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Multiple EV charging

This may not pertain to all of you, but what if you already need to charge multiple EV's? Or how can you share your 240 V. dryer plug with your new Aptera. No need to plan for an expensive second 240 V. line by an electrician especially if one plans to garage his Aptera.

There exist a Smart Splitter which can be used at the dryer outlet, or at your current 240 Volt plug-in EVSE which can turn on either car charger or dryer and charger selectively. So since a level 2 charger usually doesn't run for more than 6 hours, it can charge one car, then turn on the other. Similarly, once the clothes are dry, it turns on the Aptera EVSE.

https://www.getneocharge.com/shop-pages/shop-smart-splitters

Just letting the forum know of other solutions while waiting for the Aptera update.

13 comments

13 Comments

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kiteboarder

Mar 30, 2021

@OceanDragon I agree it's a great option for current EVs. I was just pointing out that Aptera doesn't need it as much.

There's less need for any aftermarket L2 unit than most people seem to realize. Most OEM cords work great on 240V, so all you need is the OUTLET (that you'd need anyway for the aftermarket unit) & you get 104 miles overnight (260 in Aptera).

kiteboarder

Mar 25, 2021

That DC rapid charge is great for road trips.

For daily use, "130 miles overnight from a standard wall outlet" is a game-changer, since it means nearly everyone can commute without needing to buy a 240V home charger. Current EVs recharge "only" the AVERAGE daily drive from a standard outlet in 8 hours of sleep or work. That means about half of drivers need L2.

Geoff Ansell

Mar 24, 2021

500 mile an hour charge

Geoff Ansell

Mar 24, 2021

500 mile an hour charge

kiteboarder

Mar 24, 2021

I'm pretty sure the 3.3kW & 6.6kW ratings are the onboard chargers' OUTPUT to the HV drive battery, so their ~85% efficiency doesn't affect charge time. It only affects the amount of input power used.

OceanDragon

Mar 25, 2021

Replying to

@kiteboarder That is why I prefaced this by saying that this may only be of interest to only a few Aptera owners who are interested in Level 2 charging of two EV's. It is just a way to split a current 240 volt outlet, or share a dryer outlet. Not for all, and certainly may not fulfill each persons charging habits. Just sharing info that's all. I certainly will add this to my garage charger remote outlet and have two separate EVSE's. That way I don't have to go back out to the garage to change the EVSE to the other car. This will of course happen late at night with my Edison TOU (time of use) least costly kWh charges. Saves me from running another 240 Volt outlet to my charging location. Just sharing my own personal use plans.

kiteboarder

Mar 25, 2021

Replying to

@OceanDragon Since Aptera will recharge 130 miles overnight from just your existing standard wall outlet, I'm curious why you think you need 240 for it.

Speaking of EVSEs, the so-called "120V" ones that come with most EVs will also run on 240, adding about 100 miles overnight or 250 miles for Aptera!. So many drivers are fine without needing to buy an EVSE. All they need is the same 240 outlet that they'd also need for a higher-power EVSE.

OceanDragon

Mar 29, 2021

Replying to

@kiteboarder Hey Kite. Like I had prefaced this topic, everybody has different needs. I was trying to share a 240 volt smart "splitter" with the forum. I personally have the needs for multiple level 2 charging needs, especially when I have family, friends, and EV club members at the house. Instead of making multiple switches of one EVSE, I can do it by the charging timer in each car. Girlfriend wants to get a Taycan this summer, so I have been doing some homework of the best solution for this. If I end up with an Aptera, I hopefully can charge it off remote solar panels while in the garage if they provide a connector....not a need but a challenge. Otherwise it would normally function off 120V unless I need to do a quick fill up before a long trip. Flexibility and multiple choices is my key to all the cars. Have a good week.

kiteboarder

Mar 24, 2021

I mean that one of the many advantages of Aptera's extreme efficiency is very low charge time. So with multiple EVs per plug (home OR public) there's not much competition over the plug like there would be with for example a Tesla X & a Jag.

So if you have multiple EVs & 1 is an Aptera you just plug it in for half an hour & then plug the less efficient one. Or the Aptera charges while you do the wash, & it's done before you need the dryer.

But really you don't even need home L2 with Aptera since it recharges about 2.5 average days' drive from a standard wall outlet in just one night's sleep.

An EV's A.C. charger is onboard, & is 1 of the things that can limit charging speed. For example my 500e's 6.6kW charger maxes out most public L2 plugs, & still charges at 6.6 on my friend's 9kW home plug. Aptera is considering a 3.3kW unit but with 2.5 times the driving efficiency it still recharges faster.

kiteboarder

Mar 24, 2021

That's great, but recharging Aptera only takes 36 minutes!

(240V, std 6.6kW, US average 40-mi drive)

Even IF they go with a half speed 3.3kW onboard charger it's still only 72 minutes.

OceanDragon

Mar 24, 2021

Replying to

Hi Kite. I may not be fully understanding what you mean. I am referring to those Aptera owners (more likely with bigger batteries) who may want to get a full charge especially before a long range trip. Using a level 2 EVSE it will take roughly 8-9 hours to charge a depleted 60kWh battery and 13-14 hours to charge the 100kWh version. This does not take into account the roughly 85% efficiency factor as well as at temperatures outside of ideal charging temperatures. I do not understand what you mean by onboard charger? Thanks.