Tesla Ambulance

Have you ever wondered what you would do if your electric vehicle ran out of fuel – in the middle of nowhere?

Well, we’ve got an interesting video for you.

Lucian Popescu has driven his Tesla Model S into the mountains of Romania leaving himself insufficient power to get home again. A distributor comes to his rescue with an experimental re-charge.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Just before we begin you might be interested in a quick roundup of the setup we’re about to see:

• 3 x Quattro Inverter 10kVA are configured to recharge the vehicle with 3 Phase power. It’s not always possible to charge an electric vehicle remotely because they require a Neutral Ground which is not available on many generators or alternative power supplies – but which the Quattro inverters can be switched to provide. This arrangement provides 11kWh – the standard ‘maximum’ charge acceptance rate for the Tesla AC inlet – but wait, we’re in for a surprise.
• 4 x 25.6V Lithium Batteries which between them store 20kWh.
• A VE Bus BMS protects the battery during charge/discharge cycles
• A Cerbo GX ties everything together; and we get a look at the neat GX Touch 50 display in action.

The video saves the best for the end with a sneak preview of an early prototype of the Victron Car Charger – the EV Charging Station. Capable of providing 22kWh – electric car charging just came home. At this rate an hour of charge will provide up to 90 miles (145 km) of range; and a typical electric vehicle battery can be taken from empty to full in around 5 hours.