Charger Purchase

I have been putting off my electric vehicle charger purchase because there has been a few recent products introduced and I was waiting for the smoke to settle a bit before committing to one. When I was doing my initial planning I was going to purchase the Zivan NG3. This has been a long time favorite for custom conversions and, from what I hear, has a good track record of reliability. This charger is configured once at the factory for either 120 or 240 Volt AC input. The problem with this one time configuration is that it isn't very flexible. You either get fast home charging at 240 V or you have slow home charging but have the ability for 'in the field' opporutnity charge on a more common 120 V outlet. Another alternative is to purchase two of these chargers, one at each voltage level, and you have the best of both worlds, but this approach is cost prohibitive.

In my search for something better they guys at Pioneer Conversions told me about the Elcon PFC 3000W charger. It is still relatively new product release so real world reviews or even product information is hard to come by. I do know that it comes from China and the Pioneer guys gave me the product info PDF. Some other locations I found information on this charger are here and here. The great thing about this charger is the ability to accept 120 and 240 V input from a single unit. It seemed to be available from several resellers as Pioneer Conversions, KTA Services, Electro Automotives, and Electric Conversions could all get them for me for around $1,000. I was just about to pull the trigger on this charger when I heard about yet another one.

The Pioneer guys, who happen to be located rather close to NetGain Motors Inc., informed me that NetGain is getting into the charger market. The unit specs are as follows:

• 3kW AC draw
• ~92% efficiency
• 156/144V nominal output (lower voltages also possible)
• Various amp-hour settings
• AGM/Flooded algorithms
• Pulse charging during final stage
• Temperature compensation with included external temperature sensor
• Output isolated from AC mains
• Sealed enclosure - heatsink design without fans
• Greater than 0.98 power factor (current and voltage between 1 and 2 degrees out of phase)
• 90-260VAC input without any modifications to the charger
• Automatic reduction of power draw on 120VAC input to 1500W (12.5A), and full draw with higher AC voltages
• Input frequencies of 45-65Hz
• Weight of about 14lbs
• Short circuit protection
• Reverse polarity protection
• Automatic restart when below about 12.5V or after 30 days
• Dimensions (L x W x H): 13.85 x 6.9 x 5.5 inches, 352 x 175 x 139 mm

Aside from it being a little larger than Elcon's, the specs seem very similar. I liked the idea that it was made in USA (presumably) and supports dual voltage. I don't, however, like the idea of being the guinea pig for this new charger.

Well, which did I choose?

I went with the NetGain charger. Only time will tell if this was a wise decision. In the end I didn't feel like the Elcon charger had a better track record than the NetGain one at this point. I have also already heard a few people complaining about Elcon's lack of support for their charger. NetGain has a good reputation for their motors they sell so I am also hoping the same level of qualty has gone into their charger. The order went out to Pioneer Conversion for the unit so I hope it arrives next week sometime.