Your on board charger is a small, heavy box that negotiates with the EVSE charger and starts charging your large battery pack. Arcimoto uses the Green Watt brand of on board chargers - and those had some manufacturing issues:
They liked to go “pop” - sometimes taking out EVSEs (especially ChargePoint brand)
They were powder coated where they needed to face a cooling surface
The thermistor (temperature sensor) likes to go bad
Overall, they seem to lead short lives. And at $1200+ each, that is becoming untenable. Add in that with Arcimoto’s difficulties, they are unable to take money to sell them, or have money to ship them. And finally, you can’t buy them from the manufacturer because they are in China and need to be purchased in bulk, like in the hundreds at about $1000 each.
We have 2 FUVs and now a Deliverator in pieces that will become a Fuvla. Of the 3 Arcimotos, all of them have had more than 1 on board charger. Rei is on her 3rd charger, SS Beagle on second, and Earl the former Deliverator will be on his second this weekend. Earl only has 800 some miles.
Some possible solutions:
1. Ensure your water circulation system works. Possibly replace the water tubes with something that doesn’t break down. Upgrade the circulators so that they are stronger and don’t stop working with small particles in the system. Possibly flush the system every year and replace the coolant. Or find a way to put in a sensor that tells you the water is actually moving or what the temperature of the water in the line is.
2. Replace earlier on board chargers with the ones that were modified by the manufacturer.
3. Find a different brand that is reliable and find a way to get that to work. But everything is tied together: the VCU, the BMS, the 104v batteries - all of that stuff expects the on board charger to work a certain way, and put out certain information for the CAN bus system. So swapping stuff out isn’t exactly easy. Then the on board charger has to fit in the space allowed, on top of the cooling plate with a specific screw pattern, now you’ve just made it even harder yet. The on board charger needs to be J1772, do L2 at 3.3 or 6.x - and here we are.
8 comments
Just want to say thanks for taking the time and effort to gather and post on a dedicated website technical information on the FUV,... sadly now that my FUV is no longer able to be charged I've powered down the FUV so that the on board electronics does not continue to draw down the battery
I'm hoping that at some point a new OEM green watt charger come up for sale so I can buy it and vlog/document the trials of trying to get the thing back into running condition using the unofficial Arcimoto nerd support network (so there is a basic knowledge of what is needed)
Figure the story needs to be told of the dream of building a more sustainable form of transportation
FYI the best review of the FUV from a technical standpoint is a motorcycle blog
https://rollingphysicsproblem.wordpress.com/tag/electric-vehicles/
To add star power to the vlog/document think it would be interesting to chase down hollywood celebrities who have FUVs include "nathion filion"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DyogwUMO1g
and "mark wahlberg"
https://www.tmz.com/2020/07/19/mark-wahlberg-three-wheeler-fuv-arcimoto-quarantine-whip-new/
to appear in the vlog
I liked the RPP article! https://rollingphysicsproblem.wordpress.com/tag/electric-vehicles/
Noticed the text in the photo,.... "Green Watt EVC-116-3400"
the only exact google text match for the phrase were posted back in 2019,...
https://chargedevs.com/newswire/green-watt-powers-new-evc3400-series-charger/
https://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/new-3400-watt-electric-vehicle-charger-available-with-input-range-of-90-to-264vac-40030495
do you know if that part number is still being manufactured????
the reason I ask is over time a product gets updated,... (there is a green power data sheet w/ out the "116")
https://greenwattpower.com/wp-content/uploads/Datasheet-EVC-3400.pdf
@Ben The charger was changed and serious issues were supposed to be fixed. There is a bunch is in China that Arcimoto ordered but didn’t pay for. The charger with the fan likely doesn’t fit in the space. But then Greenwatt won’t sell to us unless we buy a bunch and are a manufacturer. I asked a sales rep.
I have an FUV, which just today ceased Charging... I live near San Diego (Encinitas) and it is my daily driver...
Any ideas what to do??! Where to take it for repair??
The repair is easy. The issue is getting the on board charger that only Arcimoto has. Ensure that is the problem by trying to charge with multiple EVSEs at different places.
Add me to the list of Arcimoto FUVs that have a dead on-board charger. Vehicle is sitting in my driveway waiting for a solution. I am open to a solution, but I am running into the same challenges posted here.
Matt :(
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