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[alko]

Stupid question maybe, but is it possible to build a DC to AC charge adaptor, so Zero owners with a charge tank can charge from all the new DC charge stations popping up everywhere from Electrify America. And could the adaptor be made small enough to carry in a saddlebag?
There are more DC fast chargers in my area and they are conveniently located and very user friendly compared to the J1772 stations.

[DonTom]

Stupid question maybe, but is it possible to build a DC to AC charge adaptor, so Zero owners with a charge tank can charge from all the new DC charge stations popping up everywhere from Electrify America. And could the adaptor be made small enough to carry in a saddlebag?There are more DC fast chargers in my area and they are conveniently located and very user friendly compared to the J1772 stations.

Not reasonably possible. Many reasons. There is communication between the vehicle and the CCS charge stations. The CCS uses ~300 VDC. The Zeros use 116.2VDC  max.

But I guess you mean convert the DC to AC to convert back to DC for your Zero battery. Still many issues.

If there was an easy way to use DC charging for Zeros  that is available on the road, Zero would already have made it compatible.

If you want a fast charging bike, buy an Energica. If you want to improve the charging on a Zero, stick with AC input charging. I charge my Zeros with as much as 8.3KWs. See here for the 6.3 KW part of it.

However, my Energica charges at 25 KW and I don't have to carry anything.

BTW, some Walmarts have J1772 stations (Elk Grove, CA) , some do not (Fernley, NV).

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Most switching power supplies like the second generation charge tank can take DC as well as AC. So it’ll be better to get the vendor to engineer support into their own accessories.

The communications problems above are critical especially at high rates of charge.

Also, don’t be fooled by the shininess of CCS and other DC fast chargers. You will be charged a petroleum-comparable price for that electricity because of how well the equipment is made and serviced.

I’m not saying I’d say no to support for it, but it’s not cheap and I’d really like to have the option of supporting both L2 and L3 fully.

[Doug S]

The answer to your question is yes, it's possible. Search for "power inverter". They're widely available depending on input DC voltage, output AC voltage, how much power you want...though I doubt you're going to find many capable of, say, 300VDC input, which would be appropriate for a DC charging station input. Even 96VDC input inverters are few and far between.

The answer to your REAL question is, it's probably a blind alley you're heading down. Inverters are big and bulky, they create lots of heat, comparable to a charger of the same power-handling ability. And then, you've got handshaking to worry about, actual compatibility between the inverter and the charger, and dozens of incidental bugs to work out, just like any high-power electronics project.

And as Brian points out, you could even theoretically (probably) run a standard charger on DC input...though the devil is in the details there, too.

It could be done. It's just not really worth doing.

[DonTom]

Also, don’t be fooled by the shininess of CCS and other DC fast chargers. You will be charged a petroleum-comparable price for that electricity because of how well the equipment is made and serviced.

When it comes to motorcycles, CCS charging is usually  MORE expensive than gasoline by quite a bit--at least double. But it is offset by all the free level two charging, as I did today at the Rocklin REI.

My Triumph Trophy SE  gets better than 50 MPG average (sometimes above 60 MPG). On my Energica, my trip back from from the  Fernley  Walmart to Reno cost me almost seven bucks worth of CCS L3 charging. That would take a half gallon of gasoline on my TTSE, perhaps $1.70 or so.

But we have the choice, Free J1772s are almost everywhere in the Reno area as well as here in the Auburn area. Between the two places, there are small fees even for most of the  J1772s, such as in Cisco Grove ($2.00) or Truckee (Greenlots). Colfax has a free J1772,  at the train station. Another at Boreal Springs when we can get in.

-Don-  Auburn, CA

[DonTom]

The answer to your question is yes, it's possible. Search for "power inverter".

That's the easy part. How do you deal with the necessary communications between the two?  Just for the CCS to start putting out its DC voltage, it needs the communication with the vehicle.

In fact, I only look at the DC charger screen to see what percentage of charge I am at. No reason to look at the bike, as the charger displays the bike's info. on its own  screen.

-Don- Auburn, CA