Charging While Parked? (Away from Chargers/Outlets)

[thefuturenow]

Just curious if any clever owners have figured out a way to get even 1-2 miles/hour while parked in a lot that doesn't have chargers of any type, even if it's a crazy method such as the guy who used a Honda gasoline generator to charge it while grabbing coffee.

 

[jadnashuanh]

A small generator could work, but their power output often isn't very clean. You'd need one with a constant load capacity within the limits of the i3's ability to restrict power using the low-power menu. The supplied (in the USA) EVSE is a maximum of 12A (12*120vac=1440W continuous), but you can tell the car to restrict what it uses - I don't remember the steps. As long as the generator could provide at least the minimum step, and the power is not too noisy (the EVSE may not like it and issue a power fault), you'd have a chance. Given the community average power usage is around 4m/Kw, you'd get about 5-6 miles/hour of charge at 12A/120vac. Throw in the range loss of carrying the thing around (similar to the REx), and that should tell you what to expect.

 

[imolazhp]

^ and thats if you got the 12a EVSE, my early 2015 came with the 10a.

Carrying around a gasoline generator to get a few miles of charge while the car is parked seems like a huge burden, you have to carry around the gasoline generator, where are you going to put it? If you put it in the hatch then your driving around smelling gasoline fumes, most likely it won't fit in the frunk. I think your just looking for theft of a generator by doing this.