Low current charging

[Scanman]

Hi All,

I am a proud owner of a Mitsubishi PHEV and have recently come home from a trip around Europe with a caravan. Most times in the UK I can use the camping site power supply to charge the car (10A over 5 hrs) Problems arise in Europe when the campsite power trips at 6A, sometimes 4A. Often I am unable to use the electric kettle.

I would therefore like to know if an EVSE has ever been created to only use a low current, say 4A. I would be happy to use it in the above circumstances by charging overnight for 8 hrs or more.

 

[jaapv]

https://evcompany.eu/laadpalen/laadkabels/ratio-thuislader/

6/10 A

 

[anko]

As Jaap said, 6 Amps EVSEs exist. I have a RATIO portable EVSE for the exact same reason. Been able to use it on every campsite I have ever visited with my PHEV.

I don't believe the EVSE standard supports < 6 amps. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772.

 

[PaulFromDe]

I'm charging the Outlander here at home with energy from my own photovoltaic solar energy plant.
I try to control the charging station automatically, so the charging current is not more than the produced amount.
In the winter often it is not possible to produce 1.3 kW - the minimum of the Outlander at 230 V / 6 A.

What is the charging power at 110 V?

If the current is adjustable from 6 A to 15 A, like at 230 V, it would be 660 W to 1650 W.
Is that true? Is it possible to charge the outlander with only 660 W at 110 V?
I'm building another solar plant with 24 V DC now, and I'm thinking about a 24 V charging station for the Outlander.
If this way less power is possible, I would produce 110 V instead of 230 V from the 24 V - System.

Paul

 

[PaulFromDe]

What is the charging power at 110 V?

Ok, i found the answer myself, in Mitsubishi's Canadian specifications:

Charging Time:120V / 8A 13.0 hours 13.0 hours
Charging Time: 120V /12A 8.0 hours 8.0 hours
Charging Time: 240V /16A EVSE 3.5 hours 3.5 hours

120V x 8 A means 960 W
So it is possible to charge the Outlander with less than 1.3 kW (minimum at 230 V) when using lower voltage.
Probably even 6 A at 110 V will be possible, what means 660 W. Yes, the charging time will be quite long.
But in the Winter with only a little amount of solar energy, it is good to know that 1.3 kW is not the absolute minimum.

Paul

 

[anko]

Very likely. The protocol says something about minimum current and not minimum watts.

The Mitsubishi MUTIII diagnostics tool reports on # of 100v charges and # of 200v charges (rather than 120v and 240v), so you might be able to go to an even lower voltage and work with less watts or produce more amps.