Why aren't Emtb car chargers a thing?

[RickBullotta]

I have a separate battery box in my 4Wd, rather than a 2nd battery. The box can charge from a cigar socket, anderson plug or AC power and has 12v output and a 300 watt inverter. This is more than enough to run my 6001 charger and even a normal deep cycle can give me a full charge without dipping below the recommended 50% use. My box has a 120aH LiFe4PO in it so I can get two full charges. I like that it's a completely separate unit to the vehicle. Mostly it just slow(er) charges off a socket although if I'm in one place for a few days I'll hook it up to some solar.

I also have a 200aH LiFE4Po in my camper which can run a 600 watt inverter. So technically I could get 5 full charges off that one, although I've never tested it with the bike. That one's got 300 watts of solar charging as well as from the vehicle and AC. Getting it below 50% takes some effort.

It would still be nice to have a 12V charger for the Shimano batteries. So much power is lost through the inverters and power supply. And it's be nice to be able to top up a battery without having to carry a 30kg pack in the car.

Gordon

I highly doubt that your cigar socket has wiring/fusing for a 30 watt load though.

 

[Dax]

I highly doubt that your cigar socket has wiring/fusing for a 30 watt load though.

Cigarette lighter sockets are generally fused at 10A or 15A. P=IV, therefore 10A x 12V = 120watt.

Best possible case, with the vehicle running: 15A x 14V = 210watt.

 

[flash]

Nice setup Gordon. Those Lithium deep cycle batteries look really good - but they're expensive! I've got an AGM Lead/Acid battery for my caravan solar set up. That's better than a wet cell but not as good as a Lithium.

Thanks Chris. Decided on the upgrade when I had a dead 120AH in the trailer. The main reason was the weight. I was going to replace it with two 120 AGM's but the Lithium, while more expensive, is half the weight and nearly double the usable capacity. I found a good one that had a special going so I probably ended up paying 40% more than the two AGM's but got that back in extra capacity.

The big cost was the last minute decision to upgrade the BMS as well. Those Redarc's ain't cheap. While it was a massive upgrade I'm really happy with the end result.

Gordon

I highly doubt that your cigar socket has wiring/fusing for a 30 watt load though.

The one on the car doesn’t. But it’s not needed. If I’m using that to charge the box it’s while I’m driving and it just slow charges. If I need more than 15A I use the 50 amp Anderson plug I have in the car but that’s a direct connection and the socket is on accessories so I need to be careful that I don’t leave it connected and kill my starter battery. The Anderson is mostly so I can hook up my solar panels.

 

[AlexF]

With the size of an ebike battery relative to a standard car battery, I can easily see how you could toast your car battery if your regularly charged your bike with it. But hybrid and fully electric cars have much bigger batteries operating at much higher voltages... wonder if car manufacturers will make use of this in the future to allow people to drive higher power devices from them?? Or will they lock this possibility out as they warranty their vehicles' batteries for mileage and not number of electrons that have gone in and out of it.

 

[Doomanic]

Look what I've found...

NEW eBIKE BOSCH TRAVEL BATTERY CHARGER ACTIVE PERFORMANCE 12V DC-DC 0275007914 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for NEW eBIKE BOSCH TRAVEL BATTERY CHARGER ACTIVE PERFORMANCE 12V DC-DC 0275007914 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

I think Spesh have priced it though; £299!

 

[carlbiker]

eBIKE BOSCH TRAVEL BATTERY CHARGER ACTIVE PERFORMANCE 12V DC-DC 0275007914 UK | eBay

Ideal for battery charging while travelling. This is available for download from global Bosch web site in many available languages. also see LED. This is now discontinued by Bosch, so quite rare and hard to get hold of.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Mistakencatlawyer]

a 600w pure sine wave power inverter is about $30 and then use your oem charger. i use that to charge 2 bikes while driving with no issues.

 

[Sidepod]

I'm struggling to understand the application? Charging whilst driving? From where to where? If I've left home, the battery is charged. If it's flat I'm probably on my way home. If I'm driving somewhere else, I'll charge it when I get there?

Probs missing something as per.?

 

[Pdoz]

I'm struggling to understand the application? Charging whilst driving? From where to where? If I've left home, the battery is charged. If it's flat I'm probably on my way home. If I'm driving somewhere else, I'll charge it when I get there?

Probs missing something as per.?

as an example, I use my emtb to do shuttle runs with the kids. Drive them 3.5 km up a 4x4 track (350 m elevation) , unload their bikes, drive back down then ride back up to join the fun. It's only 15 minutes charging for each run, but If I recharge the battery during that drive, after a normal 5/6 runs the bike will have had 1.5 hours charging - that's 2 extra runs. My ranger has an inverter standard.

Trouble is, I'm stuffed after 4/5 runs so am more than happy to have a flat battery.

I also have a decent inverter on my camper trailer - solar panel feeds a large deep cycle 4x4 battery, which feeds a "1200 watt" inverter. I use this to recharge my bike between rides , plus to run power tools ( there is no power in that shed) .

 

[flash]

I'm struggling to understand the application? Charging whilst driving? From where to where? If I've left home, the battery is charged. If it's flat I'm probably on my way home. If I'm driving somewhere else, I'll charge it when I get there?

Probs missing something as per.?

When I travel, I mostly do it with my camper. *Charging it when I get there* isn't something I do as I don't tend to use hotels on road trips.

Gordon