Re: Battery booster (was "Re: ev archive" )

[Lee Hart <leeahart@earthlink.net>]

> Has anyone ever tried hooking the new battery boosters (charger that
> boost from cigarette lighter). Is this just a quick boost for
> standard gas units to start or can this be used for EV units too?

Well, I have a Sears 10 amp battery charger with a cigarette lighter
plug on the end of the cable. Cigarette lighters are usually fused at
10-20 amps, so this is a quick and easy way to charge a car battery
without opening the hood.

However, many cigarette lighter sockets nowdays are switched off when
the car is parked. You'd have to leave the keys in the ignition and
switched to accessory for it to work. And this puts all sorts of extra
loads on the 12v, so you aren't going to charge the battery effectively.

Peter VanDerWal commented that you aren't likely to charge an EV's
propulsion pack this way. That's probably true, but not entirely
hopeless. 12v at 10amps into the cigarette lighter could be converted to
120v at 1amp with a DC/DC converter. That would take 100 hours (4 days)
to recharge a 100 amphour pack (ignoring efficiency). Possible, but
impractical.
--
Lee A. Hart                Ring the bells that still can ring
814 8th Ave. N.            Forget your perfect offering
Sartell, MN 56377 USA      There is a crack in everything
leeahart_at_earthlink.net  That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen