 | Home > General & Technical (L663) > 400e Charging HV Battery from Engine |
 
|
|
|
| TexasRover Member Since: 24 Nov 2022 Location: Paris Posts: 1144   
|
Basically a very expensive Jerry Can.
I have a P38 with LPG, one benefit is that you have a decent reserve in the petrol tank. It works and makes sense. Good to see this option exists in the p400e for those people that want to use it. |
||
13th Feb 2025 10:53am |
|
| Tuath Member Since: 12 Feb 2025 Location: UK Posts: 13 
|
Yep exactly
 (very expensive is right, but glad the car I was in had the option none-the-less).
My Td5 has a jerry can in the back for the exact same reason, but as I think I also mentioned the recharge from engine feature means I don't lose the space a jerry takes up, the octane level doesn't drop in the caned fuel over time, and my wife is much happier not having a tin of fuel in the back
As you say - great it has the feature for those that have a use, especially as it seems most PHEV vehicles don't (and we just got lucky with the car we had in the past!) |
||
|
13th Feb 2025 11:13am |
|
| pjm-84 Member Since: 12 Apr 2021 Location: Hampshire Posts: 677
|
Why not just save the battery after charging from the mains if you want a electric Jerry can?
No massive reduction in mpg when replacing the depleted battery charge. i.e you will use more petrol range then electric range you get back. |
||
|
13th Feb 2025 11:28am |
|
| Tuath Member Since: 12 Feb 2025 Location: UK Posts: 13
|
Please, please read my post if you are going to reply - that is what I do / did - but could not recharge in the middle of nowhere with deep snow and ice to have onward reserve after using it! It is not a common use case (I understand that) but there is good reason in some circumstances for the feature.
|
||
|
13th Feb 2025 11:46am |
|
| Hunter Member Since: 29 Nov 2020 Location: Vienna Posts: 1 
|
You might want to have a look at this German solution, build for portable batteries but can probably also modified for PHEV.
https://de.ecoflow.com/products/800w-alternator-charger |
||
|
15th Feb 2025 9:56am |
|
| Tuath Member Since: 12 Feb 2025 Location: UK Posts: 13
|
An interesting option. I'm guessing warranty would go out the window if it were hard wired into the HV system (and it seems that the L663 400e can charge from the engine natively from what's been posted), but if we decided against the L663 for other reasons then this potentially opens options for cars that would otherwise be off our list - thank you for the idea
 |
||
|
15th Feb 2025 5:32pm |
|
| stevemfr Member Since: 18 Sep 2022 Location: Strasbpurg Posts: 151
|
Especially in this day and age of extremely partisan politics, I find myself having less and less tolerance for people who a.) don't read, and b.) cannot see beyond the boundaries of their little bubble and think they have the world figured out for everyone based on their own little life experiences. Sorry if that comes across as harsh - maybe I am just becoming more grumpy as I get older. We have been approached by several parties to modify the PHEV. And all have use cases where charging the PHEV battery through the motor makes a lot of sense.
In the grand scheme of things EV, 800w is like a BIC lighter compared to an industrial furnace. It's just not going to do very much for you.
I don't think this solution has much to do with Germany other than the webshop; Ecoflow is a very Chinese company. 
 
RRC 2Dr, RRC 4Dr, P38, and 2 L322s, 2 FL1s and a L663 on the way |
||
|
17th Feb 2025 10:14am |
|
| pjm-84 Member Since: 12 Apr 2021 Location: Hampshire Posts: 677
|
Not harsh at all.....my bubble is however quite large.
|
||
|
17th Feb 2025 10:59am |
|
| Tuath Member Since: 12 Feb 2025 Location: UK Posts: 13
|
I think I need to be less polite maybe
 I will admit to getting frustrated too. I also I agree the wattages involved don't stack up (Twisted have an EV conversion for the Td5 and the APU charger they are developing is currently towed on a trailer at present so that gives an idea of practical scale). As an integrated part of the vehicle from manufacture that is aware at the software level I'm guessing there are economies of scale to be gained (otherwise the Cayenne and i8 would need tow bars ).
I've been researching and reading further on this, and specifically the L663 400e. I'm still to find anything in writing that is completely clear or conclusive, but I think I've an idea of how it works with this specific vehicle. Unlike the Cayenne and Touareg (with specific e-charge modes), and the i8 (with active charging in sport mode) I do not believe the L663 400e actively charges from the engine (ie. there is no specific component or uprated alternator that directly charges the HV battery from the combustion engine). What it appears to do in 'Save' mode is fully run the vehicle on the combustion engine and set the regenerative hardware (breaks, etc.) to max. This causes 'drag' for want of a better term, and without any electric assistance the engine load is very high and hence the MPG plummets. I need to confirm my understanding is correct, and then think carefully through scenarios to decide if this 'regenerative plus’ mode is sufficient for our particular needs. It certainly seems effective, and can charge the battery quite quickly for how it's working. However, unlike the Cayenne for example, I do not believe it would add charge whilst parked - that is not important per-say, but illustrates the difference that I believe exists between the approaches taken by BMW / VAG and JLR. |
||
|
17th Feb 2025 11:17am |
|
| o-ren-ishii Member Since: 25 Jul 2023 Location: The Hague Posts: 40 
|
@Tuath: Well, you are mistaken there. The P400e uses the zf 8p75ph gearbox, which has integrated generator.
I can assure you, like I stated earlier above, the P400e does charge the HV battery. But, it stops after a few percent. Source: I have got the car.
And yes, I agree with you some people here reply to almost anything - even if they assume a lot. That can be quite annoying when trying to find correct help. |
||
|
17th Feb 2025 12:25pm |
|
| Tuath Member Since: 12 Feb 2025 Location: UK Posts: 13
|
Thank you once again o-ren-ishii – I’m a real appreciator of detail / information like that!
I never thought to look at components, but that confirms things nicely.
Looking closer at the 8p75ph transmission it includes a compact 134hp / 99kW motor that indeed can act as a generator. The Jeep Wrangler 4Xe (that Jeep decided not to produce for RHD markets) uses the same gearbox, and that vehicle has both ‘Save’ and a dedicated ‘Recharge’ modes that look to use this integrated motor as the power source. It may even be that the charging rate, level at which charging ceases, and general charging behaviour could be coded – as based on what you have confirmed it’s all effectively just software as the hardware is there. However, knowing for certain that it can actively charge from the engine is sufficient for us I think. I find forums invaluable, but they are just the same as the rest of the Internet – validate your sources, apply common sense, keep a healthy scepticism, and try not to get too frustrated!! For ever right piece of information online there’s… |
||
|
18th Feb 2025 11:23am |
|
| nobbyclark Member Since: 19 Jan 2011 Location: Cumbria Posts: 55 
|
I have a P400e Defender. On a long motorway or A-road run, I put it into EV Save mode and it will recharge 1 mile per 5-6 miles travelled. I recently drove to Edinburgh and recharged 20 miles between home and the city centre (120 miles). I don't think it will get the maximum though. I drove to London last year and managed 21 recharged miles over 325 miles travelled. 2024 Defender 110 X-Dynamic HSE P400
|
||
|
18th Feb 2025 5:16pm |
|
|
|
| All times are GMT |
< Previous Topic | Next Topic > |
Posting Rules
|
Site Copyright © 2006-2025 Futuranet Ltd & Martin Lewis
