MY16 PHEV in a week

[noxid1969]

Hi all, I have been reading all I can in anticipation of getting my 'new to me' GX3+ next week. I wasn't too bothered about the electric boot and Sat Nav (I will miss the reversing camera) but the seats are leather and heated so all good and saved enough to make a few minor changes, it also has the electric heater and wifi.

I am still a little in the dark about the charging as I already have a 32A circuit (output on the wrong side of the house) but consumer unit is right next to where I will park so it looks like I could redirect the supply quite easily. Lots of sites have offers for Charge Points with OLEV grants but there is still a cost, so would it be cheaper to DIY (using a proper electrician) or go for the OLEV installed offering.

I also have solar panels on the roof that kick out about 3.6Kw (4Kw panels with loss) so is there anything I could purchase that will only supply the car when the solar is working? I know I can get devices for hot water tanks, just wondering if anyone has used this for the car for free charging?

Great Forum and hopefully my lack of knowledge will only be as temporary as the Search button answers my queries!

 

[elm70]

About charging "off grid" the PHEV .. here is my little experiment:
http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3686

A failure

But you can see that with a proper inverter as posted by a "mudmuncher" it is possible to charge the PHEV using the stock charging box included with the car.

If you find a smart way to charge your PHEV from solar panel .. let us know

Ideally I believe a custom made Chademo with low current and high voltage should be the best approach ... since convert DC to AC from panels to inverter, and AC back to DC via the on board charger sounds a waste of energy

Anyhow ... make a custom DIY Chademo sounds quite expensive and very tricky too ...

 

[jaapv]

You don't need 32 A, 16/13A is enough.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

Assuming you're UK-based, you can get a port with 16A cable fitted for £99 including the OLEV grant at the moment. You'd do well to beat that!

 

[Ravo]

I have solar panels and find that just using the 13amp 3 pin plug to charge, balance with what the solar panels produce.
Since my panels start producing from about 07.00 , I set the charging timer for then.
Takes about 5 hours from empty to full.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

^^
I've done the same, though I've set mine to charge between 9:30 and 6:30, as my 4kWp panels don't really produce sufficient power outside those times. We've had effectively free motoring for days now if you ignore depreciation, servicing, wear & tear, etc...

 

[noxid1969]

Assuming you're UK-based, you can get a port with 16A cable fitted for £99 including the OLEV grant at the moment. You'd do well to beat that!

Who is this with, I have checked out a few sites and they seem to be £149 without a cable or £249 with a cable

Thanks

 

[ThudnBlundr]

Ecotricity are doing a deal for a Rolec Wallpod at £99 fitted

 

[noxid1969]

Thanks ThudnBlundr for your reply, I am in the process of changing my meter to an Economy 7 one and then hopefully a smart meter so swapping supplier at the moment is not possible but I may persevere with the supplied charger until everything has settled down.

Picking it up tomorrow...

 

[IceKool]

Hi, I have a 4KW solar array too and have a "Solar Immersion Controller" (search Ebay under £100) fitted this diverts power to the immersion heater rather than exporting to the grid. I have rigged my charging socket to the 2nd load on this box so that once the tank is heated it will then switch to charging the car but have found I get the same errors when working with low current, If I have more than 500w (Car shows 25 hours to charge) to divert it's OK but not reliable below that.

I'm going to add a 2.5KW UPS to this system so that I can charge at full 10A and recharge the battery pack from the solar.

For variable rates of available power you need a load that I have seen described as "Inductive" such as an immersion heater, which is rated at 3Kw but will accept what ever you offer it up to that. I think the answer is to charge a battery pack with the variable supply then draw to the car charger at it's rated load.

I'm not an expert by any means and relying on O grade Physics and Google.

Thanks, IceKool.

 

[noxid1969]

Well car has arrived and is outside in the sun charging up on free electricity.

Now the flood of questions really start!!!

The Mitsubishi PHEV App, I can see the SSID but it will not connect in the App ( I know the details are correct because outside of the App I can connect to it (I then get the phone to forget the connection as I am using Android before I try the App although I see with Apple you connect the phone first before using the App), only thing is the car is charging, will this prevent connection?

 

[ThudnBlundr]

I don't think the charger likes less than 1.6kW (6A UK), so will not work properly unless it is receiving more than that. Have you thought about leaving the car plugged in normally and then letting any excess solar heat the water? Ours is set to charge during peak solar production. I'm thinking about adding an Immersun...

 

[mellwaters100]

The Mitsubishi PHEV App, I can see the SSID but it will not connect in the App

One thing to try in Android, switch off mobile data before trying to connect in the App via WiFi - it should then connect without a problem. It took me ages to figure this out on my Moto G5. Would open the app and the progress bar would crawl across the screen before finally say "unable to communicate". Switching off mobile data and bingo, connects in a couple of seconds.

HTH
Gary

 

[noxid1969]

The Mitsubishi PHEV App, I can see the SSID but it will not connect in the App

One thing to try in Android, switch off mobile data before trying to connect in the App via WiFi - it should then connect without a problem. It took me ages to figure this out on my Moto G5. Would open the app and the progress bar would crawl across the screen before finally say "unable to communicate". Switching off mobile data and bingo, connects in a couple of seconds.

HTH
Gary

I didn't even get a progress bar, looks like the Samsung S8 is not compatible with the car, I have loaded the App successfully on an old tablet, range is pretty good from the car to the house as being in the country there are no decent phone signals or Wi-Fi to block the connection. I am hoping when the next update to the App goes through my phone may work with it.


Have done 3x 130 mile commutes with a full battery at start and I am getting 49 Mpg, very pleased with that as I am just randomly pressing buttons to see what they do at the moment without too much thought and even used Charge to gain 14 miles despite warnings it would use more fuel. Loving the relaxed drive and the driving position.