Level 3 to Level 2 charging converter thing

[inkblaster]

Hello, so I have a 2000 Ford Ranger EV that works well with original equipment, nimh batteries get about 50 miles of range around town, I put a j1772 port instead of the Avcon so can home charge, and have charged on level 2 chargepoint chargers around town fine.

I've noticed though that as level 3 chargers become more available, the level 2 public options look to be going away. So I'm looking for what would be a good option for some sort of level 3 to level 2 conversion solution.

I'm familiar with the concepts of level 1/2/3, and know level 3 is just DC, and my truck's charger can only handle level 2 6.6 kw, but I'm looking for a project and also to have options if I go a bit too far and want to be sure I can charge away from home as we go into this bright bold future.

Would it be possible to get the level 3 bits from something like an i3, a controller to spoof signals, and then to a couple of portable batteries, split and dump the dc voltage into their solar inputs, and then they can output the 208v 32amp on the other end to a level 2 EVSE.

I was considering the portable battery option as a way to somewhat get level 1 charging too,(the Ranger can ONLY do level 2) output 208v 32A to a level 2 EVSE to, and could plug the batteries into level 1 to prolong the charge session, also in general they'd offer an additional "spare can" of charge.

I'm just not sure on the spoofing controller between the level 3 bits and the batteries.

I think the charge process would be to turn on the batteries, hook up the EVSE so that starts drawing power, then hook up the CCS components and start dumping power back in, only drawing I guess the 6kw or so from the CCS, I have a Chevy Bolt so know CCS charging can go down pretty low lol, in February I charged at one and was getting a whopping 10kw

Thank you for your time, for those that would suggest for the expense and hassle why not upgrade the Ranger's batteries and controller, I appreciate the sentiment but if it works great for my needs, and would rather not break the truck to fix it, and again looking for a project, thanks.

-Jim

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

In my view, you're making this way more complicated than it needs to be. Your idea is to take DC from the station, convert it to AC for the OBC, and then that OBC is converting it back to DC.

The right solution is just to add full CCS functionality to the truck. Hardware-wise, it would require two additional contactors, a CCS charge port, the FOCCCI board, and finding what CAN messages you can use from your current BMS to feed FOCCCI. You might need an additional board to get data from your BMS and then decide on current limits and other things for FOCCCI, and possibly to spoof data for the existing OBC when you want to Level 2 charge.

You'd probably need to set the charging power fairly low for your existing batteries, but this might be the time to upgrade them and your BMS.

[Zieg]

Yeah, Foccci sounds like the obvious solution, assuming it'll work with nimh chemistry? From my days of RC racing I recall chargers using peak detection algorithms, not sure how you'd manage that on L3, maybe with an Arduino and some code?

The good news is it looks like your voltage should be compatible with direct ccs charging. Wikipedia says the battery goes from 280v to 350v?

[inkblaster]

Thanks for the suggestion but again I do not want to break the truck for this. The truck is functioning perfectly, everything is working, it does great, and as questioned the NiMh chemistry who knows how that would take a 'fast' charge.

I'm looking more how to future proof it without tearing it all apart, and much less risk working with a couple of portable battery banks than on my rare OG EV that parts aren't readily available for.

[Zieg]

Alright, well do you know if your existing OBC can handle a DC input? It would be nice if you didn't have to get a huge (and less than 100% efficient) pure sine inverter to feed them AC.