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[heroto]

https://www.diginow.it/product-page/7kw-portible-ccs-charger

Questions:
My understanding is that DC fast charging is hard on batteries. I have and Energica and the manufacturer recommends only occassional DC fast charging, and also stopping at 80% when DC fast charging.

Would DC charging at a lower rate like this unit produces (10kw tops) not have these issues?

Has anyone used one of these units?

PS Sorry for this redundant post, just trying to get as much feedback I as I can on this small forum.

Edit 1/5/2021: Diginow has stopped production. Never mind.

[Demoni]

All batteries are charged with DC power.

The "charger" you plug into the wall and then connect to your bike is actually a EVSE (electric vehicle supply equipment). It merely provides AC power to the socket under your seat.
The actual charger is on the bike, it's job is to convert the AC (120 or 240V) power to 320V DC and send that to the battery.

Fast charging normally refers to rates above 1C (1 x the Capacity of the battery pack). All charging creates heat, this is due to the internal resistance of the battery's cells. The higher the charge rate the more heat is produced.
Excessive heat can cause capacity loss in a battery over time. However the difference between a pack that spends its entire life at 25*C vs one at 35*C should only be 1-2%.

Interesting research paper for anyone who wants to geek out:
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep12967

I do not have exact data on how much heat is produced by specific charge rates. I suspect that 7-10kW would have minimal effect on the packs temperature.
Additionally there is no issue charging your bike above 80% using a DC charger. The reason most people do not charge past that point is the charge rate will slow down as the state of charge approaches 100%. The normal use cases for DC charging stations is to quickly top up your range and keep riding.
Due to the tapering of charge rate at higher SOC the time waiting for a full charge could be better spent riding.
NewZeroland did a really nice video about this


Regarding portable DC chargers (and public DC charge stations). These units do the same thing as your bikes onboard charger, convert AC power to DC.
They are able to provide higher charge rates because they can convert more AC power to DC. As these offboard units are normally stationary or semi-portable, weight is not a major concern.
I have used both the small (6-10kW) and BIG (24-40kW) DigiNow units. Both work as advertised, all you need to do is: provide adequate AC power, plug into bike, push start button on charger.
It's a small gripe but the fans used to cool the unit are a bit loud. Build quality is good, the carry handle on the small unit is a nice touch.

[heroto]

Thanks, very helpful response.

[ultrarnr]

Demoni,

Thank you for posting that video. One thing is very clear is that my 2020 Ribelle doesn't charge nearly that fast. In the video the bike doesn't start to taper until about 85% SOC. My Ribelle starts to taper around 37-41% SOC.  This sucks.

[Sklith]

Demoni, thanks for the reply! I'm seriously considering buying the 6-10 kW portable charger for doing track days since my local race track has 6 kW free AC charging on location.

[ultrarnr]

Is the diginow charger small/light enough to strap on a bike and travel with it? Or is it really just for garage use. Thanks. Didn't see any size or weight specs on the diginow web site for the charger.

[heroto]

Great question. I don’t know.
I ordered one but received a short reply that some necessary parts are on back order, no estimate offered.
I’ll post when I have one.

[dalek]

Is the diginow charger small/light enough to strap on a bike and travel with it? Or is it really just for garage use. Thanks. Didn't see any size or weight specs on the diginow web site for the charger.

I have the same questions. Sent 2 emails to brandon@diginow.it but no response received.

[heroto]

I was able to reach him through facebook.

[MoneyFor]

I would love to buy a Diginow product but as I am based in Europe the Diginow products are a bit expensive to get them shipped. I expect the shipment will be at least around $300 + the customs clearance in Belgium, for all taxes and duties an extra $1000 will be added, so the total would be around $4300 if the shipping is not more expensive than the $300 I wrote. I am also in contact with "Setec Power", they have the products in stock. It is also a 10kW portable charger, which would cost $3700 including shipping and all taxes. However, I prefer to buy direct from Europe, so if there are people who are aware of portable DC chargers in the EU, you can always let me know.

[ultrarnr]

MoneyFor, I have the SETEC portable charger. It is fine for garage use but is too big to consider carrying on the bike.

[scottwstevenson]

I would love to buy a Diginow product but as I am based in Europe the Diginow products are a bit expensive to get them shipped. I expect the shipment will be at least around $300 + the customs clearance in Belgium, for all taxes and duties an extra $1000 will be added, so the total would be around $4300 if the shipping is not more expensive than the $300 I wrote. I am also in contact with "Setec Power", they have the products in stock. It is also a 10kW portable charger, which would cost $3700 including shipping and all taxes. However, I prefer to buy direct from Europe, so if there are people who are aware of portable DC chargers in the EU, you can always let me know.

Otten makes a portable charger for Zero and are also an Energica dealer, so I would suspect they might be able to help out.

https://www.otten.de/e-mobilitaet/e-motorraeder/energica.html

-S

[MoneyFor]

MoneyFor, I have the SETEC portable charger. It is fine for garage use but is too big to consider carrying on the bike.

Thanks for the reply, I was not planning on taking that thing on my bike, I have an i3 and it was for that one I was looking at the DC charger and a plus would be that I could charge the Ribelle at home with that charger. Now I had contact with someone who ownes a Cetec 10kW charger and he told me it is only interesting if you have 400V 3 phase, on 400V it delivers approx 7kW on monophase 230V it just gives 3kW so no advantage for the Ribelle and certainly not for the car since I do not have access to 3 phase everywhere.

[MoneyFor]

Otten makes a portable charger for Zero and are also an Energica dealer, so I would suspect they might be able to help out.
https://www.otten.de/e-mobilitaet/e-motorraeder/energica.html
-S

Thanks for the link, I'll take a look at his website.

[scottwstevenson]

Thanks for the link, I'll take a look at his website.

For sure!  Good luck!

-Scott