2018 Leaf EVSE

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JPWhite said:
EVDRIVER said:
Only special breakers rated for continuous load rated with no de rating can handle 30a, this is also subject to approval by local code. These breakers are not the same as traditional breakers subject to the 25% rule. The design again shows how Nissan and other companies don't get the space and just mirror a plug end with no real thought in the process. Many existing 30 circuits also are quite old and not well suited for this. All this for 3a more which is the most reduculous part.

It could be That Nissan stuck 30Amp on the label to match its conductors, who knows what it actually draws at full wick.

That's what I was thinking.
 
The 7.6 Kw Solar Edge HD inverter can be wired to provide an EVSE directly from the inverter. In the evening, when there is no solar power, it will charge an EV at 7.6 kw 32 amps from the grid. During the day, if there is enough excess solar energy, it "boosts" the EV charging to 9.6 kw 40 amps. Can the 2018 Nissan Leaf built-in charger accept 40 amps or is it limited to 32 amps or less. Are Teslas the only currently available EV's whose built-in chargers can accept 40 amps?
I know that DC fast chargers supply more power than 40 amps but is that because they have different connectors than the usual 240v SAE J1772 connector?
 
All EVSE's that I am aware of are limited to 32A or less. Teslas's currently have 50A chargers but the supplied EVSE is 40A. To exceed that would require a redesign of the EVSE. As it is they are pushing the poor Potter and Bloomfield relay.Two two cars with Tesla drive trains ( Toyota and Mercedes) can charge at 40A\ but that is all that I am aware of.

All cars that can charge at 40A can also charge fine from a 30A EVSE. Since Tesla's come with a 40A EVSE 40A EVSE's are specialty items and they are priced accordingly. If you charge overnight then 30A is fine. The most current Leaf's can charge at via L2 is 27.5A
 
Clipper Creek and others go to at least 80 amps and need a 100 amp circuit to drive them.
Car will never charge faster on L2 than the on board charger is rated.
The evse and vehicle will communicate to automatically charge at the maximum safe level on any L2 charging station.
 
I built my own EVSE and I over built it. Since I only needed a 40A cable for my B250E I put one of Tony's Quick Charge Power cables on it.

If I was using a 30A fixed EVSE like Clipper Creek 30A would have been fine. but since OpenEVSE supports 40A why not. I had the cable on hand. The input is a 50A range cable and I am using a 65A contactor. At 30A everything was loafing. At 40A I still have a reserve.
 
by the way, 80A is the max of the J1772 spec. At 80% it would require a 100A circuit. Most cars do not come close to that. The only exception that I can think of is a dual charger Tesla.

The car sets the current as long as their is enough. An 80A EVSE would work for most cars but most of the available current would be ignored. It would be a giant waste of money.
 
The 6 kW onboard charger in my 2015 will draw 30 amperes continuous from a 208-volt circuit if the EVSE allows and the battery SOC is low enough. The owner manual lists maximum current as 32 amperes so it should go higher than 30 if the voltage is low enough. The voltage is normally about 212 at my workshop/garage so the car draws 30.0 amperes. The voltage is normally about 245 at home so the car draws about 26.4 amperes (a little less when voltage is higher and a little more on the rare occasions when the voltage is lower).
 
LeftieBiker said:
That 30A 240 volt rating may cause problems with old 30 amp dryer circuits. They won't trip, just possibly overheat...

There is no claimed increase in L2 speed but then again, might simply be news that was pushed off the table by Pro Pilot
 
Since the 2013 MY, the portable EVSE supplied with the Leaf apparently has in its 15a plug a temperature sensor mechanism to help guard against fires caused by excessive overheating occurring in the vicinity of that plug. I say this because beginning in 2013 (and thru 2017) this EVSE has an additional 7th itemized fault condition mentioned in the Owner's Manual with the following description: "When the temperature of the electrical plug is too hot, or the EVSE is unable to detect the temperature of the electrical plug, check that the electrical plug is connected correctly.".

