.. So doubt I'd really want to use the generator.
Bike specs:
http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/zero-ds/2013/
Charging an electric motorcycle off the RV
Re: Charging an electric motorcycle off the RV
Well AC is not something I'm all that good at, but I can at least take a stab at it (maybe someone else knows better).
From what I can tell, the charger takes 1.3 kilowatts. At least it says "Charger type 1.3 kW, integrated." I presume that means it takes that much power to run, but I'm not sure I have that right.
1.3 kilowatts is 1,300 watts. To get amps, you divide the watts by the voltage, so 1,300 watts divided by 110 is 11.8 amps. I don't know if there is any type of start up surge or anything. I guess I wouldn't think so, since there is no "motor" in the charger.
The wire feeding the external outlet in my year Chinook is 14 gauge (it's on the "outlets" circuit which is all 14 gauge wire), and the fuse on that circuit is 15 amps. The 2005 Chinook manual shows the same as mine. All of the other inside outlets (except the microwave oven outlet which has its own circuit) are on that same fuse. So that might be a bit tight, if I'm figuring this correctly. But I may not be. Now if it were 12 volt, I'd feel more confident in my figures.
I don't think this would be any different between the generator and shorepower, since it's likely the circuit/wiring that would be the limiting factor.
Anyone else better with AC things?
From what I can tell, the charger takes 1.3 kilowatts. At least it says "Charger type 1.3 kW, integrated." I presume that means it takes that much power to run, but I'm not sure I have that right.
1.3 kilowatts is 1,300 watts. To get amps, you divide the watts by the voltage, so 1,300 watts divided by 110 is 11.8 amps. I don't know if there is any type of start up surge or anything. I guess I wouldn't think so, since there is no "motor" in the charger.
The wire feeding the external outlet in my year Chinook is 14 gauge (it's on the "outlets" circuit which is all 14 gauge wire), and the fuse on that circuit is 15 amps. The 2005 Chinook manual shows the same as mine. All of the other inside outlets (except the microwave oven outlet which has its own circuit) are on that same fuse. So that might be a bit tight, if I'm figuring this correctly. But I may not be. Now if it were 12 volt, I'd feel more confident in my figures.
I don't think this would be any different between the generator and shorepower, since it's likely the circuit/wiring that would be the limiting factor.
Anyone else better with AC things?
1999 Concourse
Re: Charging an electric motorcycle off the RV
That 11.8amps lines up with what I think I saw on the ev motorcycle forum. As long as I'm not running anything else on a 110 outlet in the rv, sounds like I'll be ok.
For the 2.0 version, I just started thinking a 2000watt inverter run back to the motorcycle carrier. (?)
Seems like a waste to go DC-AC-back to DC in the bikes battery.. But it's over my head how to charge the bike from the van alternator. (DC-DC).
I'll pose the topic to the ev forum guys when I'm farther along. Thanks BG
For the 2.0 version, I just started thinking a 2000watt inverter run back to the motorcycle carrier. (?)
Seems like a waste to go DC-AC-back to DC in the bikes battery.. But it's over my head how to charge the bike from the van alternator. (DC-DC).
I'll pose the topic to the ev forum guys when I'm farther along. Thanks BG
Re: Charging an electric motorcycle off the RV
The more I think about it, the more I really don't see any practical way to charge it other than shore-power, or maybe generator for partial charges (but that'd still be kind of impractical due to length of time).
1300 watts is a lot. For example at 12 volts that's 108.3 amps. That's a bit of a whopper in the DC world. There's really no way to get that kind of power out of any regular alternator, or "human scale" battery bank that you'd be likely to have. Or at least not that I know of. Also, I looked it up and the lithium battery takes around 9 volts, so I don't think there would be any way to use 12 volts even if you had enough. The built in charger is going to really want 9 volts.
You could theoretically use an inverter, but no "normal" battery bank, could ever support that kind of draw for 6+ hours. The inverter solves the problem of 110, but it takes a lot of battery power even to say, run a microwave oven for ten minutes. You'd essentially be running one for 5+ hours.
