Charging ebike in the boonies

[Vic Harder]

So about 105AH to charge one battery. Don't even try to use a 12V "charger/cig lighter". They usually are fused at 5A, or 60W output. Compared to the 200W or so the AC charger requires, your charge time will be even longer ... like 2-3x longer, and you still have to use 105AH. If that's coming from your truck battery, you will need the bike to ride home.

 

[CPT Davenport]

I found this information on the battery:

"The internal battery in a Specialized Turbo Levo SL is 320Wh, which translates to 6.9 Amp-hours (Ah) at 48V."

So 105ah to charge for 6.9ah? I'm confused. Is it really not conceivable without a much upgraded system?

 

[ckent323]

If you are charging from your 12 volt system (actually about 12.5 volts) then 25.6 Amp hours at 12.5 volts equals 320 Watt hours.

I hope this is helpful

Craig

 

[Vic Harder]

Thanks for that info. Critical data! BUT, you need to figure out what your 12V system needs to provide in the way of Ah in order to supply 6.9Ah at 12V. To do that, it helps to convert it to Watt hours first. Wh = Ah x V and

6.9Ah * 48V = 331.2 Wh

Now to get Ah at 12V you would divide 331.2Wh/12V = 27.6Ah

Not as bad as I thought originally!

 

[CPT Davenport]

Thank you guys for dumbing this down for me! Much appreciated. So to fully charge I would be left with 178ah ish out of my 206ah in my house battery?

 

[Vic Harder]

Thank you guys for dumbing this down for me! Much appreciated. So to fully charge I would be left with 178ah ish out of my 206ah in my house battery?

Sounds like it. I'd try it at home first.

 

[CPT Davenport]

Thanks Vic! I will be testing this in the driveway for sure. I plan to first attempt to charge the fully depleted bike battery with the camper house battery fully charged but under the carport with no added solar input. I will use this as a baseline and go from there. I pick up the bikes up this weekend and will report my findings. After of course, a fun day of shredding local trails in an effort to drain the juice from my new bike!

 

[rubberlegs]

I just did a small amount of research on inverter efficiency. Looks like it's about 85-90%. So maybe add 10-15% for that inefficiency. But only AFTER shredding some trails!

 

[kmacafee]

Why not carry a small battery like a Bluetti or Jackery. You can charge while driving or solar and depending on the size of unit, could get multiple charge cycles out of it.

 

[CPT Davenport]

Why not carry a small battery like a Bluetti or Jackery. You can charge while driving or solar and depending on the size of unit, could get multiple charge cycles out of it.

This is on the top of the list of my options should my existing system not keep up with my power demands. I have a lot invested in my power bank and would like to try that first. I'll keep y'all posted!

 

[CPT Davenport]

Looking more into the solar generator option now. I will still need to purchase an inverter for my current set up. Perhaps it is better to buy a chargeable unit with built in inverter after all. Hmmmmmmmmm?????

 

[Vic Harder]

Unless I am badly mistaken Cpt, your existing setup is waaay more capable than a "solar generator". Battery size alone should give us a clue....

 

[CPT Davenport]

Unless I am badly mistaken Cpt, your existing setup is waaay more capable than a "solar generator". Battery size alone should give us a clue....

I agree. The inverter I have is not a pure sine wave so I will just invest another couple hundred in a new inverter and see how it goes.