Can you use a gas powered generator to charge the engine battery of a electric RV?

[Gizmo j]

Also would I be able to use electric appliances such as refrigeration, air conditioning and a laptop with the engine battery?

Edit: Another question, can you use a gas powered generator to charge the engine battery of a electric RV?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Also would I be able to use electric appliances such as refrigeration, air conditioning and a laptop with the engine battery?

You'll need more storage than just the engine battery. In theory it's possible but, in practice, horribly inefficient and costly.

 

[Gizmo j]

You'll need more storage than just the engine battery. In theory it's possible but, in practice, horribly inefficient and costly.

You do know that I'm talking about an electric powered RV and not a motor rv with an electric battery right? Those batteries are huge.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yes but not directly. You need a MPPT charge controller that will put out the right voltage. (ex: 12v, 24v or 48v). For RV probably 12v. The charge controller in simple terms is what will take the very variable voltage that comes from the solar panels and convert it to a more stable/set voltage for battery charging. It also does so in a way to run the panels at their best efficiency based on conditions.

Of course you need to be aware of how much power is going in vs how much you can realistically use. For example if you're getting 500w from the solar panel and try to use a 1kw load, it will run, but not for long, you then need to let the solar top up the batteries after. This is where a microwave oven is actually pretty good to use as it's using lot of power but for short bursts so as long as your inverter can handle it, even if your solar panel is not rated for it, it will just take longer to top the battery back up.

 

[BoomerD]

https://www.greenmatters.com/living/2017/08/31/ZHQvPu/solar-rv

 

[drnickriviera]

You'd need to convert to AC with an inverter then you could use the onboard charger. Probably the easier than stepping up the dc to whatever the pack is, 400VDC? A/C shouldn't be a problem with a big enough inverter. I installed a soft starter on my 13.5k btu unit. Dropped the inrush current from the 40-50a range to sub 20a

Edit: More i think about it, it's not going to be easy. You'd also need to get a DC to DC converter as the pack voltage is too high for any inverter. EVs will already have a DC to DC to step down to 12VDC, but they usually aren't rated for massive watts. Even if it was rated high enough to run an A/C that would be some massive amps for running at say 500-1000w on 12VDC.

I saw someone else that did a navistar estar into an rv and they build a secondary battery pack for the house battery and left the traction battery separate. May be an easier option, build a battery to whatever voltage and capacity you need, but it sucks to not be able to use the traction battery capacity

 

[Ajay]

13.5k btu

That’s around 40kwh! No way that’s going to be run off solar on an RV.

 

[NutBucket]

What kind of coach are we talking about? Ours has a separate house battery, about 400AH. It's an older coach though so it has a dual fuel fridge. I wouldn't want to use a single battery for chassis and the house. Sounds like a disaster in the making if you're not careful.

Our coach has a 2kw inverter.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That’s around 40kwh! No way that’s going to be run off solar on an RV.

That's a bit more than a ton, which comes up to close to 1600w or so. It's doable, but you won't be running that for a long time. Maybe an hour or two per day. You'd want at least 1kw of solar on the RV. (actual output may be more like 500w) SO basically 1 hour of running that may equate to 2 hours of solar power. And that's not accounting for other loads.

The good news is when it's hot enough to run AC, the days are also very long, so you get more sun. You can setup the solar panels to extend and shade the entire RV, so even naturally it will stay cooler than if it was right in the sun.

Something like this:

 

[NutBucket]

1kw of solar is what you'll find on modern coaches that cost $300k and up. There you're also find huge residential fridges and even lithium batteries.

The better question is what is your goal? Do you just want to get away from running the generator? Do you do a lot of dry camping?

 

[Gizmo j]

Another question, can you use a gas powered generator to charge the engine battery of a electric RV?

 

[mindless1]

^ No, the irony would make you implode.

 

[NutBucket]

There's disturbance in the space-time continuum....

 

[drnickriviera]

Another question, can you use a gas powered generator to charge the engine battery of a electric RV?

Geez dude could you possible give us less info? J1772 > EVSE > Generator