I plan to use a charger 1 to connect to the 12V DC power source in a Tesla Model S (Lead Acid LV battery) such that I can draw power from the main battery to charge a Bluetti unit. In the past, I have this working successfully using a 12V to 110V DC AC inverter drawing 800W using a 4 AWG DC cable with an inline 80A fuse, and then using the 110V AC to charge the Bluetti. However I believe the Charger 1 DC to DC would be more efficient, even though it would only be around 600W.
Have anyone tried that? The 12V DC from the Tesla Model S is actually closer to 14V, as most Lead Acid battery system is when it is being charged.
The product page for charger 1 says this is not to be used with EV. Why is that the case? Doesn’t most EV still have a LV DC system to power accessories? If that LV DC system is capable of supplying another 600W, then why won’t this work?
Another question is that for the newer Tesla, which uses a Li-Ion low voltage battery, the voltage there is around 15.5V. What is the input voltage range for the Charger 1, would it accept a 15-16V input voltage?
On a Tesla the LV system is properly sized as it powers most of the electronics except the heater and a/c compressor which run off the HV lines.
I’m not sure of your exact model as there may be slight differences between batches, but the DC-DC converter on the S is typically rated at 2500W so you can run a Bluetti Charger 1 off the LV lead-acid battery terminals.
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Since Charger 1 is a boost converter and it works with both 12 and 24V systems, it should theoretically run at 16V, especially since in 12V systems with alternator the voltage can actually fluctuate even above 15V.
In any case, you will eventually get an alarm if the input voltage goes off specs.
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As for the S’s new LV lithium-ion battery, this is sealed with an insulated connector, so you won’t be able to access the terminals to connect the Charger 1.
Yes, I’ve tested a similar setup with a 2017 Model S, tapping into the 12V power system and successfully draw 800w or so into a 110V AC inverter to charge a Bluetti AC300 system. I want to use the charger 1 instead as I think the DC-DC conversion is likely more efficient (though it needs to be confirmed). The older model S which uses the lead acid LV DC battery runs around 14V when the DC-DC is powering the LV system from the HV battery. This is very likely to work.
My question is with the newer Tesla’s, which run the Li-Ion LV DC system at around 15.5-16V. I know the charger 1 can run with both a 12V or 24V battery system, but am wondering whether it would work at 16V. The spec pave says Input Voltage 12V -14V / 22.5V - 28V, which makes me wonder if 16V would work as it is in the in-between gap.
@snowstorm Hi Matthew, This is because Charger1 works by drawing power from a car’s alternator, while electric vehicles don’t have alternators—they only have electric motors.
I hope this clears up your confusion.
To clear things even more up, the charger 1 works on any 12V or 24V input. No matter where you actually connect it. My Charger 1 runs from the 12V Socket of my EP500Pro without any issues
That’s a bummer, did anyone tried it with a 16V input source? If the device is capable of handling both 12-14V and 22-28V, it would be strange that it cannot work for 14-22V. It maybe a software limit where it believe the battery is out of spec and shuts down. Anyone from Bluetti knows?
