This isn't a scratch-built DIY EV conversion, it's
an existing OEM BEV that doesn't have DCFC. I have to work within the framework I have, and ugly isn't an option. While I appreciate your outside-the-box ideas, the problem I'm solving is a wiring disconnect problem, not a packaging or location one, and that's why I provided only the parameters of the problem I'm solving, not the bigger picture. Still, I'll address your ideas.
If I have to use a fixed splice, I will, but . . . alternate ideas to mount a charge port wasn't the question I asked.
I'm trying to maintain serviceability for the day when I'll have to remove the charge inlet to repair/replace the large pins: Tesla Model S early charge ports with the problematic pins whose non-replaceable plastic deadfaces break off; the entire pin must be replaced from used stock when this happens. There are NO aftermarket NACS ports (with nozzle locking) that I can find, so using a Tesla part is the only way forward. And I want to be able to remove the port, replace the pin(s), and reinstall it, without having to un-mount two yards of wiring from the chassis in order to flex twin 50mm²/16mm OD cables enough to withdraw the port from its mounting location above/behind the LR wheel well: the OEM location.
I have no fixed rear license plate on this vehicle; it's a RAV4 with a side-swinging rear. Unless mounted below the rear bumper (ala Damien and the . . . Grey Goose?), there's NO place at the rear of the vehicle for it.
There might be room above the front bumper in the grille area; another RAV4 owner is planning on mounting a charge inlet there, but I have my doubts if it can be made to fit. The grille has a significant slope and has the A/C condenser directly behind it. The resulting access would be
laid back on that slope, impossible to keep weather out, and the Model S NACS port does not have a weather cover -- even the OEM installs were prone to icing, and mounting it other than perpendicular to the earth would be disastrous in winter.
The front bumper . . . is a bumper. Can't mount in it for the obvious reason that . . . it's a bumper. Mounting anything to a modern plastic bumper is insane. I don't know where you live, but my bumpers have taken significant damage over the years.
Others have put the charge port under the bonnet, that can be done, yes. But it's significantly non-optimal to open the bonnet to DCFC from the standpoints of, again, weather; security, and the aesthetics are lousy. I have an existing J1772 port in the OEM location currently, and there's room for the NACS charge inlet in its place; there's no reason to relocate it elsewhere.
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Tom, while I knew that the HSVL line has 1-pole connectors, I had missed that -- buried in the catalog -- that the 1-pole connectors is their ONLY offering with an inline receptacle:
- Amphenol HSVL 1000
- Amphenol HSVL 1000
- Amphenol HSVL 1000
Their
How to Order chart also lists 25-70mm² as options. That looks to be exactly what I'm looking for, and I thank you for the second look at that catalog. I spent many hours peering at datasheets and catalogs and missed it -- which is kind of what I figured I must have done.
