Texas Winter Weather

BillK

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We had, you may have heard, power issues. I have seen the usual suspects whining that having lots of EVs would only make our power situation worse. I use TXU and charge my Chevy Volt (waiting for my MME) at night when my plan offers kiloWatt hours for free to soak up their excess capacity on normal days. During our power outage I drove around under electric power looking for a gas station that wasn't sold out so I could buy gas for the generator heating my house.

If I had failed to find more gasoline in the power outage (only found one station and all they had was premium) I would have used the 1.5 kW DC-DC converter on my Volt to supply an inverter that would power at least one heater on that zero degree night. Does anyone here know the capacity of our MME DC-DC converter? Has Ford said anything about V2G capability?
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greenaero

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We had, you may have heard, power issues. I have seen the usual suspects whining that having lots of EVs would only make our power situation worse. I use TXU and charge my Chevy Volt (waiting for my MME) at night when my plan offers kiloWatt hours for free to soak up their excess capacity on normal days. During our power outage I drove around under electric power looking for a gas station that wasn't sold out so I could buy gas for the generator heating my house.

If I had failed to find more gasoline in the power outage (only found one station and all they had was premium) I would have used the 1.5 kW DC-DC converter on my Volt to supply an inverter that would power at least one heater on that zero degree night. Does anyone here know the capacity of our MME DC-DC converter? Has Ford said anything about V2G capability?
Hi, I don't know. I suggest you repost this in the Technical/ Charging section.
all the best, GA
 

ChasingCoral

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We had, you may have heard, power issues. I have seen the usual suspects whining that having lots of EVs would only make our power situation worse. I use TXU and charge my Chevy Volt (waiting for my MME) at night when my plan offers kiloWatt hours for free to soak up their excess capacity on normal days. During our power outage I drove around under electric power looking for a gas station that wasn't sold out so I could buy gas for the generator heating my house.

If I had failed to find more gasoline in the power outage (only found one station and all they had was premium) I would have used the 1.5 kW DC-DC converter on my Volt to supply an inverter that would power at least one heater on that zero degree night. Does anyone here know the capacity of our MME DC-DC converter? Has Ford said anything about V2G capability?
Looks like about 1.9kW.
Ford Mustang Mach-E Texas Winter Weather DC-DC converter
 
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BillK

BillK

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Looks like about 1.9kW.
DC-DC converter.png
Since my original post I have been told by a non-GM technical source I trust to be thankful I didn't have to try doing this. He said the continuous heavy load would have damaged the DC-DC converter. On reflection this makes sense. Just like our high voltage batteries 12V lead-acid batteries have a charging curve that quickly tapers off as voltage rises. The DC-DC converters in cars have a peak load capability sized to charge a dead 12V battery and run the rest of the car, but not hold that level of output continuously.

This makes sense and I should have considered it. I've designed systems that used high amperage automotive style alternators (Love the Delco branded BorgWarner 24V heavy duty brushless units, Bring your wallet though). I knew that standard automotive alternators were rated by peak amperages they could never maintain for a few minutes. I should have realized car DC-DC units were likely rated in the same way.

TLDR: Don't power heavy off-vehicle loads w/ your DC/DC converter unless you can find documentation that it will work. Replacing a DC-DC unit is Ex-Pen-Sive
 
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