Substandard charge adapter provided with 2013 Leaf

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apacheguy

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
54
Location
California
I traded in my 2011 Leaf for a new 2013 model. One of the concerns I had was that I would lose my EVSE upgraded 240 volt charger. Not to worry, Nissan assured me, the new charge cable is capable of charging at 240 volts. Well, that's simply not true.

The charge cable that came with the car had a 120 volt head. Indeed, I confirmed with EVSE upgrade that it needs to be modified. So folks please beware that Nissan is still selling a substandard charge cable, despite touting the new 6.6 kw on board charger.

The point is, Nissan should include an upgraded charging adapter by default.
 
I don't think there is any doubt in anybody's mind that the provided EVSE is and always will be a 120 volt unit in the United States. It's not "substandard"---it is what it is. I am also not sure that the EVSE upgrade unit is able to provide enough current through it to provide the full 6.6 KW that the vehicle charger is able to deliver. You need to confirm that with them before proceding.
 
so you traded in your EVSE upgraded cable? I would have negotiated the option to keep that one and let them take the EVSE from the 2013... at least that is what I hope to do when my lease ends in Jan
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
so you traded in your EVSE upgraded cable? I would have negotiated the option to keep that one and let them take the EVSE from the 2013... at least that is what I hope to do when my lease ends in Jan

Yeah, I would have tried to negotiate it, but I was told point blank by the sales rep that there was no need since the the new cables already provide this capability. In your case, I would not even mention it and see if you can get away with it.

And to clarify for others, it absolutely is substandard IMO. I guess we have to clarify everything with "IMO" on an Internet forum these days.
 
The specs are 120v 12a. That is the standard. Substandard would be less than spec and would be repaired under warranty.

If you want 240v 20a charging then you need to upgrade the unit to perform above oem spec.
 
apacheguy said:
I traded in my 2011 Leaf for a new 2013 model. One of the concerns I had was that I would lose my EVSE upgraded 240 volt charger. Not to worry, Nissan assured me, the new charge cable is capable of charging at 240 volts. Well, that's simply not true.
apacheguy said:
Yeah, I would have tried to negotiate it, but I was told point blank by the sales rep that there was no need since the the new cables already provide this capability.
I'm confused by your statements. In your first post, you said Nissan (which means Nissan Motor Company). Later, you said sales rep. You mean a sales guy at the dealer? If so, he doesn't work for Nissan Motor Company. He works for the dealer.

In the US, due to franchise laws, automakers can't own dealerships. Google for tesla franchise laws, if you want to read about the mess that Tesla's running into w/their company owned stores/showrooms.

If Nissan Motor Company via their support channels (e.g. Facebook page, calling (877) NOGASEV, etc.) told you that, then it would be Nissan telling you.

The L1 EVSE that ships w/US '11 thru '13 Leafs w/o modification still can only handle 120 volts.

Ingineer himself has asked Nissan (the company) to ship one w/the car that handles 240 volts, even though it would put his evseupgrade.com operation out of business. I was at that meeting along the ~100 other folks there.

OP, is there some way you can get your old upgraded L1 EVSE back and give them instead your new non-upgraded EVSE? Obviously you'd want to confirm that it charges your '13 Leaf properly first at both 120 and 240 volts...
 
Well, I must say that one of the best moves I ever made is to send my Nissan charge adapter to Ingineer for upgrade to 240V. I've been playing "taxi" for the past few months, running the grandkids all over the place, sometimes up to 100+ miles a day. Since my daughter has a 240V dryer outled handy, I just plug in over at her house between trips. Works like a charm. :)
 
derkraut said:
Well, I must say that one of the best moves I ever made is to send my Nissan charge adapter to Ingineer for upgrade to 240V.

Agree! Ingineer is great and his modified EVSE worked like a charm for my old Leaf.

To satisfy the grammar police on this forum change substandard -> inferior. That is all I'm going to say and if you have a difference of opion then so be it. Oh well.
 
apacheguy said:
To satisfy the grammar police on this forum change substandard -> inferior. That is all I'm going to say and if you have a difference of opinion then so be it. Oh well.
If you want to say that the US standard of supplying wall outlets at only 120v and only 15A is inferior, I could buy that. But the unit Nissan ships with the car is not inferior. It is designed to support the US standard. The very fact that Ingineer is able to upgrade it to 240v, and that many, many, of us are using that upgraded unit daily with no problems says that the unit is of very high quality. High quality and meets the national standard: nothing inferior there at all. Actually, the unit shipped with the 2013 is superior to the one shipped earlier, because it is smaller and lighter without sacrificing quality.

