Just about to purchase a Nissan NV200 ‘that is an electric vehicle with a 40kW battery’ and convert the van into a nice mini Camper van
I do solar on Yachts in the Caribbean with VE Smart MPPT Controllers and Multiplus II inverters and I have myself an all electric yacht (apart from the lovely Yanmar Diesel main engine) as this system on my yacht is about six years old now and is a 12V system with myself building the Lifepo4 batteries from 200A cells with Australian BMS’s and balancing boards, I have four batteries, so I have an 800A house bank and 1400W of solar in three strings with three VE Smart MPPT solar controllers.
I am now in the first stages of a domestic VE Battery storage system with a MP2 48 5000 70 I/C and four Pylontech US5000 batteries
Back to the Camper Van, so as this is an EV with a nice big battery, 40kW sadly not the 62kW version (possible upgrade in the future IF I can find a good 62kW battery out of a written off vehicle at a sensible price) I was wondering should I go 12V or 48V for my system batteries and matching I/C, and what would be the advantages of either option as well as the disadvantages? IF 48V I would probably use Pylontech batteries, probably a US2000 or 3000
The biggest challenge with 48V systems in vans is getting enough voltage from your solar panels. Victron MPPT controllers need at least 70V from the panels to properly charge a 48V battery bank, so you’ll need to wire your panels in series which affects how you can arrange them on your roof.
If you’re handy and can do the electrical work yourself, a 48V system will beat a 12V system on both price and performance every time. But if you need to hire someone and they only know 12V systems, you’re going to have a frustrating and expensive experience.
One good alternative is using AC-coupled micro inverters with a Victron MultiPlus. There are several micro inverters that work well with Victron equipment and this can make the whole setup easier to manage.
For batteries, Pylontech uses a 15S configuration so the voltage will be slightly lower than a standard 48V system. The bigger issue is that Pylontech batteries have reliability problems and fail frequently. Also, using them in a mobile application like a van might void the warranty since they’re designed for stationary installations.
If you can handle the technical side yourself, go with 48V. If you need help and can only find 12V installers, stick with 12V to avoid headaches. Just make sure you have enough roof space to get the voltage you need from your solar array.
As this ANV200 is a quite small vehicle, and is for sure a mini Camper Van, (without measuring I estimate roof space at 1.5m x 3m) so roof space is going to be limited, so I guess a 48V system is a total no no IF I want solar charging as I want to keep the aero drag to a minimum so it is probably going to be a (probably only room for one) flexible panel glued onto the roof. Plus it will be a lot easier to have 12V lighting without having to convert from 48V OR use the cars 12V battery sadly. I cannot simply upgrade the cars alternator to give me lots of 12V power as being a EV this van does not have one
You might be able to use a 150W inverter and a 10A charger from the 12V socket to charge the house battery. I have seen people replace the 12V lead-acid in electric vehicles with lithium. That might also be an option to give you some more capacity and monitoring with Bluetooth.
For my camper trailer, I put 360AH raw cells and a BMS into a batblock. It’s only designed for 100AH drop-in lithium, but large capacity raw cells fit perfectly.