Is charger idiot proof?

[palmermd]

The Leaf may be designed to go into neutral so it can be pushed, while its charging, that might make SOME sense (for example if you needed to move it a few feet in your garage)

That is why I suggested that they change the logic such that you have to hold it in neutral for several seconds before it allows you to go into neutral. This simple logic change would have forced my wife to look at the dash and it would have said something to the effect that you have to unplug the car before it will start. I'm sure it already said that, but she was in auto-pilot mode when getting in and starting. There needed to be something to break that, and not going into neutral when she put it into reverse would have worked perfectly.

Lots of reasons why you might want to put it into neutral when it is plugged in. One possible scenario is that the proximity input failed and the car thinks it is plugged in when it is not. You would have to go to neutral in order to roll the car onto a rollback tow truck.

 

[garygid]

Howerer, this "Rolling-while-Charging" event should
be reported to your dealer and by calling
Nissan-LEAF Customer Service as a Safety issue.

Then, call them a few days later and ask if such
an "event" has ever been reported.

 

[LEAFfan]

Press start, dash lights up, put in reverse and release brake and car rolls backward.

You may want to tell her that if she doesn't see the 'green car' with the multi-directional arrow underneath (in the center of the screen toward the top), it isn't ready to drive.

 

[palmermd]

You may want to tell her that if she doesn't see the 'green car' with the multi-directional arrow underneath (in the center of the screen toward the top), it isn't ready to drive.

She is and was well aware of this. We've been driving several Prius since 2002 and are well aware of the "ready" symbol. I don't believe there are very many people who actually look for the symbol before attempting to put the vehicle into drive or reverse every time they start the car. I know that I don't. I believe it is a design flaw. It should not have been allowed to roll that easily. I could have easily done the same thing. It should take an effort to get the car into neutral when it is plugged into the wall.

I did some experimentation just to see what the dash says when this happened. What I found was very interesting. When the car is actually charging (drawing current) it is not possible to put the car into reverse, drive or neutral. Even holding it in neutral just gives a "beep" and keeps the car in park. However once the charge is complete, the car will not go into reverse or drive, but jumps to neutral when the shift lever is moved to D or R. This is the situation that occurred with my wife. Again, I think this is a design flaw that should be addressed. When the plug is inserted the car should remain in P except when expressly overridden (somehow).

We are both aware of this flaw and will certainly take more time when starting the car (especially while it is out on the driveway), and others should be aware of this flaw as well, hence the reason for my post.

Gary, I'd talk to my dealer or CS about it, but I don't have any confidence the message would get any further than the person I tell. Dealer does not seem to have a good communication path to the engineers, and neither does CS. Wish there was a good path to upload this information.

 

[garygid]

You should still call CS, with the just-above description of this safety issue.

Also, you could call and mail it to the "Nissen Task Force" c/o Connell Nissan on Harbor Blvd (Costa Mesa, I think).

 

[AmpUpCO]

You may want to tell her that if she doesn't see the 'green car' with the multi-directional arrow underneath (in the center of the screen toward the top), it isn't ready to drive.

She is and was well aware of this. We've been driving several Prius since 2002 and are well aware of the "ready" symbol. I don't believe there are very many people who actually look for the symbol before attempting to put the vehicle into drive or reverse every time they start the car. I know that I don't. I believe it is a design flaw. It should not have been allowed to roll that easily. I could have easily done the same thing. It should take an effort to get the car into neutral when it is plugged into the wall.

I did some experimentation just to see what the dash says when this happened. What I found was very interesting. When the car is actually charging (drawing current) it is not possible to put the car into reverse, drive or neutral. Even holding it in neutral just gives a "beep" and keeps the car in park. However once the charge is complete, the car will not go into reverse or drive, but jumps to neutral when the shift lever is moved to D or R. This is the situation that occurred with my wife. Again, I think this is a design flaw that should be addressed. When the plug is inserted the car should remain in P except when expressly overridden (somehow).

We are both aware of this flaw and will certainly take more time when starting the car (especially while it is out on the driveway), and others should be aware of this flaw as well, hence the reason for my post.

Gary, I'd talk to my dealer or CS about it, but I don't have any confidence the message would get any further than the person I tell. Dealer does not seem to have a good communication path to the engineers, and neither does CS. Wish there was a good path to upload this information.

Agree 100%.

Please help me understand. Under what circumstance should the car ever be able to move while plugged in????

By reading the owners manual and many posts on this forum, I was aware that the car moves into neutral if plugged in and fully charged. But why?

I really cannot think of a single instance where - if the car is plugged in - it should be allowed to move.

Further, the dashboard is an LCD display. Why wouldn't the full display turn red and flash, "Please Unplug from EVSE!!!"

 

[Deleted member 3147]

Further, the dashboard is an LCD display. Why wouldn't the full display turn red and flash, "Please Unplug from EVSE!!!"

Well, beside the point that the center, dot addressable section of the dash is monochrome and cannot flash red, I agree that you should get a big angry display, plus some audible alarm. :mrgreen:

 

[Roadburner440]

That is pretty weird. The Volt has all of the above, and it will not even let me shift the car out of park if I ignore all the other lights on the dash (I know the Leaf has an electronic shifter like the Prius so a mechanical interlock like the Volt is out).... Even our Prius you must hold the shifter at N for about 1 second for it to actually shift out of P, R, D, or B.

On the Volt I usually forget to close the charge port door, and it reminds me with a huge message and beeping when I put it in gear (charge cord not connected).. If it is plugged in the gear selector is locked in P, and the whole lower screen is a message saying the car is plugged in.

