evse upgrade question

i just brought a 2014 leaf sL that came with the standard 120 charger. On one of the local Facebook forums i have someone that is looking to trade because of a lease return a 2011-2012 evse upgrade charger for my stock 2014 charger. will this work? or do i need a evse 2014 upgrade?

Any year will work, because all use the same J-1772 charging standard. There is a whole topic on these things.

would it be at the same rate the 2013-2014 would charge at or i guess im asking is there any difference in the chargers? im looking for the 240 charger just trying to avoid the 500-600 price tag right now

There were several versions of upgrades for 2011/2012 Nissan EVSEs. The first EVSE Upgrades were 12 amperes at either 120 or 208/240 volts and they were equipped with 20-ampere twist lock plugs. The next versions were 16 amperes at 208/240 volts (not sure about current at 120 volts--would be either 12 or 16 amperes) and they were also equipped with 20-ampere twist lock plugs. The final versions were adjustable with current ranges of 6 to 20 amperes at 208/240 volts and 6 to 12 amperes at 120 volts. The final versions were equipped with 30-ampere twist lock plugs.

Gerry

As others have said, it depends. I have a '12 EVSE that was upgraded by EVSEupgrade.com and it works well in my '13(with a 27.5a max built in charger) but the problem(not for me but possibly for some) is it charges balls to the wall, 20a at either 240v or 120v. If you have a 20+A circuit(preferably 30a) it works great but not everyone has a 30a circuit, especially @ 120v. It also has no way to limit charge current, it is what it is, oh and it has a L6-20 twist lock plug that I cut off and installed a L6-30. Now this same charger only charges 16a @ 240v and 12a @ 120v on my '12 because thats the max that car will charge but using it on a 27.5a Leaf results in the high charging current.
Also whoever is turning in their Leaf may(probably not but may) run into issues because the '11/'12 EVSE looks different than a '14. When I emailed EVSEupgrade about the high charging current using the '12 EVSE on a '13 they offered to re-upgrade my '12 for 1/2 the normal price($150) but I don't know if they offer that to everyone or not. With the re-upgrade they'd replace the L6-20 with a L6-30 and make it adjustable to 20a @ 240v and I'd assume 12a @ 120v like my upgraded '13 EVSE. I didn't do it because of the 12a 120v limitation, I like the ability to charge at 20a(actually 19a measured) @120v but you really need a good outlet/circuit or preferably a 30a circuit to take advantage of that.

It really depends on the supplied L1 EVSE. 2013 and earlier units had #12 line wires so they were good for 20A or more. Current units have #14 line wires so the rated 12A is fine and they can be pushed to 16A.

So an unmodified EVSE of any year is good for 12A @120V with a good reserve. The problem is that Nissan saved money on the current EVSE so it can not be pushed as far.

The L1 EVSE that came with my eGolf is the same way. #14 wire has a very good reserve at 12A so you really can not blame the car manufacturer. We just want it all!