Using F150, CSP and HIS to discharge to a DC load

[Runaway Tractor]

OK this is pretty fascinating for people who like to DIY solutions. If 12v dc to the dark start terminals on the FCSP, and a lack of accompanying AC power to the FCSP is all that is needed to trigger the truck to close in the contacts on the 400vdc CCS "output", that's pretty huge.

Once a DIY nerd has 480vdc readily available, the are many many possibilities opened up. That power can be used by any inverter that has a 480vdc input. The gears in my head are turning.

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[DanielB]

OK this is pretty fascinating for people who like to DIY solutions. If 12v dc to the dark start terminals on the FCSP, and a lack of accompanying AC power to the FCSP is all that is needed to trigger the truck to close in the contacts on the 400vdc CCS "output", that's pretty huge.

Once a DIY nerd has 480vdc readily available, the are many many possibilities opened up. That power can be used by any inverter that has a 480vdc input. The gears in my head are turning.

Exactly my thinking. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen the battery voltage exceed 400V, I believe it was closer to 367VDC when fully charged but your mileage may vary.

I bought a PowMr Solar hybrid Inverter 3200W 24VDC to 220-230VAC,Built in 80A MPPT Solar Charge Controller,Off-Grid Pure sine Wave Inverter,Work with 24V Lead Acid & Lithium Battery,Solar Power Utility Generator for a solar project a few months ago, unrelated to the Lightning. Wouldn't you know: PV Array MPPT Voltage Range: 30~400Vdc

Being able to get HVDC into my otherwise 24V renewable/backup system would be huge. If I can get a deal (or borrow) a FCSP I'm willing to do some testing. If it doesn't work (with a dark start battery) as simple as:

Connect truck
Remove AC power to FCSP
Get DC power from truck

The FCSP will be of very low value to me over any other charger. Is anyone willing to try this?

 

[Runaway Tractor]

Exactly my thinking. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen the battery voltage exceed 400V, I believe it was closer to 367VDC when fully charged but your mileage may vary.

I bought a PowMr Solar hybrid Inverter 3200W 24VDC to 220-230VAC,Built in 80A MPPT Solar Charge Controller,Off-Grid Pure sine Wave Inverter,Work with 24V Lead Acid & Lithium Battery,Solar Power Utility Generator for a solar project a few months ago, unrelated to the Lightning. Wouldn't you know: PV Array MPPT Voltage Range: 30~400Vdc

Being able to get HVDC into my otherwise 24V renewable/backup system would be huge. If I can get a deal (or borrow) a FCSP I'm willing to do some testing. If it doesn't work (with a dark start battery) as simple as:

Connect truck
Remove AC power to FCSP
Get DC power from truck

The FCSP will be of very low value to me over any other charger. Is anyone willing to try this?

Exactly what I have in mind as well. Drawing the truck down to 20 miles remaining, and fully charged to 80% is 2-5 days of juice depending on the weather. EG4 inverters are what I've been looking at.

• 30 amp 240vac power from the main panel (grid power).
• 30 amp 240vac generator input for my portable generator or Pro Power output.
• 48vdc battery backup in whatever capacity I want to stack up.
• 400vdc solar input which I would pull form the truck's battery through FCSP.
• A relay and 12v power supply to drive the FCSP dark start input.
• FCSP power fed from main house panel, which will always go dead when grid is down.
• Inverter output feeds a critical load subpanel which powers up most of my house: lights, outlets, electronics, microwave, networking, security, HVAC Heat Pump, well pump.
• Grid-only leftovers are HVAC auxiliary heat, oven/range, and dryer.
• 200 gallons of LPG on site for BBQ grill, portable dual-fuel generator, and propane fireplace.

 

[DanielB]

And a pony! That should just about cover it all. Have you actually tested the FCSP with dark start yet?

Excluding EV charging we're in the sub 20 kWh/day range. We can probably shed some of that in an extended outage. We should be able to get 2-3 days of runtime on a 90% charge of the SR 98 kWh, leaving enough range to head out the 25 or so miles to fast charge again.