I'd be interested to know what solutions the bike forum people have come up with. I know I have read of RV folks using electric bicycles, but I don't remember anyone with a motorcycle. 1300 watts coming from anyplace other than shore power is rather formidable.
I hope you post back as I'd like to know how other folks (on the other forum) have handled it.
PS: Back to the shore power charging, given that you'd be very unlikely to charge this up via generator, why not just skip the Chinook external outlet and instead use the shore power pedestal directly to the bike via a dedicated cord. I would at least look into that, since you'd be at a shore power pedestal anyway.
1300 watts is a lot. For example at 12 volts that's 108.3 amps. That's a bit of a whopper in the DC world. There's really no way to get that kind of power out of any regular alternator, or "human scale" battery bank that you'd be likely to have. Or at least not that I know of. Also, I looked it up and the lithium battery takes around 9 volts, so I don't think there would be any way to use 12 volts even if you had enough. The built in charger is going to really want 9 volts.
You could theoretically use an inverter, but no "normal" battery bank, could ever support that kind of draw for 6+ hours. The inverter solves the problem of 110, but it takes a lot of battery power even to say, run a microwave oven for ten minutes. You'd essentially be running one for 5+ hours.
I'd be interested to know what solutions the bike forum people have come up with. I know I have read of RV folks using electric bicycles, but I don't remember anyone with a motorcycle. 1300 watts coming from anyplace other than shore power is rather formidable.
I hope you post back as I'd like to know how other folks (on the other forum) have handled it.
PS: Back to the shore power charging, given that you'd be very unlikely to charge this up via generator, why not just skip the Chinook external outlet and instead use the shore power pedestal directly to the bike via a dedicated cord. I would at least look into that, since you'd be at a shore power pedestal anyway.
1999 Concourse
Re: Charging an electric motorcycle off the RV
Got my bike in the other day. I still think about being able to charge while driving. I'm not always at a campground when I travel. Nor do I want to run the generator all night. I'm looking into faster charging upgrades that will use traditional j1772 ev socket, but in the mean time:
http://www.qualitypowerauto.com/item_53 ... ngines.htm
None of these alternators are up to the task of a 1300 watt battery charger?
More food for thought:
http://www.fabcopower.com/inverters.html
From what that site size.. I should be fine(?). The bike's 1300 watt charger is known to not actually draw 1300 most of the time. There's talk of 10amps.
http://www.qualitypowerauto.com/item_53 ... ngines.htm
None of these alternators are up to the task of a 1300 watt battery charger?
More food for thought:
http://www.fabcopower.com/inverters.html
From what that site size.. I should be fine(?). The bike's 1300 watt charger is known to not actually draw 1300 most of the time. There's talk of 10amps.
Re: Charging an electric motorcycle off the RV
Woohoo!
RV on shore power, motorcycle charging off the outside outlet
(Not at a campground.. Just have a nice heavy 30amp extension cord at my family's place)
RV on shore power, motorcycle charging off the outside outlet
(Not at a campground.. Just have a nice heavy 30amp extension cord at my family's place)
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Re: Charging an electric motorcycle off the RV
Well that was short lived. When the bike pulls it's max 12amp/ 1250ish watts.. It trips the gri outlet by the bathroom. I'm tempted to see about a bigger gfi at Home Depot. The breaker for the outlets is 15amp.. I wonder if the gfi is too.. Or if they just get a little more sensitive with age.
I'll try a new 15amp gfi and see if I get lucky.. Using it to 20amp is probably unwise.
Update: new GFI seemed to work better. Bike was at 50% and charged without tripping it. Though, I may have been in a different cycle of the fridge which also runs through that GFI. Promising, but not confirmed as "good" just yet.
I'll try a new 15amp gfi and see if I get lucky.. Using it to 20amp is probably unwise.
Update: new GFI seemed to work better. Bike was at 50% and charged without tripping it. Though, I may have been in a different cycle of the fridge which also runs through that GFI. Promising, but not confirmed as "good" just yet.