It makes sense that the new 120v/240v portable EVSE has AT LEAST this degree of safety built into the 240v plug and perhaps also duplicated in some way in the 120v adapter -- which probably accounts for their larger than normal size. This is reasonably at least part of why Nissan recommends AGAINST using either an extension cord or another adapter, as either would eliminate or partially eliminate this built-in safety feature.

I checked today, but could not yet find a 2018 Owner's Manual via usual online URLs: "https://owners.nissanusa.com/content/techpub/ManualsAndGuides/LEAF/20xx/20xx-LEAF-owner-manual.pdf".
 
Looking at Nissan's online 2018 Leaf documentation, it looks like the portable dual voltage EVSE only comes standard with the SL Leaf trim. To get it with the S trim it appears necessary to get the Charge Package, and to get it with the SV trim it appears necessary to get the Technology Package. I saw no mention of any other portable EVSE (say Level 1 -- 120v only) from Nissan as an option for the 2018 Leaf.

Although it would be nice to have the portable EVSE standard on all Leafs, this would result in higher prices for basic S and SV Leafs -- EVSEs ain't free. The reality is that there are a lot of choices now for portable EVSEs for people that desire even more flexibility -- and many people (like myself) don't need a portable in the first place.

In any case, Nissan now for the first time is providing what looks like a very versatile EVSE: it can be used on a regular basis as your only EVSE to charge your Leaf at top Level 2 speed at most peoples homes (with proper 14-50 outlet installation) and on the road at many RV parks, or at Level 1 speed probably 80% or 90% of locations in a pinch.

A quick comment on proper 14-50 outlet installation for non-exceptional ones:
I believe the current NEC still allows this outlet to be wired for either 40 or 50 amps (usually means using 8-3 AWG for the former or 6-3 AWG cable for the latter). If you are installing new cable, the only somewhat more expensive (thicker) 6 AWG is probably the wisest/safest choice. I would also recommend using a 40a breaker if you use 8-3 AWG cable and using a 50a breaker if you use 6-3 AWG cable, as this way you can look at the DOCUMENTED(?!) EVSE breaker to more easily tell what amperage your outlet is capable of.

If I have seriously erred in the previous paragraph, please let me know so I can correct its text...

One last but important concept:
Keep in mind that the NEC rules concerning amps, wire thickness, etc are mostly there to try to properly protect a wire's or cable's INSULATION from damage due to heat, both short term and in the long run. You don't want excessive heat to cause the insulation to become hard and brittle (or even melting/burning!) and therefore unsafe due to possibly allowing arcing (fires) or short circuits or shock hazards.
 
My opinion, if you are going to drop a NEMA 14-50R line I’d run it with #6 wire. It costs about 30% more than #8. Still protect it with a 40 amp breaker for a 32 amp EVSE.

If in the future you need to repurpose that outlet for something like an RV with 50 amp Service, simply replace the 40 amp breaker and you’re covered. 8/3 vs 6/3 UF cost is about $2.30/ft vs $3.50/ft

I did this with my kitchen range which was listed to connect to a 14-50R with 40 amp service. Later I installed a 50 amp range and I just replaced the breaker.

#6 is not as easy to work with as #8 but once it’s done, it’s done.

Btw, the 14-50R receptacle is the standard for both 40amp and 50amp connections since there’s no 40 amp only receptacle.

The thing that baffles me is that Nissan advertises the new L1/L2 120/240v EVSE that you can connect it to a 240v dryer outlet. Every dryer outlet I’ve seen is 30 amp 240v.
 
Jerryr: A question for you (and anyone else): Since we still don't have sufficient widespread EV fast charging infrastructure in the US, I think one of the major reasons this portable EVSE uses a 14-50R outlet (whose neutral is not used) as opposed to a 6-50R outlet (which has no neutral) is that 14-50R 50a outlets (unlike 6-50R outlets) are commonly available at RV campground sites -- which makes many longer trips more feasible if you're carrying this EVSE with you. These RV outlets, I believe, are wired with AWG 6 wire and use 50a circuit breakers.

