Vendor Wish you could reduce Supercharging usage? Looking for testers

[DougDC]

Hello, I’m Doug. I'm looking for testers to provide feedback. I'll deliver the unit for free then I just want to get your input on your experience and to understand what you think. No, I don't charge anything. I just want feedback.

If you rely on a supercharger/public chargers and you'd love to reduce time and money spent there, then I think you'll be a great candidate to give feedback. I have been working on this for 2 years. I live in an apartment and I have a 110V plug and installing L2 in my landlord's property doesn't make any sense (way too expensive and I move around).

DockCharged: provides level 2 charge rates with $0 installation cost.

How it works: It uses batteries and software to turn a 110V outlet into an L2 capable charger. It stores energy while you're away at work and sends stored battery energy directly into the car and in parallel sends 110V into the car (no, other battery back up systems cannot do this. My invention is the only one that can do this due to all the custom software and hardware).

• Get up to 100 miles of charge in a night.
• Reduce cost: Avoid on-peak energy rates but still charge during on-peak hours by using energy stored during off peak hours
• It turns any 110V outlet into a level 2 charger and is designed for EV owners in apartments, condos, and old homes where installing L2 is not allowed or too expensive.
• It is very easily movable and it can be fitted in your trunk but best experience is leaving it plugged into 110V and pretty much left in one spot.
• I personally save 5 hours and $110 per month by reducing my reliance on the supercharger.

Video of our beta unit and how it works:

Feel free to DM or message me here. Thanks so much. Doug

 

[Supcom]

Fundamentally, not a bad idea. Pull 10-15 amps continuously out of a 120VAC outlet and store the energy for charging.

However, someone interested in signing up would be well served to determine if the unit has UL certification before connecting it to their residence. Somehow, leaving a 'beta' energy storage device unattended while drawing many amps from a 120 VAC outlet seems more than just a little risky.

I don't see any technical reason why this device cannot be fully tested in a monitored lab environment and become certified as safe before providing it to individuals.

 

[DougDC]

Understood and I really appreciate your concern.

I have spared no expense on development and the batteries cells, inverters, rectifiers (all the fundamental power electronics) are UL certified, and from top tier suppliers. I would not risk anyone's safety or mine. Moreover, our system has double redundant safety mechanisms ranging from mechanical breakers to onboard temperature monitoring of every single cell (we use prismatic and so fortunately there aren't that many cells), which are monitored by both our BMS and also the mainboard computer. We not only monitor temperature but other external variables, such as pressure. In fact, if the cells reach 55C, we shut down the system.

We have been running for over a year now and circulating them through many hands. The reason for feedback is to ultimately understand the market of EV owners that live in and really determine if this solves their problem.

 

[Big Earl]

Clever device!

 

[jeremymc7]

what’s the targeted street price and what’s the current battery capacity?

 

[Rocky_H]

It stores energy while you're away at work and sends stored battery energy directly into the car and in parallel sends 110V into the car (no, other battery back up systems cannot do this.

Could you explain this? The car only has one charging port with one cable plugged in. What do you think your device is doing that can simultaneously send 240V charging and 120V charging into the car using one cable at the same time? The basic idea of the device sounded good until you made that claim.

 

[Supcom]

Could you explain this? The car only has one charging port with one cable plugged in. What do you think your device is doing that can simultaneously send 240V charging and 120V charging into the car using one cable at the same time? The basic idea of the device sounded good until you made that claim.

I expect that the device either rectifies the 120 VAC and merges it with the battery output going to the inverter, or steps up the 120 to 240 VAC and combines that with the 240 VAC out of the inverter. Combining at DC might be easier, though less efficient than phase matching the AC waveforms.

It's sort of like pulling power out of a USB battery while you charge it.

Conceptually, it's not a bad idea. It's kind of like having a mini powerwall for your car. My only beef is offering a prototype for individuals to hook up in an apartment or condo building and leave unattended when the device, as a unit, has no UL certification. There's probably about 15 kWh of energy stored in the device. I wonder what a fire marshal or insurance agent would say about that.

 

[jeremymc7]

Conceptually, it's not a bad idea. It's kind of like having a mini powerwall for your car. My only beef is offering a prototype for individuals to hook up in an apartment or condo building and leave unattended when the device, as a unit, has no UL certification. There's probably about 15 kWh of energy stored in the device. I wonder what a fire marshal or insurance agent would say about that.

