5 ms·

Can you recharge these on a normal gas generator? Something like a Miller engine driven generator[1] could probably do it but those are $$$ for the average joe.

Can you recharge these on a normal gas generator? Something like a Miller engine driven generator[1] could probably do it but those are $$$ for the average joe. I only ask because a lot of people trailer their rock crawlers/mudders to more remote areas to go play and have fun, but when the electricity runs dry you'll need a way to power it back up. This thing looks like it'd be a lot of fun not only for daily use but also for backwoods offroading. [1] https://www.millerwelds.com/equipment/welders/engine-driven/bobcat-225-engine-driven-welder-m90334 https://www.millerwelds.com/equipment/welders/engine-driven/...

Leszek 9y ago
If you're carrying around a generator, you may as well carry around an internal combustion engine though?
- outside1234 9y ago
  Is that always true though? I could see doing that for longer trips (rare) and leaving it at home for the remainder of the 90% of trips.
  - FLUX-YOU 9y ago
    I'd bring it while towing something heavy as a safety net. Towing will affect the range in ways which aren't easy to calculate with hilly terrain even if you know the weight of the trailer + cargo.
- yellowapple 9y ago
  That was my thought. Looks to be plenty of room in that front trunk for a generator to make this a not-so-poor-man's hybrid.
- jMyles 9y ago
  Not necessarily - you might only charge using the generator every 20th cycle; the other 19 you might leave it at home (or in your other vehicle, or whatever).
- burger_moon 9y ago
  Well in the case I presented the generator would stay with your rv/ or whatever you're towing this thing around with, as I explained, a lot of people use these types of vehicles in more remote areas. You don't really need the engine for going out during the day, only for recharging at the end of the day. This means a much simpler design and less weight to drag around. A generator is much easier to service and maintain that an engine attached to the vehicle. Of course I'm talking about a small niche of customers in an already small niche of people that buy 4x4s.
- marssaxman 9y ago
  That's the idea of a hybrid, no? For a lot of the places I'd want to go camping in a truck like this, I'd be likely to want a generator anyway, so I might as well trickle-charge the vehicle back up whenever the power is on.
tyingq 9y ago
Here's a thread on doing this with a Nissan Leaf. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=5792 http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=5792 From that and similar threads on Teslas, the caveats seem to be: - Need a sine wave generator vs the cheaper square wave ones. - Some cars allow you to adjust the current draw to match lower output generators, some don't. Cheap generators probably don't output enough current. - You have to tie neutral to ground and use a real ground rod.
- LeifCarrotson 9y ago
  I'm guessing that these Bollinger guys won't stand for any of that sissy "pure sine wave" or "ground rod" crap, and would let it charge with just about anything that puts out a voltage. Not that a pure sine wave generator isn't superior to noisy, cheap square wave 'inverters' or that grounding a charging EV is a bad idea, but that's the attitude I have picked up from seeing ground pins cut off of various farms and tools. I'm sure their EEs would make sure that the thing was double-insulated and otherwise capable of dealing with this need.
- tsuraan 9y ago
  > - Need a sine wave generator vs the cheaper square wave ones. That seems really weird; I'd expect that the big charging station you install in your garage would convert from home AC into some high-current DC. Batteries don't actually charge on AC, do they?
  - tyingq 9y ago
    Not directly, no. But electric vehicles convert AC since that what consumers have easy access to. And their rectifiers expect nice sine waves.
  - camiller 9y ago
    I think some of the newer one have a high speed DC charging option. I think the Chevy Bolt has a DC option.
  - pinkythepig 9y ago
rb808 9y ago
I think the future really will be a hybrid - at least have a small generator to get out of emergency or stuck situations. I'd much rather drive at 10mph somewhere than need a flatbed pickup.

Leszek 9y ago

If you're carrying around a generator, you may as well carry around an internal combustion engine though?

outside1234 9y ago
Is that always true though? I could see doing that for longer trips (rare) and leaving it at home for the remainder of the 90% of trips.
- FLUX-YOU 9y ago
  I'd bring it while towing something heavy as a safety net. Towing will affect the range in ways which aren't easy to calculate with hilly terrain even if you know the weight of the trailer + cargo.
yellowapple 9y ago
That was my thought. Looks to be plenty of room in that front trunk for a generator to make this a not-so-poor-man's hybrid.
jMyles 9y ago
Not necessarily - you might only charge using the generator every 20th cycle; the other 19 you might leave it at home (or in your other vehicle, or whatever).
burger_moon 9y ago
Well in the case I presented the generator would stay with your rv/ or whatever you're towing this thing around with, as I explained, a lot of people use these types of vehicles in more remote areas. You don't really need the engine for going out during the day, only for recharging at the end of the day. This means a much simpler design and less weight to drag around. A generator is much easier to service and maintain that an engine attached to the vehicle. Of course I'm talking about a small niche of customers in an already small niche of people that buy 4x4s.
marssaxman 9y ago
That's the idea of a hybrid, no? For a lot of the places I'd want to go camping in a truck like this, I'd be likely to want a generator anyway, so I might as well trickle-charge the vehicle back up whenever the power is on.

tyingq 9y ago

Here's a thread on doing this with a Nissan Leaf. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=5792 http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=5792 From that and similar threads on Teslas, the caveats seem to be: - Need a sine wave generator vs the cheaper square wave ones. - Some cars allow you to adjust the current draw to match lower output generators, some don't. Cheap generators probably don't output enough current. - You have to tie neutral to ground and use a real ground rod.

LeifCarrotson 9y ago
I'm guessing that these Bollinger guys won't stand for any of that sissy "pure sine wave" or "ground rod" crap, and would let it charge with just about anything that puts out a voltage. Not that a pure sine wave generator isn't superior to noisy, cheap square wave 'inverters' or that grounding a charging EV is a bad idea, but that's the attitude I have picked up from seeing ground pins cut off of various farms and tools. I'm sure their EEs would make sure that the thing was double-insulated and otherwise capable of dealing with this need.
tsuraan 9y ago
> - Need a sine wave generator vs the cheaper square wave ones. That seems really weird; I'd expect that the big charging station you install in your garage would convert from home AC into some high-current DC. Batteries don't actually charge on AC, do they?
- tyingq 9y ago
  Not directly, no. But electric vehicles convert AC since that what consumers have easy access to. And their rectifiers expect nice sine waves.
- camiller 9y ago
  I think some of the newer one have a high speed DC charging option. I think the Chevy Bolt has a DC option.
- pinkythepig 9y ago

rb808 9y ago

I think the future really will be a hybrid - at least have a small generator to get out of emergency or stuck situations. I'd much rather drive at 10mph somewhere than need a flatbed pickup.