Using it as a giant UPS also opens up the option of running the generator at peak performance a few hours a day to keep the battery at an ideal range if we'd prefer to burn fuel instead of drive the 25 miles, etc.. It seems like charging at $.50 / kW is about half as expensive as running the generator at 1/4 load. I'm not sure when you factor in running it at 80% for a limited number of hours a day, but that math is on my list of things to do.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

I haven't installed the FCSP yet. Naturally my garage is on the opposite end of the house across a finished basement from the electrical panel. Just using my existing 14-50 outlet right now. I've been procrastinating buying and running all the wiring for the FCSP, inverter, and subpanel. Integrating the 400vdc power extraction is a new add to this project today, which may also encourage me to get on it.

This evening, I'm going to plop the FCSP on the floor next to the truck and plug 12vdc into the dark start terminals to test this 400vdc availability right away though. I'm also very curious what the rest of the truck's systems will do when activated.

 

[DanielB]

This evening, I'm going to plop the FCSP on the floor next to the truck and plug 12vdc into the dark start terminals to test this 400vdc availability right away though. I'm also very curious what the rest of the truck's systems will do when activated.

Please be very careful, 400VDC is nothing to trifle with. 240VAC will sting you enough to remember it for a while, 400VDC bites, won't let go, and it might be a trip to the ER.

I can't wait to hear back how it goes!

 

[Runaway Tractor]

I'd love to report results. But this stupid FCSP is refusing to connect. It connected once during setup, now the wifi and Bluetooth ceased functioning. Which also means I can't configure it, and the truck can't connect to it. And to be even more stupid, the factory reset button does absolutely nothing.

 

[DanielB]

I'd love to report results. But this stupid FCSP is refusing to connect. It connected once during setup, now the wifi and Bluetooth ceased functioning. Which also means I can't configure it, and the truck can't connect to it. And to be even more stupid, the factory reset button does absolutely nothing.

No... I was hoping for something better than this. It sounds like you can power it down for 40 minutes and try again. I think you have to hold the reset button until some light turns white. I won't insult you with search results to this form and other member's woes of getting the thing setup. Maybe just leave it unplugged overnight to think about what it has done and hit it fresh tomorrow.

Looking forward to a positive update. Thanks for trying!

 

[Galactus55]

Watching and waiting to see how this goes.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

When I had it hooked up despite the comms failure, it did power up the FCSP. Green light indicating ready on battery backup power. And it woke the truck up. But I don't think think truck will close in the contacts until it establishes comms with the FCSP. Probably over bluetooth, which is obviously not working on the FCSP...

 

[DanielB]

When I had it hooked up despite the comms failure, it did power up the FCSP. Green light indicating ready on battery backup power. And it woke the truck up. But I don't think think truck will close in the contacts until it establishes comms with the FCSP. Probably over bluetooth, which is obviously not working on the FCSP...

You're saying you checked the HV terminals in the FCSP and there was no voltage? So close!

I never considered it would tell the truck to close the contactors over Bluetooth. I figured for some reason it would communicate over that powerline protocol ("HomePlug Green PHY power line" or whatever it's called).

We must go deeper! Did you try factory resetting three times? Thanks for all the heavy lifting.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

We must go deeper! Did you try factory resetting three times? Thanks for all the heavy lifting.

The factory reset is not working. The thing has to be corrupted and roast. Hoping they send me a replacement ASAP.

 

[tls]

I never considered it would tell the truck to close the contactors over Bluetooth. I figured for some reason it would communicate over that powerline protocol ("HomePlug Green PHY power line" or whatever it's called).

Neither would anyone else sane, but there you have it: why the entire FCSP/HIS system is such an unreliable mess. They use wireless (2 different protocols!) to communicate between all the parts of their overly complex system when they have perfectly good wires available everywhere they need to talk.

 

[TaxmanHog]

@DanielB

I noticed you're rolling a XLT-SR, you will need to pay Ford for an update to allow your Lightning to communicate with a Home Integration System [HIS] or a home-grown system, assuming you can get all the hardware working together.

Only Extended Range trucks came with this feature enabled.

 

[DanielB]

@DanielB

I noticed you're rolling a XLT-SR, you will need to pay Ford for an update to allow your Lightning to communicate with a Home Integration System [HIS] or a home-grown system, assuming you can get all the hardware working together.

Only Extended Range trucks came with this feature enabled.

Well that was a short lived exercise in futility. Fingers crossed one of the other companies working on V2X have cheaper, more reliable options. It sounds like even paying a premium for the update and what seems like overpriced gear for the HIS, it still probably wouldn't work trouble-free, which is why I wanted to roll my own. Such is life!

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