Per website.

6kWh main unit. 4kWh and 9kWh expansion units available.

Pricing starts at $7k or $125/mth to rent.

DockCharged EV Charger - Buy Full System - $7,999

 

[jj3884]

DM'd you, very interested. In North San Diego county so not far if your location is Costa Mesa

 

[Rocky_H]

I expect that the device either rectifies the 120 VAC and merges it with the battery output going to the inverter, or steps up the 120 to 240 VAC and combines that with the 240 VAC out of the inverter. Combining at DC might be easier, though less efficient than phase matching the AC waveforms.

It's sort of like pulling power out of a USB battery while you charge it.

Oh, I guess it's the wording that is really strange (and basically wrong) on that, because I don't think it's possible to do it "in parallel", as it states. The car isn't taking two parallel input power feeds. But yes, in concept, that's like using a laptop while it is still plugged in with its power cord. It's still taking input while it's supplying output.

 

[Supcom]

Per website.

6kWh main unit. 4kWh and 9kWh expansion units available.

Pricing starts at $7k or $125/mth to rent.

DockCharged EV Charger - Buy Full System - $7,999

Six kWh for $8k?? You gotta be doing a lot of supercharging to make that pay off.

 

[DougDC]

Per website.

6kWh main unit. 4kWh and 9kWh expansion units available.

Pricing starts at $7k or $125/mth to rent.

DockCharged EV Charger - Buy Full System - $7,999

Those aren't final and we are still figuring out a lot of stuff regarding that.

We are still working on the supply chain and, I think, 90% understand the cost but still have some work around it. Talking to users (via sign up) and sending them a unit to use allows us to hone in the value prop and figure out all the configurations and features. What is important? How much charge are they happy with? What is the relationship with how much they will spend versus charge they receive in a night? Do they care about home charging? Does that add value? What is the complexity to our software. Lots of things moving but we are learning a lot.

 

[DougDC]

Oh, I guess it's the wording that is really strange (and basically wrong) on that, because I don't think it's possible to do it "in parallel", as it states. The car isn't taking two parallel input power feeds. But yes, in concept, that's like using a laptop while it is still plugged in with its power cord. It's still taking input while it's supplying output.

Thanks for the correction. When explaining this to people, this is what people seem to understand better without their eyes completely glazing over.

 

[DougDC]

DM'd you, very interested. In North San Diego county so not far if your location is Costa Mesa

Oh cool! Yes, not far. I will reach out shortly and schedule a quick call

 

[DougDC]

Six kWh for $8k?? You gotta be doing a lot of supercharging to make that pay off.

Hello, thanks so much for your participation, your reactions, your beefs. It helps and I really appreciate it.

If you have a house and you can easily install Level 2, then you should do it. That is the best and Dockcharged isn't a better value. But if you live in an apartment, a condo, or a very old home that needs a big overhaul of your panel, and electric rates are high, or you move a lot, your landlord or HOA just won't let you install L2 then Dockcharged is a contender and I think a very strong one wherein I am committing nearly every waking moment of my time and a significant portion of my wealth into.

It depends all on how much you drive and how much supercharging you do coupled with your willingness to go and only charge at a super charger late at night (to save money).

With L1 (and especially sentry mode), it is easy to run low on a daily basis each day and then rely on superchargers. This cost adds up and it is pretty easy to spend up to $150-$200 per month and many hours each month sitting at the supercharger. Convenience, I think, is valuable too.

So if you are on level 1 charging and you are in an area where they have peak charging hours, then that is adding extra cost. Over the course of a year, this can easily be $600+ year if you’re in CA.

Spending $50 at a supercharger is very easy for those in CA and that can be a lot more if charging during peak hours.

Some people may not want to invest money into their landlord’s property or some HOA won’t allow it if you have a condo. The typical cost can range from $500 to $2,000. As a renter, I don't want to do that. Landlords will allow you to install L2, but sometimes their panel needs an upgrade or the panel is super far, then it doesn’t even make sense. We offer people flexibility- we are offering a rental program, a lease program, or a purchase (it can be used as a home back up too). We are still locking down pricing and that is something we want to control and survey

This is where DockCharged comes in. This is the problem we are solving. Is it 10% of EV owners that have this problem? Maybe not right now. Maybe not in many more years till a much cheaper car comes out, but right now there are some people that have this problem. Energy prices are increasing and as more cars and fleet come online, energy rates will continue to rise. Superchargers will become more crowded. Prices of cars will fall and be more appealing to people in apartments. I think that number of people in apartments that buy an EV will increase a lot.

