I might have access to a used battery pack of an electric car. 400V DC, 24kWhrs for little money (relatively). Now I am wondering if there is any realistic chance to re use this pack with Victron products.
Key challenge might be the BMS !?
Any thoughts appreciated
Looking at old equipment tonight I see the Victron 'Centaur' Charger accepted up to 400VDC as an alternate input to the AC Line.
You could charge your low voltage pack with a Centaur powered from the HV Pack, then power a Level II EVSE with your Solar/Genset/Inverter to recharge the HV pack when it got low.
It would be a rather "Manual" solution, and not terribly efficient ;) but maybe that's all you need?
Add an Orion BMS if you need it.
I'm contemplating a similar solution as we have four EV's, but no Generator, and we lose power sometimes for 1-2 weeks each Winter. All that EV power sitting in the driveway and we're sitting in the dark ;)
Do any of the newer Multi's offer a HVDC input option, or EV integration possibilities?
Cheers
It can be done. Of course, you need to break the pack apart and reconfigure the cells to make the correct Voltage for your system.
You will absolutely need a BMS, there are various options around. REC is a good one.
I use a DIY one which uses the "Two Signal BMS" Assistant to allow charge / allow discharge.
Hello @Vicky Unless it is a Victron tested and approved battery and solution, it could invalidate the Victron equipment warranty and support will not be offered.There is however an active Tesla battery user group who has been exploring its use and challenges and Victron certainly did not shy away from giving informal input. First thing for me is he step down to 48V from 400HV and indeed the BMS may pose a challenge if it is internal to the battery. What battery is this as I know electric car manufacturers have started providing their own solutions to repurpose electric car battries given they still have a lot of life left in them beyond car use.
Thanks a lot to you both ! Appreciate the Toyota link and hints about the Tesla group, I'll go digging :o). The battery I have in mind is a Nissan battery pack, I didn't search for manufacturer activities yet, but after your hint I started to do so right away.
Nissan does a lot indeed to provide batteries a more "interesting" life and even providing a second life for them. Looks like there is lot out there to learn...
I have in excess of 250kWh worth of Gen II leaf cells feeding a number of parallel Victron inverters, it's not a trival project for the uninitiated - but plenty have built reliable, safe systems using ex EV cells. You will have to disassemble the pack and reconfigure for a lower nominal voltage.
The Second Life Storage Forum will assist .....
