S model charging timer

[tesleaf]

This is not rocket science, folks.
If an owner wants the charging to stop at 80%, that is about 3.5 - 4.0 kWh less than a full charge in a 3 year old car.

L1 at 1.2 kW ? Set the end timer 3 hours later than needed
L2 at 4 kW ? Set the timer 1 hour later than needed.

So basically this is just more or less guess work on the S? After driving today, I am currently at 61% charge and if I wanted it at 80% I would L1 charge for about what? Five hours? So if I plugged in at 7pm, I would set the timer to end at 3am rather than midnight?

SageBrush is saying the car is smart enough to know when to start charging if you set the timer.
The car will start charging only early enough to get it to 100% by the timer time your set.
Let's say the car charges 5% every hour. Let's say you have 60% battery left.
To charge the remaining 40% to make it 100% full, the car will need 40/5 = 8 hours to fully charge it.

If the current time is 8 pm and if it starts charging now, at 4 am, it will be 100% full.
If you set the timer to 8 am, the car will start charging at midnight because it needs 8 hours of charging time.

Now, If you set the timer to 11 am, the car will start charging at 3 am.
If you unplug it at 8 am, the last 3 hours of charging will be not done and you will be 3x5% = 15% below 100%, which is 85%.

So SageBrush is saying set it to about 3 hours later than the time you will unplug it to go to work so it will be that much short of 100%.

 

[SageBrush]

Let's say the car charges 5% every hour. .

This is a smart variation.

For people who do not understand power or energy or have difficulty with arithmetic::
Just note how many percent is added to the battery in one hour.
Divide that number into the percent reduction below 100% desired for the number of hours after expected car use time to set the timer.


Example:
4% is added in one hour
Owner wants to leave at 80% SoC -- a 20% reduction
20%/4% = 5 hours

Set timer 5 hours later than car use time.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I just bought my car today and am trying to charge it up for the first time (2015 Model S). I was going to try using the timer and I'm assuming the timer shuts timing off at a particular time correct? I set the timer to turn off at 0600 (it's 1950 now) and the three lights blinked in sequence like the manual said they would. After five minutes, they shut off like there were supposed to, but the car was not charging. I turned off the timer and simply plugged in the car and it's charging fine, but I want to be able to limit the timing. I looked in the manual and it doesn't really say much other than how to set the timer, so I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong. So how does the timer work on these or what did I do wrong? I did have to set the clock on the radio and car (set them to 24 hour), I'm thinking maybe the car thought I meant 6pm (0600) and I messed up when I did the timer? So since it was really 750pm, it shut off charging maybe?

First off; decide where you want your charge to be.

Decide your departure time.

set timer. On S "trim" (please do not use Model S...)

Let me give you an example. You will need to adjust based on your charging speed. I am guessing you are at least 3.8 KW?

If you want to leave at 6 AM and you want your charge to be 80%, set timer for 9 am.

If you want to leave at 6 AM and you want your charge to be 70%, set timer for 10 AM...

etc...

**Edit**

Page 3???

 

[powersurge]

I also have an S. I still have not been able to understand how this timer works....

So you are saying you set the timer for when it will END, and the car will know when to start charging??

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I also have an S. I still have not been able to understand how this timer works....

So you are saying you set the timer for when it will END, and the car will know when to start charging??

yes...but it will ALWAYS finish before your set end time. If you have the option make sure "Prioritize full charge" is not on.

 

[specialgreen]

On many days, I need to work from home for several hours before leaving, and don't know when I will depart. So if I relied on the LEAF-S end-timer, I would have to run outside and stop the charge. Instead, I added a 12-hour mechanical timer:

I'm charging at 12a 240v, which adds about 9.5% SOC per hour for me. So if I want to add 40% overnight, I twist the timer to 4 hours. For me, it's a more reliable way to reach 80% and stop. The down-side is that the car sits at 80% for a greater length of time, because the charge starts when I park, instead of at (say) 3am.

If I want to use the car's timer, then I twist the mechanical timer to 12 hours.

The timer is not part of the 20A 240v power circuit; rather, I cut the yellow low-voltage control wire between the J1772 handle and the EVSE, and extended both ends of that wire to the two terminals on the mechanical timer.

 

[tattoogunman]

Thanks for the replies, this is what I've been doing:

When I get home, I'm usually at around 53% SOC and I'll wait a few hours to allow the battery to cool off. I've been plugging the car in for about 4 hours and that gets the car up to 80% - 83%. Since it's such a little amount of time, I've been skipping the timer function and just unplug the car after a few hours. I figure I will charge the car to 100% once a week since I've read where that is supposedly necessary for the pack to balance the cells. The rest of the week I will keep it 80% or thereabouts - does this sound reasonable?

 

[baustin]

Thanks for the replies, this is what I've been doing:

When I get home, I'm usually at around 53% SOC and I'll wait a few hours to allow the battery to cool off. I've been plugging the car in for about 4 hours and that gets the car up to 80% - 83%. Since it's such a little amount of time, I've been skipping the timer function and just unplug the car after a few hours. I figure I will charge the car to 100% once a week since I've read where that is supposedly necessary for the pack to balance the cells. The rest of the week I will keep it 80% or thereabouts - does this sound reasonable?

That is reasonable, and about as good as you can get for the S Trim, unless you upgrade to the high-end Juicebox EVSE. Just remember to drive it soon after on the 100% charge days, so it doesn't sit fully charged in the heat.