Granted I am sure you could get around this by starting the car, putting it in gear, and then plugging it in. I have not tried that, but am pretty sure it would not accept charge. I did not get a chance to charge the Leaf or mess around with any of that when we test drove it, so not sure how it compares. I just assumed it would be the same as the Volt. Can understand due ot the shifter design though how this could happen. Probably one of the reasons GM decided to go with a conventional mechanical shifter they can lock out under certain conditions.

 

[planet4ever]

On the Volt I usually forget to close the charge port door, and it reminds me with a huge message and beeping when I put it in gear (charge cord not connected).

I've made the same mistake a couple of times in my LEAF, and there is no indication on the dash, but it is definitely not a problem. There is no way you can miss seeing the charge port door sticking high in the air above the front of the hood :!:

Well, OK, it is a problem, but only because my wife sitting in the passenger seat laughed at me for doing something so stupid.

Ray

 

[palmermd]

I've made the same mistake a couple of times in my LEAF, and there is no indication on the dash, but it is definitely not a problem. There is no way you can miss seeing the charge port door sticking high in the air above the front of the hood :!:

Well, OK, it is a problem, but only because my wife sitting in the passenger seat laughed at me for doing something so stupid.

Ray

Well if you are charging outside in potentially rainy weather, I tend to lower the door down onto the j1772 handle to close it off as much as possible to keep the water out. When the door is in this position, it is not possible to see it.

 

[planet4ever]

Well if you are charging outside in potentially rainy weather, I tend to lower the door down onto the j1772 handle to close it off as much as possible to keep the water out. When the door is in this position, it is not possible to see it.

So do I, but that's while the J1772 is plugged in. There is a dash warning if you try to power up while connected. Roadbuner440 said, and I quoted, "(charge cord not connected)".

Ray

 

[Roadburner440]

I can imagine. On the Volt the charge port is on the side, so usually I put my coffee in the car with my phone. Then I get out and unplug, put the cord up, and put the connector on the charger. Then some days I just get in the car, but when I hit the power button you cannot miss it. Guess the Volt is the car that assumes you are an idiot, lol. I should of put shoes on before going outside. Walking on rocks in slippers hurts. :lol:

As far as water goes I don't worry about it. I work on helicopters for a living, and have been connecting/disconnecting external power on them for years in the rainy whether of Florida. As long as there is no power running through the cable (which on my Volt I verify the green light is out same as an external aircraft power station), and then I disconnect the cable. I do spray it out every now and again with electrical contact cleaner to keep corrosion down, and displace the water. Be sure it is ELECTRICAL corrosion compound because it is not resistant to voltage/current flow. If you use regular CPC's on it the power flow will be blocked, and you will not be happy.

Volt with cord connected

Charge door open with no cord connected, car in gear.

 

[palmermd]

Well if you are charging outside in potentially rainy weather, I tend to lower the door down onto the j1772 handle to close it off as much as possible to keep the water out. When the door is in this position, it is not possible to see it.

So do I, but that's while the J1772 is plugged in. There is a dash warning if you try to power up while connected. Roadbuner440 said, and I quoted, "(charge cord not connected)".

Ray

I realize that, but if you are starting the car and your brain is on autopilot, it is possible to turn the car on, see it power up with your peripheral vision, and then proceed to shift the car into gear and then it puts itself into neutral instead of gear. When you lift your foot from the brake, the car will roll if you are on a hill. Car plugged-in, and now car rolling...

see my post earlier describing the event in detail.

 

[jbrawn]

I found that the J connectors have a very strong affinity for each other. My wife parked in the driveway with the charging cord hanging in space where the garage door would normally be. When she tried to lower the garage door to just above the charging cable, the door didn't stop, and it forced the cable to the ground which snapped the plug out of the Leaf, and broke the retention clip on the J plug!

It seems that we are the first Leaf owners to break the connector on a Blink L2 charger -- Not the way I wanted to become famous.

It would have been nice if the J connector had been designed to break away without actually breaking. It would also have been nice if the replacement hadn't cost $285.

The only good news is that the new cable is 25' instead of 18' and it now reaches to the driveway safely resting on the ground where the garage door can't hurt it.

 

[davewill]

... It seems that we are the first Leaf owners to break the connector on a Blink L2 charger -- Not the way I wanted to become famous.

It would have been nice if the J connector had been designed to break away without actually breaking. It would also have been nice if the replacement hadn't cost $285. ...

Be thankful it didn't damage the inlet on the car. I suspect you could sell the broken part here on the forum and recoup some of your loss. There are a bunch of people making their own EVSEs (search for "Open EVSE"), and the cable would certainly be salvageable, and maybe the J1772 plug as well.

 

[SanDust]

It seems that we are the first Leaf owners to break the connector on a Blink L2 charger -- Not the way I wanted to become famous.

Actually you're late to the party! (That may be a good thing). I know a guy who damaged the Blink and his car when he backed out of his driveway with his Leaf plugged in. Not a happy ending. It's unclear if the car went into gear or if it just went into neutral and rolled down the driveway.

I realize that, but if you are starting the car and your brain is on autopilot, it is possible to turn the car on, see it power up with your peripheral vision, and then proceed to shift the car into gear and then it puts itself into neutral instead of gear. When you lift your foot from the brake, the car will roll if you are on a hill. Car plugged-in, and now car rolling...

It's also possible that under some conditions the car may go into gear. I've seen a video of this. Apparently the connectors didn't fully make contact or something. The video shows the car display saying the car is not plugged in and the Blink showing the car is plugged in.

For those who might doubt this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzeuK3KTCMk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;