idashark said:Thanx for the info folks!
Sounds like there might be a small business opportunity to build an EV tester.....
Tell me more, Gary, I'm not sure I get it:garygid said:Might be nice to have a small "safety tester" to use on public "e-hoses" before plugging it into your expensive EV.
planet4ever said:Tell me more, Gary, I'm not sure I get it:garygid said:Might be nice to have a small "safety tester" to use on public "e-hoses" before plugging it into your expensive EV.
How much over-voltage can the LEAF safely accept?
I wouldn't think that is likely to be a problem. Wouldn't the LEAF include a surge protector? If not, wouldn't any over-voltage be likely momentary, so the tester would probably miss it?
How much current is the EVSE "offering"?
Who cares? The LEAF won't bite off more than it can chew no matter what is offered. Or would too little current cause distress for the charger?
Is the EVSE safely "OFF"?
Frankly, if it wasn't I'd feel a lot safer plugging into a large solid object rather than juggling a nozzle in one hand and trying to mate it with a small tester in the other.
garygid said:Tester costs $99, LEAF replacement perhaps $38,000.
So, it might be better to test an unknown "e-hose" before risking your expensive EV?
Voltage: Can your EV survive (with no damage at all) ANY voltage applied to it? If you apply 5000v AC from a malicious EVSE, probably not, but we do not actually know the answer. So, might it be better to measure the voltage output of any never-used-before "e-hose" BEFORE connecting it to your expensive EV? Yes, a properly designed, correctly functioning, un-tampered EVSE should never hurt your EV, because nothing can go wrong, go wrong, ... go wrong!
Also, getting only 110 volts when you expect 240 volts would charge, but a lot slower than you are expecting.
Current:
If the EVSE only "offers" 6 amps, the charging would take a lot longer than you were expecting. Might it be helpful to know that BEFORE you leave the car (expecting a full charge when you return)?
OFF/ON:
If the EVSE is not operating properly (perhaps its relay stuck ON or OFF), do you really want to just plug it in and walk away?
Yes, I would try and design my EV so that I could set the EV's charging "expectations", and it would do these tests, and honk the horn if things were not as I set it to expext. But, the LEAF does not have such settings, as far as we know. Even if we have a 6.6 kW charger (upgrade), expexting 240v and 32 amps, the LEAF (as far as we know) would not complain if it got only 100 volts and 6 amps (a 40-hour charge instead of 4-hour charge). Could that make you late for work, or slow getting home?
garygid said:EV...,
You are right, if there is effectively no battery capacity warranty by the time I need to "buy", it is quite likely that I will generate an orphan, and ... others are likely to bail out also.
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