The top ten EV Conversion battery chargers for 2011 according to EVAlbum are...

1. Zivan
2. Manzanita Micro
3. Elcon
4. Quick Charge
5. Russco
6. Brusa
7. Delta-Q
8. Kelly
9. Lester
10. Soneil

• Prices run from $400 to $4500
• Voltage output from 12 volts to 500 volts
• Watts from 1000 watts to 5000 watts.
• Some chargers use constant current, constant voltage and others use algorithms that are programmable. Some have dials that can the user can control the maximum voltage or maximum amperage. Some give the user a few choices of charging curves. Some are programed to perimeters before shipping.
• Other factors to consider are; display panels with warning LEDs, digital displays, protection from output over-voltage, over-temperature, reverse battery, short-circuit, vibration & shock resistant, sealed construction, method of cooling the charger, wide input voltage range, PFC (power factor correction) and or (power factor compensation) minimizes utility surcharges and maximizes use of AC power current, efficiency and track record.

See chart Here for some comparisons.

(this chart needs to be updated or posted here so it can be modified, as it doesn't accurately reflect all of the chargers from manufacterers like Zivan and DeltaQ, which many people use)

[Coulomb]

Nice table.

Can I suggest another row for the table? Isolated verses non-isolated.

[Ace_bridger]

Brilliant table I say, just what I needed!! Many thanks, Adam

[frodus]

deltaQ info is off, QuiQ doesn't have canbus, isn't 3000W and isn't 200+ volts.

The new model is though, but the table is inaccurate.

[bgeery]

Also where is the Zivan NG1? They are still available both new and refurbished.

[frodus]

Probably because it's a fairly biased view of chargers for 144V/1000W and above.

[bgeery]

Doh. I'm getting 1200 watts out of my 72 volt NG1 @ 85 volt output. These things seem to be underrated by a good amount.

[frodus]

how are you getting that number? Is the battery pack voltage actually at 85V while the charger is putting out 14A?

From the manual, the charger is 864W max
http://www.zivanusa.com/pdf/NG1.pdf

[bgeery]

Yup. Pack measures 85 volts and current is 14A (well, actually 13.9A). It's 14A through the entire CC phase.

If you go into the charger, there is a pot to adjust current. I just adjusted it until current maxed out. The charger is thermally protected so it's not going to burn itself up so it should be safe for the charger. One thing not to do is turn that pot past the point where current stops increasing as it seems to throw off the voltage regulation on the CV phase. Just take it to the point of max current and things are fine. Given the NG1 power factor of .68 that means it will just max out a 15 Amp 120 VAC circuit (probably why current adjustment is capped at 14A by the charger).

[frodus]

So you're charger is set to charge the batteries up to 85V?

And you're saying you're both in CC and CV mode at the same time? (you're at 85V and charging at a constant 14A)?

Doesn't make any sense.