 

[nrvous]

Let's say the car charges 5% every hour. .

This is a smart variation.

For people who do not understand power or energy or have difficulty with arithmetic::
Just note how many percent is added to the battery in one hour.
Divide that number into the percent reduction below 100% desired for the number of hours after expected car use time to set the timer.


Example:
4% is added in one hour
Owner wants to leave at 80% SoC -- a 20% reduction
20%/4% = 5 hours

Set timer 5 hours later than car use time.

On the 2018 Leaf S, there is a battery gauge that shows the amount of time needed to charge the battery to 50%, 75%, etc. Nice little feature...

I have to say, navigating all these menus on the S using the steering wheel controls is not exactly user friendly. They work but it can be frustrating sometimes.

 

[cwerdna]

On the 2018 Leaf S, there is a battery gauge that shows the amount of time needed to charge the battery to 50%, 75%, etc. Nice little feature...

Leaf S trims before 2018 don't have that.

The dash display menu system on pre-18's is a lot more primitive. There are really only 2 buttons for it on pre-'18s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOHEl2NqRoE. The other two are for brightness and trip odometers.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Thanks for the replies, this is what I've been doing:

When I get home, I'm usually at around 53% SOC and I'll wait a few hours to allow the battery to cool off. I've been plugging the car in for about 4 hours and that gets the car up to 80% - 83%. Since it's such a little amount of time, I've been skipping the timer function and just unplug the car after a few hours. I figure I will charge the car to 100% once a week since I've read where that is supposedly necessary for the pack to balance the cells. The rest of the week I will keep it 80% or thereabouts - does this sound reasonable?

You should tailor your charging around your driving needs. Driving needs is always #1.

1) Determine what % of pack is needed to cover needs including any contingencies. If you are like most; there will be some days you don't do anything unexpected then there will be others where you simply leave the house without a definitive afterwork plan. So contingencies is the variable challenge.

2) Keep your pack SOC centered as much as possible. eg; if you need 60%, run SOC from 80 to 20%. If you need 40% run SOC from 40 to 80%. If you are getting home with 53% SOC on a regular basis, it sounds like you need to charge to a lower finishing SOC.

3) Top end cell balancing only benefit is for longer range. If you don't need it, I would advise not doing it. IMM, the gains are worth it especially if your cells are fairly well balanced at lower SOCs which is likely since cells actively balance all the time at any SOC.

4) Best for last; if you don't have LEAF Spy, get it.

 

[tesleaf]

That is reasonable, and about as good as you can get for the S Trim, unless you upgrade to the high-end Juicebox EVSE. Just remember to drive it soon after on the 100% charge days, so it doesn't sit fully charged in the heat.

I ordered a refurbished Juicebox pro 40 on eBay for $400.
I cannot wait to play with it!

 

[tattoogunman]

Thanks for the replies, this is what I've been doing:

When I get home, I'm usually at around 53% SOC and I'll wait a few hours to allow the battery to cool off. I've been plugging the car in for about 4 hours and that gets the car up to 80% - 83%. Since it's such a little amount of time, I've been skipping the timer function and just unplug the car after a few hours. I figure I will charge the car to 100% once a week since I've read where that is supposedly necessary for the pack to balance the cells. The rest of the week I will keep it 80% or thereabouts - does this sound reasonable?

You should tailor your charging around your driving needs. Driving needs is always #1.

1) Determine what % of pack is needed to cover needs including any contingencies. If you are like most; there will be some days you don't do anything unexpected then there will be others where you simply leave the house without a definitive afterwork plan. So contingencies is the variable challenge.

2) Keep your pack SOC centered as much as possible. eg; if you need 60%, run SOC from 80 to 20%. If you need 40% run SOC from 40 to 80%. If you are getting home with 53% SOC on a regular basis, it sounds like you need to charge to a lower finishing SOC.

3) Top end cell balancing only benefit is for longer range. If you don't need it, I would advise not doing it. IMM, the gains are worth it especially if your cells are fairly well balanced at lower SOCs which is likely since cells actively balance all the time at any SOC.

4) Best for last; if you don't have LEAF Spy, get it.

Yes, I have done 200 miles now since I bought the car and I'm consistently at 50%-53% when I get home for the day (maybe higher on the weekend). So with that being said, maybe keep it charged to around 70% instead? I figure that should give me about 50 or so odd miles and I'm doing around 20-30 - gives me a slight buffer just in case I need to go a bit further. Otherwise 60%-65% would probably be good.

I have LeafSpy, but realized my old OBD dongle doesn't work with it and I need to get a compatible one.

 

[Rjajou]

I have tried to set my 2016 S timer's ON time successfully. However, whenever I plugged it in to charge earlier in the day away from home, it won't delay charge when I plug in at home (Standard L1). I have my timer set to 12AM to start charging. Am I missing something to get it to reset the ON timer?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I have tried to set my 2016 S timer's ON time successfully. However, whenever I plugged it in to charge earlier in the day away from home, it won't delay charge when I plug in at home (Standard L1). I have my timer set to 12AM to start charging. Am I missing something to get it to reset the ON timer?

Do you have full charge priority on?

 

[Rjajou]

How do enable or disable Full Charge Priority? Haven’t seen that on my 2016 S trim

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

How do enable or disable Full Charge Priority? Haven’t seen that on my 2016 S trim

charge settings