Portable or Fixed home EVSE?

Hello,
I just purchased a used 2012 Nissan Leaf last Saturday that my wife has been driving. She's put almost 500 miles on it in a week, so I think we're saving some money over her old 20mpg car with Los Angeles gas prices. The plethora of public chargers in LA have helped us get through the week.

We have the Nissan L1 portable charger that came with the car, but that won't fit our needs due to charge time. We need to have L2 charging at home. I see my options as:
1) Purchase and install a fixed L2 EVSE at home
2) Purchase a portable L2 EVSE and install a 240V plug at home
3) Upgrade the current L1 charger to L2 and install a 240V plug at home

My question is this....How useful is it to have a portable L2 charger? In general, I would think it offers the flexibility to pull of the side of a road, find a plug and start charging either at 220V if you find a plug, or 110V with an adapter cable. When I think harder, though...maybe this never happens.

So does anyone out there actually use a portable 220V EVSE on the road? Are there 220V plugs out in the wild? Does your EVSE plug actually fit them? We might have a NEMA 6-20 plug, but the hole in the wall might be 6-30?

If this scenario never happens, I might just go with the fixed EVSE.

I appreciate your response.

Paul

Excepting RV parks, public 240 (not 220 in the US) volt outlets are rare. If you have good public charging infrastructure, and don't plan to camp in or near an RV park, I'd go with the hardwired home 240 volt unit, and keeping the 120 volt Nissan EVSE in the car. The other option is to get a home charging station with a 240 volt plug that can use either 30 amp or 50 amp RV outlets, and install a 30 amp dryer-type outlet for it at home. That adds a little complexity, but would let you unplug the home charging station and take it with you.

No you are not really going to find random 240v connectors out in the wild. Only going to be used typically if you have a known destination with an available plug. Such as a family member with a dryer connector in the garage you can use.

I recommend a dedicated wall unit at home.

SO this weekend I am going to Bakersfield, and I will charge off a 14-50 plug in evse. You have a 12 Leaf, I hope it has the dc port and a slow 3.3 KWh onboard charger. that makes road trips long on L2. If you are LADWP customers, there is $500 to buy a EVES (look up Charge up LA), and SAQMD has money too. Home depot has a few that are nice. I like the Juice box pro, or Quick Charge. they are small and portable, and you can just put a plug in. The cost is between $ 400 and $1000 plus install. Enjoy your leaf, I can go anywhere in LA with no problems.

I've never used a 240-volt outlet anywhere but home, and don't expect to. But I recommend that's what you get -- an outlet. That way, you'll have the capability of unplugging in case you ever need it. Also, you can have the electrician (if you use one) install an outlet, rather than installing an EVSE. This can be cheaper, and easier to get through an inspection (if you have one). It also allows you to change EVSEs in the future with minimal hassle, or even to use the plug for something else.

I'd go with (did go with) a 14-50, since it's the RV standard, as well as Tesla-recommended. However, 6-50 seems to be the most common on commercial EVSEs.

Go with a juice Box, get them to match the plug to your dryer, and them make a few adapters to match that plus, say some stove receptacles, then when you go to a friends and what not, plug in.

The only time I've been able to take advantage of 240v charging in the wild is at work(where I was instrumental in getting a 240v L6-30 outlet installed) and using my Quick220v device(uses (2) 120v outlets on different phases to get you 240v). Other than that I've never really used any of my several 240v outlet adapters I carry around in my Leaf. I'd suggest getting your OEM EVSE upgraded by EVSEupgrade.com(~$300) and install a L6-30r outlet where you plan on charging your Leaf. I'm not a fan of hardwired EVSEs as they are so limiting but I guess if you plan on going that route then the GE Durastation that generally goes for $399 shipped off Amazon(but other times sell for $500+, like now :shock: ) would be a economical option.
http://www.amazon.com/GE-Charger-Outdoor-Level-2-DuraStation/dp/B00VVFO39W/ref=sr_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1464442982&sr=1-4&keywords=level+2+ev+charger

Upgrade your unit, you have one of the best made cables on the market and you can use it on any outlet or ever a quick220 if desired.

Look at the prices with the warranty, and compare them all on Amazon. I had to install a 14-50 plug and subpanel because of my unique setup. There is no outlet in the garage, so I bought the 40A JuiceBox that supplies 10Kw to feed my 6.6Kw Leaf. It is not as "pretty" as the others, but I liked the 3 year warranty. Mine is plugged in and not hard-wired, so I called for an inspection on my subpanel and plug. When the inspector left I plugged in my charger into the outlet and that was that.