Request: MC4 Connectors for Solar HV Battery Charging

[joewilk45]

Google nio battery swap video that's cool option not just for long trips. But if all EV's were that easy to access and replace one would think battery replacement and repairs would be much cheaper and easier to replace

 

[LIGHTNING EV9]

The optional ability to charge the HV battery with solar would be great. Some EV/PHEV owners do this now, but it requires a solar generator and other costs, complexities, and inefficiencies. I know the realities of the range added, array size, etc.

many of us fall into the unfortunate dream that somehow 'solar', as a simplistic 'plug-in' power source, can manage to 'charge' a HUGE and HIGH VOLTAGE battery, with very little, and very inconsistent, power from the sun. I've been there: took two large solar panels on the top of the Motorhome, to Alaska, to 'help' keep the house battery bank charged: 4 6v 100ah batteries in series, parallel, for 12v output, to our 120v Inverter, for interior power for the fridge, tvs, outlets, etc. This was really only to 'help', when sun was available... there's no way it would actually provide any consistent power to the inverter, on it's own, otherwise.

yes, the idea, in it's simplicity, has merit, but to miss the point about the huge crevasse between simple solar and a very large and very high-voltage battery is unfortunate... it's like saying you might be able to jump the grand canyon with a bicycle, if you only get a long enough downhill
'run at it'...

simple solar is good for VERY LOW voltage needs, and over a very short timeframe... the term 'solar', itself, is so overused. It's like saying your car's little low-voltage 12v battery can power your EV down the road several miles, in an emergency, if you just give it enough time.

Yes, everything is possible. Few things are actually probable. Sadly.

 

[mkennedy009]

I do like the battery swap, I would do it when my battery starts to fail and get a better one.

 

[SkipW]

Or…crazy idea here…maybe just install solar at your residence and charge normally

This is the simplest way, I have 42 panels and my ID-4 gets free power as I produce more power than I typically use. EV all the way. Have a great day

 

[theonetruestripes]

This is some cool solutions to range anxiety and long distance trips these swap stations could be placed in out of way areas self powered by solar pretty cool.

Scout already has a way to combat range anxiety: the harvester. It doesn’t require building a network of battery swap stations, or designing (part of?) the Scout’s battery to be easily swappable (including the cooling system being able to deal with removal of part of the pack and thus some of the cooling fluid!), or the owner worrying that they just replaced a pack they were careful caring for and not charing too much or leaving to sit with a high charge in the hot, with some battery that random people have used and abused for years.

Battery swapping _is_ cool, but as a practical solution it is better at making EVs more useful for people in an urban environment where they can’t home charge because they live in an apartment complex. Which is why it is insanely popular in China, and flopped hard when Tesla gave it a go in the early 2010s at CA’s behest.

all to accommodate a trickle of energy that might barely cover the car's standby 'vampire' drain.

Which is actually a decent thought! If the solar is basically only going to cover the drain of the infotainment computer starting up, checking for software updates, and maybe monitoring the cameras...don’t make the solar feed th eHV battery at all! Just feed the 14V system! That is basically off the shelf components. Several companies sell products int eh $500 price range to do this, so it must be around $100 or less of parts & it is physically small! Make it an option in the Scout and charge between $200 and $600 for it depending on the target markup.