Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Discussion about components from Ampera/Bolt and the PSA group which owns Opel these days
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bobthebuilder
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Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by bobthebuilder »

I’ve searched everywhere for the possibility that this has been dabbled with before but haven’t found a definitive answer.
Apart from the answers from people who say it can’t be done, I suppose that’s a pretty definitive answer that I’m reluctant to accept.

I fully understand that a likely cheaper option would be to buy another car with faster charging in the first place but that’s not what this is all about.

As the 2019 Chevrolet Volt had the option of 7.2Kw charge speed and they’re “fairly similar” I was hoping that someone else has had the idea of somehow swapping them over and getting the old Ampera and Volt using a higher charge speed.

Or

Maybe someone who has added extra capacity in their boot/trunk has come up with a way to add charge directly somehow.
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by arber333 »

bobthebuilder wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 7:11 pm Maybe someone who has added extra capacity in their boot/trunk has come up with a way to add charge directly somehow.
Strategy is to fit new 25mm2 or 16mm2 lines that you lead into the booth. But... Ampera/Volt is really finnicky as it senses current moving between batteries and sometimes opens DTCs. You must be prepared to delete DTCs... I would recommend you put the positive line through current sensor so current differences will cancel out. Then you have possibility to quickly charge your car or fit a second battery.

Check my installation...
viewtopic.php?t=884&hilit=ampera+extender
bobthebuilder
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by bobthebuilder »

Thank you for taking the time to reply arber333.
I’ve looked through your progress of installation with great interest.
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by arber333 »

bobthebuilder wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 9:54 pm Thank you for taking the time to reply arber333.
I’ve looked through your progress of installation with great interest.
I tried to charge in multiple ways.
- while oem charger was connected i applied 10A directly to the battery. Immediately bms would stop charging and hpcm2 dtc would show.
- while car was off i directly charged at 10A. I could charge fully that way. But whenever i started the car next i would get dtc and battery not available. I had to first delete dtc to be able to drive again.
- i tried again with the car ON so as to have regen... no luck again. Car would throw dtc after couple of minutes.
bobthebuilder
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by bobthebuilder »

Do you still have the Ampera?
I noticed you have a few projects going at once on LeafDriveBlog
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by bobthebuilder »

The 7.2Kw version doesn’t look too dissimilar from the 3.6kw one but I suppose it’s very tricky to get the car to accept the 7.2 charger in the first place rather than just the cable hook up problem.

3.6kw
https://imgur.com/WpjgdIf

7.2kw
https://imgur.com/xhm9NZD

Not sure how to add the photo here.. sorry
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by arber333 »

bobthebuilder wrote: Thu Sep 15, 2022 1:17 pm Do you still have the Ampera?
I noticed you have a few projects going at once on LeafDriveBlog
My wife drives the Ampera and its now at or around 300.000Km!
Since i test every new thing i make in my Pug it seemed natural to put the development of Ampera range extender with my other projects.
I have other site on wordpress called mazdamx3ev which is in Slovenian :).
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by bobthebuilder »

I assume you haven’t had the need to make the Ampera charge quicker with the added capacity?

The charger I’m referring to is apparently GM part number 24277908
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by EV_Builder »

I think one of the few ways is using the Chademo code in the vehicle BMS but supplying the current out of a charger.

So some trickery is needed with the CP and PP lines etc. etc. the benefit is that the vehicle controls the session and cooling etc.
Converting an Porsche Panamera
see http://www.wdrautomatisering.nl for bespoke BMS modules.
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by arber333 »

bobthebuilder wrote: Fri Sep 16, 2022 7:58 am I assume you haven’t had the need to make the Ampera charge quicker with the added capacity?

The charger I’m referring to is apparently GM part number 24277908
Well i tried by charging directly and the car wasnt happy.
Finally we used OEM charger charging original battery, but i added a diode (reverse 300A transistor diode) across second contactor. This makes the charge flow over to the second battery as it is being charged. It takes like 6 hours overnight, but we get some 80km range on the highway driving.
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by Ejc1992 »

arber333 wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 9:34 pm Well i tried by charging directly and the car wasnt happy.
Finally we used OEM charger charging original battery, but i added a diode (reverse 300A transistor diode) across second contactor. This makes the charge flow over to the second battery as it is being charged. It takes like 6 hours overnight, but we get some 80km range on the highway driving.
based on that thread, weren't you able to charge on the original charger without a contactor or IGBT for both batteries? I saw where you got "weird" currents when turning off the car, and were tripping the HPCM2 and BMS; that's why you went for the contactor and IGBT. Were you able to just reset these codes with an obd tool?

saw this also (May 2021)
"I also get those two messages when i stop and turn off the car if both batteries are full or nearly full. It doesnt appear if i drain cells below 50%.
We simply reloaded firmware to HPCM2 module and everything worked."

Were you reloading with like VCX nano or MDI 2 or do you mean just resetting the car with OBD and 12V pull (you mentioned pulling the - terminal and setting up the metal plate so you could do that)? Could you reset with an OBD tool?
Do not attempt what I am about to do, I am not a professional.
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by arber333 »

Ejc1992 wrote: Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:12 pm based on that thread, weren't you able to charge on the original charger without a contactor or IGBT for both batteries? I saw where you got "weird" currents when turning off the car, and were tripping the HPCM2 and BMS; that's why you went for the contactor and IGBT. Were you able to just reset these codes with an obd tool?

saw this also (May 2021)
"I also get those two messages when i stop and turn off the car if both batteries are full or nearly full. It doesnt appear if i drain cells below 50%.
We simply reloaded firmware to HPCM2 module and everything worked."

Were you reloading with like VCX nano or MDI 2 or do you mean just resetting the car with OBD and 12V pull (you mentioned pulling the - terminal and setting up the metal plate so you could do that)? Could you reset with an OBD tool?
Well i decided on contactor mostly because of that but also because i wanted to be able to take rear battery apart safely. I also used simpBMS to control contactor and if there would be any trouble BMS would trip.

I reset HPCM2 by Torque pro. I havent tried by VCX yet.

Edit... i dont know why you couldnt use additional 3K6 charger module. You could add Y connection to all cables HV and AC.
I have charger relay here and it is rated 15Adc so you could just get away with it.
Also its fuse is 25A.

You could use original HPCM pwm signal and replicate it to the second charger. BMS will stop charger and wont be the wiser i think. Otoh Volts main current sensor has two fields one 500A and other 50A... more sensitive for charging. Could mean problem...
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Re: Ampera / Volt 3kw charging to 7kw

Post by Ejc1992 »

Thanks for the information. so Torque pro was able to clear your codes and you didn't need like an MDI clone and GSD subscription for resetting the HPCM2. I saw you contemplating a time-delay (2 seconds) for the Aux battery contactor activation, thanks for confirming how you ended up solving that. Did that, along with the IGBT clear out errors for the most part (charging and turning the car off @ mostly full), or are you still fielding the car being upset?
Do not attempt what I am about to do, I am not a professional.
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