Green Watt On Board Chargers - A Problem That Needs a Different Solution

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:

1. They liked to go “pop” - sometimes taking out EVSEs (especially ChargePoint brand)
2. They were powder coated where they needed to face a cooling surface
3. 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. 

Green Watt seems to be owned by Powerland. The charger model number is EVC-122-3400-l 3.4kw and you can find specs on this datasheet. The “L” after 3400 means it is liquid cooled and has no fan. This is important because a fan version will not fit in the space provided for the onboard charger. You also need to make sure you get the Green Watt version that takes J1772. There is a model that might work but is not verified: EVC-116-3400 - but there are no spec sheets that indicate it is liquid cooled or J1772 compatible.

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.