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Make a Zero run while charging

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craigster:
Hi all,

Wondering if anyone knew a way for me to get a Zero motorcycle to fully operate, whilst plugged in and charging (theoretically like if I was towing a generator). Need your help!

Thanks!

BrianTRice@gmail.com:
Electrically, this is not a problem, but it'll be best to connect to the controller to power the motor in parallel than to try charging the battery while riding. The motor output of >6kW at 55mph ensures a 0.6C rate of discharge which most mobile generators can't match at all. So it's better to arrange the circuit this way to minimize current flow on any circuit.

Also, the generator output will be less than regen typically.

But more to the point, can this generator emit the right DC voltage instead of wasting AC on a switching power supply?

And can you arrange the connection to avoid cable wear, motion, and provide for emergency disconnect?

craigster:
thanks for the reply. I was thinking that too - going straight to the controller, however generators like to run at constant rpm and output, if I were say going from idle to 55mph like you say I don't know if the generator would be able to handle such fast transitions in power demand. I am still just learning about all of this, its for a school project so any help is appreciated. Let me know what you think

BrianTRice@gmail.com:

--- Quote from: craigster on August 16, 2017, 09:34:02 PM ---thanks for the reply. I was thinking that too - going straight to the controller, however generators like to run at constant rpm and output, if I were say going from idle to 55mph like you say I don't know if the generator would be able to handle such fast transitions in power demand. I am still just learning about all of this, its for a school project so any help is appreciated. Let me know what you think

--- End quote ---

Running the cables to the controller should not couple the generator to the motor's power demand. The battery and controller are connected to one circuit while running, and the battery will accept power back into it, usually via regenerative braking, but an additional generator on the same "bus" would have the same effect.

Basically, the controller terminals are just the best point to join a generator to this system to keep all of the power involved within the rated capacity.

However, I think you will have to carefully figure out how to get a generator to produce DC in a range compatible with the battery, though, and how to implement circuit protections so that these 3 major items (battery, motor controller, and generator) all play well together. In the worst case, I'd expect that the generator deserves a controller (Arduino-level capable) that connected to the CANbus, read out system voltage, regulated the generator to match that and act like a CC-CV charger (constant output current until matching the battery's top static voltage, at which point to reduce until cutting off as needed). The CV taper/cutoff behavior would have to be dynamic especially at high states of charge because regenerative braking might cause voltage to rise quickly.

Hamisato:
I think your idea is very good.

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