Gerald_db

Thank you for your interest. There is someone who has already reserved it.

Item: Microcare 100 Amp LCD MPPT Solar Charge Controller Age: 6 Years Price: R6500 Payment Method Accepted: EFT Warranty: None - working perfectly Packaging: None Condition: Excellent Location: Eshowe, KZN Reason: Upgrading Shipping: At buyers cost Collection: If requested Link: https://microcare.co.za/index.php/solar-charge-controllers/

Depends...between 20 and 24kWh/100km. We mainly drive N2 to Durban and back and don't baby the car. 120 to 125kph but then consumption increases. At 90 to 100 this car will be about 18kWh/100km. It is a twin motor chunky SUV that weights around 2400kg. It will never give the long term average of 16kWh/100km we had with our i3.

At home electricity is aporox R2.50/kWh. On a GridCars 3 phase AC about R4.80/kWh and on a DC at R5.80/kWh.

Received this email from MLT: Hi Mr de Beer The inverter cannot use CAN comms with the Lithium batteries. Most of our clients use the inverter in voltage control mode on the lithium batteries and only connect their solar regulators with CAN. The inverter just gets set up correctly for the lithium batteries and the regulators has comms talking to the battery. We have lots of units in the field that runs on this setup. What solar regulators do you have and are they lithium compatible with CAN comms? Kind regards

Thanks for that info. Would there be any particular lithium's that would be preferred in this type on installation or maybe which to avoid?

With the range we have now we normally only charge at my work or home. Longer trips are no issue as there are currently more than enough enroute DC charge units and with AC units being installed at Protea Hotels and other locations also makes life simple. Yes, a long trip takes a bit longer but not massively. There are amazing apps to route plan such as ABRP which structure your stops and percentages required. Below is a screenshot of the Gridcars network. Its all live online and is very slick.

When you adjust the price to allow for the free 3 years comprehensive insurance and tracker as well as the 14 days of car hire per year the price is approximately R1,05m. That blows all the other comparable cars out of the water. We mainly drive freeway to and from Durban and we are getting a range of 330km. We average around 22kWh/100km. The picture below shows the car having driven 248.8km at an average of 21.1kWh/100km and has 31% remaining in the battery.

We charge our ev (Volvo P8) on my business 16kW 3 phase system. Costs less than 50c per km then.

After 90000km in our BMW i3 Rex that we bought during November 2016, earlier this year we sold it and took delivery in April of a Volvo XC40 Twin Recharge that we had ordered 10 months before. Currently have driven 10000km already and are really chuffed with it.

I have had the motherboard of the MLT repaired and apparently upgraded a year or so ago after lightening damage. It works like a dream however I dont think it would be able to talk to the lithium's. No canbus?

Yes, it uses an external MPPT, that MLT doesnt have its own.

During July 2016 I had the following installed:- 20 x 260W JA pv panels in 5 strings of 4. 1 x MLT Powerstar 6kVA inverter in full hybrid mode + 100A Microcare MPPT. 24 x T105RE's 225Ah 6v batteries in 3 x 8 (48volt) banks This has been the best thing I have ever done however my batteries are in their seventh year. My plan was always to go lithium when the batteries reach their end of life. They are not there yet but are down in their storage capacity. I see multiple issues to simply upgrade batteries. 1: The MPPT is incorrect for lithium and 2: the Powerstar is also only good for lead acid re charge voltages. If this was your system what would you do as I had hoped to upgrade slowly.

The absolute truth, our move to an ev in KZN has been a journey of cutting/bleeding edge fun and sheer frustration. Until a few months ago there was no charge points still working in KZN. BMW SA have let all theirs break and stay broken. One clever way not to let us charge for free as per sale agreement. Everything changed with the advent of the Gridcars/Jaguar SA Powerway DC CCS rapid chargers of which we now have 3! A 94Ah charges to 85% from say 35% within 15 minutes. The negative is we pay a premium of R5.88/kwh - really steep. For our i3 that equates to around 90c/km. Not an issue as 80% of our charging is at home on mains or solar. BMW SA really has no commitment to ev sales however Jaguar and hopefully VW have upped the game massively.

Currently the 120Ah i3 is available and Samsung have just revealed new cell densities for the i3 batteries that will take it to 150Ah. That translates to 400km range. We have covered 54000km over the last 32 months that we would have driven in our Prado. The VW ID.3 has been launched and we are looking at that as our next ev. Its Golf sized and at approx the price of the top of range Golf. It will have a minimum of 400km range and with 100kw DC charging will be full if on the road in less than 45 minutes from empty. The BMW i3 simply needs no maintenance and current research is showing the battery good for 500k miles! Our one still has more than its new rated battery capacity available after nearly 3 years. In contrast the Nissan Leaf battery is a disaster especially in warm climates. In Africa we will always need ICE vehicles - my Prado tows our caravan anywhere.

It is true that using coal generated power there is a carbon footprint however as ev is approx 90% efficient and a diesel barely 30% efficient the carbon foot print is a lot less for the same distance driven with diesel or petrol.

Except for the whole lot of carbon monoxide-CO, hydrocarbons-HC, particulate matter-PM and nitrogen oxides-NOX it produces for our children to inhale!

Hi there. Be careful here. That advert is wrong. Per the picture that is not a Rex (range extender) version - no front fuel flap over the front right wheel and per the centre display is a low spec small battery 60Ah model. Range here a max of 90 to 120km with no petrol backup range extender. Dealerships should not falsely advertise.

At 47000km our 94Ah cars battery still has a max capacity in excess of the BMW factory guaranteed maximum for a new car. BMW has a superb thermally controlled battery. There are ones in the USA with over 200000 miles and are still well within spec. There is a 60Ah in Jhb that has just clocked 200000km and also well within spec. Battery issues are the last thing to worry about with BMW's. Not the case with the poor thermal control of the Leaf's.

Indeed range is depended on a lot. As ev's are incredibly efficient outside factors effect them dramatically ie rain, wind have major effects and temperature. Average range is the best bet by way of example :- my home of Eshowe is 25km and 550m climb from the coastal N2. The nav system calculates range based on current useage and mapping provided terrain and previous info if route driven before. Going for Eshowe to Durban (on average downhill) get up to 220km on a charge however returning from Durban get a max of 150km range.

Yes installed a type 2, 3 phase charger at my business which has 15.3kw of grid tie however the R50 per charge for a 94Ah battery car is normal prices and we get between 170 and 210km on a full charge. Very tax efficient to charge at work as vat deductible expense and still get full SARS travel allowance.

Well I guess that's one way to make sure you never own one.

Our 47000km in the last 30 months would have been with our Prado which uses around R1.80/km diesel only ie R84600. That's huge. They are truly exciting to drive. Acceleration is crazy. R50 of electricity gives around 180km range. Everything else feels archaic.

Hi there. A friend of mine in Durban bought the 60Ah battery only for use in and around Durban. 100km range or more. The 60Ah Rex would be a good choice for CapeTown. Get them to check what percentage of new capacity the battery is at tho. Our 94Ah after 47000km has a battery capacity that still exceeds the guaranteed new capacity.

Or 40 minutes to about 85% at a CCS DC rapid.