Successful L2 charge using portable generator experiment

[charles]

Been a while since I've been on here, still happily driving my 2015 Spark EV purchased back in September 2017.

Thanks to a recent $600 stimulus check, I thought I would spend it on a generator for emergency preparedness. Power outages in the Dallas Fort Worth Texas area are uncommon, and I cannot think of one that lasted over 24 hours, but some have been over 8 hours. It's just been something I have wanted for many years but never got around to buying until last month.

One feature that I was hoping the generator would provide is 240V for L2 EV charging capability. At the very least at home, even better if on the road.

After researching, I became increasingly interested in generators capable of using both propane gas canisters and gasoline. If I was to carry the generator and fuel inside the Spark EV, I would be more comfortable carrying something like a propane gas canister.

So I bought a WEN 4750W dual fuel generator rated for 240V 16A featuring a L14-30R connector.

I already have a Duosida L2 16A EVSE with a NEMA 14-50 connector, so got a L14-30R to NEMA 14-50 adapter.

My test charge worked! No tweaks to anything, just connected it all and it worked as I hoped. Generator engine noise changed noticeably due to load when the charging started, but it worked fine during my brief proof of concept test of a few minutes.

Only downsides are that both the WEN generator and Duosida EVSE are not suited for wet outdoor weather. That and I found a prior comment here that the owner's' manual cautions against using a generator to charge.

 

[wiseguyz23]

Thanks for the update. I always wondered about this. I imagine it's a bit cumbersome but it seems like a good thing to test. I also would recommend making sure to have an inverter for anything sensitive, especially for long use times. But, interesting none-the-less.

 

[user 1908]

Probably came in handy lately, didn't it - EV or no EV? That power outage was brutal!

 

[charles]

Yes, the generator did come in handy! I was without electric service on Monday, February 15 and Tuesday, February 16 when the low was -2 and high was 15. Kind of eerie being the only house on the block with a light on. It felt quite odd driving my EV to fill a 5 gallon gasoline container to fill the generator. No one had any propane canisters for sale as the crisis unfolded, so I had to settle for gasoline from a station that had power to operate the pumps.

It would have been nice to have a 1500w or so inverter to connect to the Spark EV's 12V battery for even more emergency electric power. In such an emergency, connecting to an ICE vehicle would probably be more practical though. Much longer run time ability.

As for using a generator to charge the Spark EV, I remember an article where several California Compliance cars were compared. The test facility had no infrastructure to charge the EV's, so they used a large diesel generator, the kind built on to a trailer to charge the EV's during the testing. I am sure it also had 240V output for L2 charging capability.

That article may have been how I first discovered the Spark EV and became interested in it as the winner with respect to acceleration and performance.