Gen2/Calex Charger
From Unofficial Zero Manual
The Calex / GreenWattPower EVC-116-1300 and EVC-116-720 are used as onboard chargers for modern Zero models (2014 onwards except for the 2014FX) and are CANBus-controllable which eliminates the CCU board.
- Design
- The board is a solid-state switching power supply with a CAN interface.
- The aluminum enclosure is well-sealed with over two dozen fasteners.
- The enclosure is filled with a solid rubbery potting material.
- Reliability
- Certain model years (MY14 and MY15) have had onboard charger faults after 900-1200 miles and require replacement under warrantee.
- MY16 onward (and MY13 which used Meanwell units) appear to have a lower defect rate.
- This appears to be a third-party quality issue with Calex that was reportedly resolved by early 2016, but this is not proven perfectly yet.
- 720W chargers used on X models appear to be more reliable than 1300W chargers used on S models.
- Design Revision
- In response to the 2014-2015 reliability difficulties, it seems that the internal board was mainly reworked for lower risk of overheating.
- One observation is that the size of the board changed from about ⅓ of the volume of the enclosure to the full area of the enclosure.
- Newer revisions seem to have a cube-shaped clip-on ferrite bead EMI filter on the AC input cable (per this EMF thread).
- Repair
- Because of the solid rubbery potting, repair of anything beyond the connectors is almost totally impractical, especially given the cost of replacement.
- The board is designed for blind replacement.
- Articles
