AAAE: Cangoee powers into aftermarket

ADVENTURE seeking Australians now have a more intelligent and integrated off-grid power solution to power their campsites, caravans and four-wheel drives thanks to the innovative team at Cangoee Australia.

The elegant, compact, yet extremely rugged alternative to a dual-battery system is the brainchild of director and former Toyota engineer, Andrew Holden, whose system has proved vital to Australia’s emergency services for more than 20 years.

Now adapted for recreational use, the range of off-grid / on-grid power solutions is rapidly expanding to meet the growing needs of Australia’s 5.5 million 4WD owners and will soon offer an adaptable home battery solution comparable to the Tesla Powerwall.

“We’ve been around since 2006, mainly in the emergency services market. But with COVID we took the technology that we already had and pivoted it towards the recreational market,” Mr Holden told GoAutoNews.

“Our system is fully integrated and easy to install, and in many cases can reduce the typical installation time from 10 or 12 hours down to just two or three.

“With everyone having trouble getting staff, the need to take the complexity and time out of installation is important to workshop owners. 

“We build kits that will fit specific models and that are plug-and-play, and in the case of some of the more popular models on the market, can be installed in around an hour. 

“There’s no drilling and no cutting. We use all the factory attachment points and CANbus so there’s no tapping into wires, either.”

The Cangoee Power Node uses prismatic lithium-iron phosphate cells set in an aluminium case to offer a staged approach to delivering power. 

The slimline units come equipped with an internal BMS (battery management system), 40-amp dual-stage DC/DC charger and a service power and provide up to 100 amps of continuous discharge, 100 amps rapid charge, and can be arranged in parallel to increase power availability.

Mr Holden says the Cangoee system is available in short and long-series packages suitable for a wide range of applications including emergency services, large corporate fleets, 4WD enthusiasts, canopy builders and the motor body-building sector, and is compact enough to fit beneath seats, under the rear parcel shelf or other under-utilised areas.

“The system also knows the status of the door locks, the headlights, the state of battery charge, and so on,” he said.

“All of those things are feed back into the control system to ensure you’re never left without power. We are able to tailor solutions to suit customers, or simply offer a standardised solution like an Anderson plug. 

“The system can be charged from the vehicle’s alternator, battery, or solar panels. The inverter and regulator are all built in.

“We can also add a solid-state power control unit with up to 14 outputs and a HDMI input to allow control via a touchscreen, and importantly, the ability to configure the unit via your laptop and a USB cable, or via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. 

“We can also connect the touchscreen to other vehicle systems, such as the water tank, so you’re not having the need for additional screens.

“The other benefit is that if there’s ever a problem, it will instantly go open circuit and in most cases the problem is simply fixed by cycling the ignition. And that’s great because it means you don’t have to sort through a massive number of fuses. Just cycle the ignition and the unit will come back to life.”

Cangoee also offers its own simplified power distribution unit that works with its Node units or in conjunction with the vehicle CANbus in place of a traditional fuse box. 

The plug-and-play system allows for straightforward expansion of systems including the Cangoee touchscreen battery monitor, digital switching screen, input/output module and vehicle CANbus module.

“There’s a range of systems ranging from 75-amp hours all the way up to 660-amp hours for the caravan market,” Mr Holden said.

“Typically, the 110-amp hour unit is the highest seller. They’re all designed here in Australia, and we actually manufacture our own electronics here (too). All our Node units are backed by a five-year warranty.”

More information is available at cangoee.com