TURBOCORD

[kentheteaman]

Hello folks,

TURBOCORD is in the market out of the blue.
http://insideevs.com/aerovironment-introduces-turbocord-an-easy-and-convenient-dual-voltage-cordset/

It claims to do away with the large cumbersome EVSE charge boxes. If it is as good as they claim then it will be really wonderful for people who have to charge in work place or our friends/relatives house we visit, with regular household plug point. They do not need any special EVSE plug points.

At home I have a 30Amps large EVSE with large cord tethered to it. Easy to use but cumbersome to role it everyday morning.

regards,
ken

 

[TomMoloughney]

Hello folks,

TURBOCORD is in the market out of the blue.
http://insideevs.com/aerovironment-introduces-turbocord-an-easy-and-convenient-dual-voltage-cordset/

It claims to do away with the large cumbersome EVSE charge boxes. If it is as good as they claim then it will be really wonderful for people who have to charge in work place or our friends/relatives house we visit, with regular household plug point. They do not need any special EVSE plug points.

At home I have a 30Amps large EVSE with large cord tethered to it. Easy to use but cumbersome to role it everyday morning.

regards,
ken

It's a nice piece of equipment but I should point out it does only charge at 16 amps on 240V so the i3 would take twice as long to charge as it would on a proper 32 amp EVSE. Also, the 240V plug is a NEMA 6-20 which is not a common plug. It would be very difficult to find one in the wild to use.

 

[kentheteaman]

It's a nice piece of equipment but I should point out it does only charge at 16 amps on 240V so the i3 would take twice as long to charge as it would on a proper 32 amp EVSE. Also, the 240V plug is a NEMA 6-20 which is not a common plug. It would be very difficult to find one in the wild to use.

Damn !
If it is not the 120v plug then it is the 240v plug !!!

Never mind.

regards,
ken

 

[michael]

Actually, I was beta testing the unit for several months, and it's been very useful. There is no standard 240/208 V receptacle...whatever a manufacturer might select, someone will say (correctly) that other types are more common. The necessary solution is to have adapters. I bought adapters from Amazon and from stayonline.com. evseadapters.com also provides a wide variety of adapters. Using these adapters, I can use the Turbocord with L6-15, 6-20, L6-20, L6-30, 14-50, and 14-60.

While 15 Amp charging isn't as fast as 30 Amp, it's also more universal which is helpful for portable use. I don't know if the I3 will have a means to reduce charging current, but obviously a circuit with a 20 Amp breaker won't work with a 30 A EVSE running full tilt.

I installed a 240 V 6-20 outlet at a friend's house about 30 miles away from mine. I can plug in there and get a meaningful amount of charge in a couple of hours. It would have been impractical to install a wall-mounted 30 A EVSE there, and 110 V charging is all but useless.

I use my Turbocord almost every day to charge up at work. The company provides not enough charging stations to meet the need. I found a 208 V outlet outside a building and simply plug in there undisturbed.

 

[dennis]

I would suggest TonyWilliams' JESLA, for portable up to 40A J1772 EV Charging. It basically adapts a Tesla Model S MC to portable charging from 110V to 240V 40A charging.

I have tested it with a Model S, Roadster, Nissan Leaf, and BMW Active E. Works just fine.

NEMA 14-50 can be found at some Tesla Stores and Service Centers as well as RV parks which have established EV charging protocol with Tesla Roadster owners over the years. Additionally, NEMA 6-50 outlets can be found wherever people plug in welders.

Not ideal, but definitely better speeds at 40Amps. This will allow an i3 to run at the 7.4 kWh that the car charges at...