[Perfect Windows]

The free version of the app does preconditioning and range. You pay for other pointless nonsense that I can live without.

I'd be amazed if the van battery differs from mine but I genuinely hope for your sake that it does.

Vin

[Always shining]

That’s interesting re the ap.

[Spruce]

The free version of the app does preconditioning and range. You pay for other pointless nonsense that I can live without.

I'd be amazed if the van battery differs from mine but I genuinely hope for your sake that it does.

Vin

Hi Vin,
Someone on the other forum has also purchased an EV. He was asking those on the forum how they would power pumps and an electric reel. What he wants is to be able to charge his wfp battery while his van battery is being charged overnight. I just wondered what you were doing.

Thanks. Spruce.

[Perfect Windows]

Hi Vin,
Someone on the other forum has also purchased an EV. He was asking those on the forum how they would power pumps and an electric reel. What he wants is to be able to charge his wfp battery while his van battery is being charged overnight. I just wondered what you were doing.

Thanks. Spruce.

I went for a Sterling LFP Li-ion battery (100Ah, £279) that I bench charge each weekend.  I realised that a large part of the hassle of installation is the wiring so I decided to swerve it completely. Battery via large fuse to small fused distribution board to controllers and reel. Took an hour at most. No tapping into the van electrics, no finding ways through bulkheads, no feeding cables through the cab, no split relays, no Victrons, no apps to link and tune (and no trying to step down from 450v to 12v!). Just a battery and some wires.

Simple to diagnose (eight wires in total, literally no electronics involved) and (before the idiots cut in) LFP is pretty much immune to thermal runaway, so it's no fire risk.

With two of us in the van and one electric reel, we could probably get through eight days' work (two weeks for us) on a charge.

We'll be doing this with all the vans in future.

Vin

[Always shining]

Why do you need the large fuse to small fused distribution board? Excuse my ignorance.
Could you post a picture of said set up please?

[Perfect Windows]

Why do you need the large fuse to small fused distribution board? Excuse my ignorance.
Could you post a picture of said set up please?

If you're wiring 12v anything at all, ever, you should have a fuse on the live (red) wire as close as possible to the battery. That way, if it shorts, it won't cause a fire because the fuse will blow.

A pair of 12mm² wires (read as "massive cables") run to the back of the tank (in conduit)  to a small 12v distribution board with blade fuses, where it splits into controller x 2 and reel x 1 pair.

I've not used the van body as a negative earth so it's all isolated from the van. Don't want to suffer voltage drops, hence the stupidly thick cable.

I'll try to photograph.

Vin

[Spruce]

Hi Vin,
Someone on the other forum has also purchased an EV. He was asking those on the forum how they would power pumps and an electric reel. What he wants is to be able to charge his wfp battery while his van battery is being charged overnight. I just wondered what you were doing.

Thanks. Spruce.

I went for a Sterling LFP Li-ion battery (100Ah, £279) that I bench charge each weekend.  I realised that a large part of the hassle of installation is the wiring so I decided to swerve it completely. Battery via large fuse to small fused distribution board to controllers and reel. Took an hour at most. No tapping into the van electrics, no finding ways through bulkheads, no feeding cables through the cab, no split relays, no Victrons, no apps to link and tune (and no trying to step down from 450v to 12v!). Just a battery and some wires.

Simple to diagnose (eight wires in total, literally no electronics involved) and (before the idiots cut in) LFP is pretty much immune to thermal runaway, so it's no fire risk.

With two of us in the van and one electric reel, we could probably get through eight days' work (two weeks for us) on a charge.

We'll be doing this with all the vans in future.

Vin

Thank you

[Perfect Windows]

Here you go.

At the bulkhead:

site to upload photos

At the back:



Hope that clarifies.

Vin

[Perfect Windows]

There is, of course, an alternative. Spoke at length to Soupy after he posted this and he said he never had a problem with his solution.



Vin

[Always shining]

Perfect thanks mate

[Always shining]

2 full days using the vivaro electric and I have to say I will never go back to diesel.
Absolute pleasure to drive. Pulls the 500 litres no problem at all.
Comfortable and very quiet!
I’m finding the range is not far off if you drive it sensibly.
Yes if you use the heater the range will drop off a bit.
Going up hills with a full tank the range will drop off a bit but using the regen you can ‘claim’ a bit back going down the other side.
Personally I do no more than 90 miles in a day so the range is more than adequate for me.
After two days the feared ‘range anxiety’ has gone.
It’s slightly less room in the back than a Transit Custom but comfortably fits everything in certainly for a one man band but probably a two man set up too.
Would I recommend - yes 100% as long as you can charge at home or you have easy access to a ‘fast’ charger that you could nip to on the way home I suppose.
Price wise there is not a lot of difference to the diesel equivalent.
Any questions feel free.

[the king]

how many miles per charge are you getting with a 500l tank in ?

[Always shining]

It barely touches the range. Maybe a handful of miles. First day I did 92 miles in total. I had 162 miles range when I set off (wasn’t fully charged):
When I got home it was showing 68 miles left.
I was driving steady and I was using using the regen when I could

[zesty]

I’m holding off until you guys give us an update on the freezing temps of winter.

Its unlikely you’d manage that 92 miles when fully loaded on very cold days.

Keep us posted, I’d love an e transit custom, but I’m not fully convinced on winter range yet.

[Always shining]

Yes I agree with you. There will be a range drop off when it’s freezing. But the range is just over 200 so there should be more than enough to cover my personal daily needs.
Time will tell

[Always shining]

Sorry Zesty forgot to ask what your daily mileage is?

[zesty]

Sorry Zesty forgot to ask what your daily mileage is?

Varies hugely. Some days only 15 miles, some days 70 to 80. The odd occasion 100 or more.

On the e transit custom website, their own range calculator suggest a winter range at 0c to be only 80 miles with motorway driving. That’s pants.

Granted it wouldn’t be too often I’d need over 80 miles, but it is a genuine concern….

[Always shining]

You would need to work out how often you actually do 100 miles and on those days is there a fast charge on your route where you can add a few miles quickly.
When I was doing my research I thought I was doing 100+ miles a day. So for a couple of weeks I measured the actual daily mileage and for the vast majority of the time I did around 80 miles a day. With the odd day of 90.
Surprised me

[zesty]

You would need to work out how often you actually do 100 miles and on those days is there a fast charge on your route where you can add a few miles quickly.
When I was doing my research I thought I was doing 100+ miles a day. So for a couple of weeks I measured the actual daily mileage and for the vast majority of the time I did around 80 miles a day. With the odd day of 90.
Surprised me

I did start doing that actually, then I got lazy. I need to do it for a month, it’ll be interesting to see how my mileage looks after a full month 👍🏼

[AuRavelling79]

Found out that if you have an electric van registered before March 1st 2015 it doesn't need an MOT!

So if you bought and kept an early Nissan you might qualify.