My question is this: Would you hesitate to use these outlets with this EVSE to charge your Leaf because the circuits don't use a 40a breaker? A 50a breaker appears to adequately protect the AWG 6 wiring's insulation (from overheating damage) according to NEC. If the answer is "no", then why not use a 50a breaker rather than a 40a one for a similar 6 AWG circuit at your home? And while you are buying a breaker, why not buy a GFCI type which adds a significant margin of safety? (Also note, I believe, that the latest NEC requires them for portable EVSEs like this one.)
 
Important info from the "2018 LEAF Owner's Manual" to help prevent unnecessary damage to the EVSE's input power cable.

On page CH-26 concerning L2 charging using this EVSE it reads: "Use the EVSE with the plug in an upright position (the cord should extend down from the outlet).".
I believe this implies that your home's NEMA 14-50R EVSE receptacle should be mounted so that the equipment ground pin is at the top, as otherwise the EVSE's cord loops up then down rather than straight down from receptacle.

Also on page CH-19 concerning L1 charging using this EVSE it reads the same: "Use the EVSE with the plug in an upright position (the cord should extend down from the outlet).".
In this case the EVSE's (removable) L1 adapter can always be rotated to allow the EVSE to hang straight down regardless of whether the 5-15R's (or 5-20R's) ground pin is at the top or the bottom.
 
so it is not a good idea to get an adapter like this
https://www.evseadapters.com/collections/adapters-for-tesla/products/nema-14-30p-14-50p-14-60p-to-14-50r-universal-adapter

and plug in my nissan charger to nema 14-30R dryer plug, even though the nissan charger is rated for 30A
 
vbleaf said:
so it is not a good idea to get an adapter like this
https://www.evseadapters.com/collections/adapters-for-tesla/products/nema-14-30p-14-50p-14-60p-to-14-50r-universal-adapter

and plug in my nissan charger to nema 14-30R dryer plug, even though the nissan charger is rated for 30A
The problem with that is if you have a 6.6kw Leaf(non S Leafs without the charger upgrade package) your Leaf will draw up to about 28amps which is more than the 24a a 14-30 dryer circuit would be rated for. It would overheat your fuse/breaker and could cause tripping.
Now if you have a Leaf that would max out at 16a(S-model without upgraded charger or any pre '13 Leaf) you'd be OK but not in the other cases.
 
jjeff said:
vbleaf said:
so it is not a good idea to get an adapter like this
https://www.evseadapters.com/collections/adapters-for-tesla/products/nema-14-30p-14-50p-14-60p-to-14-50r-universal-adapter

and plug in my nissan charger to nema 14-30R dryer plug, even though the nissan charger is rated for 30A
The problem with that is if you have a 6.6kw Leaf(non S Leafs without the charger upgrade package) your Leaf will draw up to about 28amps which is more than the 24a a 14-30 dryer circuit would be rated for. It would overheat your fuse/breaker and could cause tripping.
Now if you have a Leaf that would max out at 16a(S-model without upgraded charger or any pre '13 Leaf) you'd be OK but not in the other cases.

ok thanks for the info, i have 2018 sl model.. i guess i need put in nema 14-50 outlet in the gargage
 
With my EVSE tester unloaded it just shows the existing settings. Both of my local Mercedes dealers have a 208V 30A Evse for customer use. This is slower than the 10K charging limit but the J1772 protocol adapts.
 
I look foolish having my load tester with no loads at the EVSE but how else can you tell. My tester reads out the voltage and analyzes the pilot.(thank you Nick Sayer).

In my case the dealer's were OK with my tests. I guess it helps to have a prestige car. I know the Nissan dealer had a 30A unit but I have no idea of the voltage. Likely 208V since it was an industrial building
 
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