Anyone else running EV charge points off solar in a motorhome?

Been experimenting with charging my wife's Nissan Leaf from the motorhome setup and it's... interesting. Running a Victron Multiplus-II 3kVA with 400Ah of Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 and about 800W of roof panels. On a decent sunny day I can just about push 7kW into the car via a Type 2 portable EVSE, but obviously the batteries take a hammering if the sun dips.

The main issue is the inverter peaks hard when the EVSE first handshakes and ramps up. Had a couple of low voltage cutoffs before I tweaked the Victron ESS settings and bumped the DC input low threshold up a bit. Also had to limit the EVSE to 8A (roughly 1.8kW) which the Multiplus handles no bother.

Anyone else done this? Curious whether a bigger array — say going to 1.2kW or 1.5kW — would make it viable at 16A without thrashing the battery bank. Or is this just a daft idea and I should stick to campsite hookup for the Leaf?

@GoldenMaker interesting experiment. The Multiplus-II 3kVA will technically push enough watts to feed a 7.4kW EVSE but you're going to hit a wall pretty fast — 400Ah LiFePO4 at 24V is only ~9.6kWh usable, and a Leaf needs 40kWh for a full charge. Even at 50% SoC top-up you're looking at draining your bank completely.

What I'd actually suggest: look at a Type 2 EVSE with adjustable amperage (Rolec do decent ones) and dial it right down to 6A. That's 1.38kW draw — much more manageable on your system. You're essentially trickle-charging overnight when the bank is full from a decent solar day.

800W of panels in summer should just about keep pace if you're not running much else simultaneously. Winter's a different story entirely.

@GoldenMaker the Leaf's onboard charger will happily throttle down to whatever you can feed it, but here's the gotcha nobody mentions — the EVSE handshake. Most portable units like the Rolec or Granny cable will negotiate a minimum 6A draw (1.4kW), so your Multiplus needs to actually sustain that without the BMS throwing a wobble under sustained load.

800W of panels into 400Ah is a reasonable buffer but you're essentially running a discharge cycle disguised as charging. On my narrowboat I'd never attempt it without at least 600W harvested that day first.

Also worth knowing: the Leaf's 3.3kW onboard charger is genuinely forgiving of wobbly AC quality — unlike some EVs that get snobbish about it. The Victron's output is clean enough, so no drama there.

What's your typical daily harvest looking like before you attempt a charge session?

@GoldenMaker done similar with my shepherd's hut setup feeding a small EV. The maths just doesn't work in your favour — 400Ah at 48V is roughly 19kWh usable (assuming you're not hammering below 20%). A Leaf takes 40kWh to fill from flat. You're not charging a car, you're topping it up.

The bit nobody mentions: your Multiplus-II will sustain 2.4kW continuous output, not 3kVA. Factor in inverter losses and you're looking at maybe 2.1kW actually reaching the EVSE. Fine for slow overnight trickle if your batteries are healthy, but don't expect miracles.

Also worth checking — some Leaf generations get funny about non-standard supply frequencies. Victron's output is solid but worth monitoring with a power meter first session.

Great experiment @GoldenMaker! One thing worth adding - the Leaf's onboard charger has a minimum current threshold (usually around 6A at 230V, so ~1.4kW) below which it simply won't charge at all. With 800W of panels you'll want decent battery reserves before initiating a charge session, otherwise you're just draining your 400Ah bank faster than the sun's replenishing it.

The Fogstar Drift cells are well-suited to the discharge rates involved, which helps. I'd look at setting up ESS on the Multiplus-II if you haven't already - lets you prioritise solar input and manage when the bank starts contributing. Victron's DVCC settings will also protect the batteries from being hammered too hard during a sustained EV charge. What's your battery monitor showing for typical daily solar yield? That'll determine how realistic regular top-ups actually are.

@WildMechanic

Great project @GoldenMaker! Something nobody's mentioned yet — keep an eye on your Multiplus-II's temperature under sustained load. Pulling 2.4-2.8kW continuously to feed the Leaf's charger will warm that inverter up considerably, especially in a confined motorhome bay. Make sure it's got decent airflow around it.

Also worth setting a proper DC input low limit in VictronConnect — maybe 48V on a 48V system or equivalent — so the Leaf charging cuts off before you hammer your Fogstar cells too deep. The Drift cells are decent but sustained high-discharge isn't where LiFePO4 shines.

Realistically with 800W of panels you're looking at topping up range rather than meaningful charging unless you're parked up for a full sunny day. Perfect for overnight site stops where you just want to claw back a few miles. 👍

@GoldenMaker interesting one — I've got a static caravan setup rather than a motorhome but the maths is similar. The bit that caught me out was the power factor on the Leaf's charger. It's not drawing a clean load, so your Multiplus-II is working harder than the wattage figure suggests. Check what your actual AC output current looks like in VRM rather than just trusting the power reading.

Also worth throttling the EVSE right down to 6A if yours supports it — some of the cheaper Type 2 cables with pilot wire control can do this. Slower charge but your inverter will thank you and you won't be hammering the batteries during a cloudy patch.

What's your actual solar yield looking like day-to-day? 800W on a motorhome roof is decent but shading from vents etc. can murder it.

Not something I've tried with an EV but I run a Multiplus-II 5kVA for my garden office and the inrush when anything with a big motor starts is always eye-opening on the logs. With the Leaf you're essentially asking it to sustain that load rather than just spike it — your 800W of panels won't touch that during charging, so it's all coming from the Fogstar bank. Worth checking your SOC before you start and setting a low battery cutoff in VE.Configure so you don't accidentally flatten it if you need the motorhome for backup later.

Really interesting thread @GoldenMaker! One thing worth flagging that nobody's touched on yet — have you looked at using the Victron's ESS assistant alongside Node-RED to set charging windows based on your battery state of charge? I've got a similar Multiplus-II setup and programmed mine to only allow high-draw appliances above 80% SoC. Would work a treat for the Leaf charging, essentially letting the solar top the bank up first before releasing current to the EVSE. Keeps you from accidentally hammering the batteries on a cloudy morning without realising. Worth exploring if you're comfortable with a bit of tinkering!