So I am choosing to go on this adventure and see if I can help the small amount of people that have my exact problem because it sucks a lot but I really love electric cars.

 

[DougDC]

what’s the targeted street price and what’s the current battery capacity?

I'm really trying to not dance around this as our production model is in design right now and we are working on a lot of things to reduce cost, make manufacturing easier. But we want it to be as low as possible.

There are 3 models we are looking at - rental, rental to lease, and a full purchase. The rental would maybe start at $80/month but we are still trying to figure that out. This can also be used as home back up and currently has the ability to accept charge via solar too. There are a lot of things for the production model that we are figuring out and so it is very hard to lock down the cost.

The main goal of this thread is to connect with people to use our charger for free and understand what they like/don't like, etc.

 

[jeremymc7]

I think the advantage here is for people that only have 110v available and don't want to or can't charges at SuperChargers and do more driving than you can typically charge at home on 110v

The unit charges during the day (at higher cost rates) and when you're home at night it switches to using the 110v power input from charging the battery to combine with the battery to give you a 220v output for say output twice as much power to the car overnight compared to using using the typical 110v itself.

I'm guessing the cost to charge the battery during the day and also at night when combining with the battery to charge the car at night, plus the cost of the unit itself is going to be close to just charging at a Supercharging.

Again the case here is when someone needs more power than can get typically get off 110v alone overnight and can't or don't want to (time is money) use the Supercharger.

 

[DougDC]

Yes, that is correct. The main goal is to save people time and money to make this a very compelling product. I think I need to make some sort of calculator for people to play.

If you can completely avoid charging on-peak hours, which all of our beta users have so far, it stands to save you more money. Otherwise, you're either charging with L1 during peak hours or you're not charging during L1 hours and getting less energy and forcing you to spend more time and money at the supercharger.

 

[WyoDude]

Hello, I’m Doug. I'm looking for testers to provide feedback. I'll deliver the unit for free then I just want to get your input on your experience and to understand what you think. No, I don't charge anything. I just want feedback.

If you rely on a supercharger/public chargers and you'd love to reduce time and money spent there, then I think you'll be a great candidate to give feedback. I have been working on this for 2 years. I live in an apartment and I have a 110V plug and installing L2 in my landlord's property doesn't make any sense (way too expensive and I move around).

DockCharged: provides level 2 charge rates with $0 installation cost.

How it works: It uses batteries and software to turn a 110V outlet into an L2 capable charger. It stores energy while you're away at work and sends stored battery energy directly into the car and in parallel sends 110V into the car (no, other battery back up systems cannot do this. My invention is the only one that can do this due to all the custom software and hardware).

• Get up to 100 miles of charge in a night.
• Reduce cost: Avoid on-peak energy rates but still charge during on-peak hours by using energy stored during off peak hours
• It turns any 110V outlet into a level 2 charger and is designed for EV owners in apartments, condos, and old homes where installing L2 is not allowed or too expensive.
• It is very easily movable and it can be fitted in your trunk but best experience is leaving it plugged into 110V and pretty much left in one spot.
• I personally save 5 hours and $110 per month by reducing my reliance on the supercharger.

Video of our beta unit and how it works:

Feel free to DM or message me here. Thanks so much. Doug

I’d be interested in this

 

[Dracaris]

Sounds interesting, though given I am in a single family home with a Tesla Wall Connector I'm not a target customer. That said, Victron does some similarly cool power management with a hybrid inverter / charger they build for RVs. For example, it allows an RV to draw up to 30 amps while connected to a standard 10-15 amp outlet by combining the RV's on-board LFP batteries with incoming shore power to meet the demand. I'm citing this as an example of a product that takes a similar approach to sharing multiple power sources to meet a demand for current higher than can be drawn from an available wall socket, and I can tell you from experience that it works beautifully. Best wishes to you for success with your product. Here's the Victron product: MultiPlus - Victron Energy