Fixed voltage alternators are common on older vehicles and there are plenty of Victron options to set up auxiliary or “leisure” battery charging. However, newer Euro5/6 vehicles are fitted with Variable/Smart Alternators which allow the vehicle (ECU) to control the output voltage from the alternator based on vehicle operating conditions, to reduce the electrical load and in turn mechanical load on the engine by the alternator (improving economy etc).
This severely limits the vehicle alternators ability to charge a secondary, auxiliary battery to a sensible level. The general solution to this seems to be the installation of a DC/DC battery-to-battery charger such as the Ring RSCDC30 or REDARC BCDC1225D units.
What Victron solutions are available to solve this problem with Variable/Smart (Euro6) alternators?