Ray
 
Keep in kind that Nissan has never intended the included 120v EVSE to be used as the car's primary charging solution, and in fact does not recommend it, although many of us have done so with no ill effects. That's why it was only rated for 120v 12amp service, although it can be modified for more.

The only thing that is "substandard" here is the quality of the information the OP got.
 
Can I ask why you bought a new Leaf and traded in your 2011 in? Where there really enough things added to the product to make it worth doing so?
 
openevsemnl
RonDawg said:
Keep in kind that Nissan has never intended the included 120v EVSE to be used as the car's primary charging solution, and in fact does not recommend it, although many of us have done so with no ill effects. That's why it was only rated for 120v 12amp service, although it can be modified for more.

The only thing that is "substandard" here is the quality of the information the OP got.
I think it's worth noting that Nissan supplies a nearly identical EVSE in Europe and some other countries, which supports 230 Volts out of the box. Some owners still send it in to Phil for a mod to allow higher current draw. The bottom line is that this EVSE is eminently capable of supporting higher line voltage, and Nissan knows that. They have however made a decision to limit the capability of the EVSE to whatever a regular wall outlet in the target market can sustain. Whether this is based on the requirements of the electrical code, fear of increased liability exposure, or something else, it's difficult to say. 2013 LEAFs obviously have the same limitation that 2011 and 2012 LEAFs had in this regard, and it's disappointing that sales people would say otherwise. But then, they probably will say anything to close a deal. It would be great if Nissan had a change of heart in the future. It's commonplace to see laptops come with universal power cords, which will work around the world. There is no technical reason why portable EVSEs couldn't do the same thing. Tesla svelte 10-kW capable charge cord sets a nice precedent in this regard.
 
surfingslovak said:
openevsemnl
RonDawg said:
Keep in kind that Nissan has never intended the included 120v EVSE to be used as the car's primary charging solution, and in fact does not recommend it, although many of us have done so with no ill effects. That's why it was only rated for 120v 12amp service, although it can be modified for more.

The only thing that is "substandard" here is the quality of the information the OP got.
I think it's worth noting that Nissan supplies a nearly identical EVSE in Europe and some other countries, which supports 230 Volts out of the box. Some owners still send it in to Phil for a mod to allow higher current draw. The bottom line is that this EVSE is eminently capable of supporting higher line voltage, and Nissan knows that. They have however made a decision to limit the capability of the EVSE to whatever a regular wall outlet in the target market can sustain. Whether this is based on the requirements of the electrical code, fear of increased liability exposure, or something else, it's difficult to say. 2013 LEAFs obviously have the same limitation that 2011 and 2012 LEAFs had in this regard, and it's disappointing that sales people would say otherwise. But then, they probably will say anything to close a deal. It would be great if Nissan had a change of heart in the future. It's commonplace to see laptops come with universal power cords, which will work around the world. There is no technical reason why portable EVSEs couldn't do the same thing. Tesla svelte 10-kW capable charge cord sets a nice precedent in this regard.

The part I had underlined is basically what the OP was subjected to....misinformation. I don't think it was necessarily intentional as it was lack of knowledge.

Only Nissan knows for sure why it doesn't want to let you use the included EVSE for both 120 and 240 volt charging, but in addition to the reasons you described, I'll add a third one: the quality of any particular 120 volt outlet varies widely. Is it a dedicated 15 amp circuit as it should be, or is it shared with other things? And who will the consumer blame when their new Leaf starts tripping breakers, or worse, blowing fuses? Their house which otherwise worked fine, or Nissan?
 
im sure the decision to only provide 120 volt EVSE in the US has to do more with a backroom agreement with an EVSE manufacturer more than anything. (MHO only since the lack of an audio recording device means there will never be any proof)

;)
 
RonDawg said:
The only thing that is "substandard" here is the quality of the information the OP got.
Yep, it just reinforces the rule that you should never take the salesman's word for anything, especially anything technical. In the future, either come here, or ask Nissan (no, really just come here). Had the OP checked here, (or the EVSE upgrade FAQ) he would have gotten the straight scoop.
 
I got my 2013 leaf and the sales & tech both confirmed that the charging adapter is capable of 240v Level 2 charging, but the plug head is compatible for 110v Level 1 only. They are offering a off market service to convert the plug head to a Dryer plug, so it can be used at the dryer outlet. (240v).

I guess they want the plug to be compatible with majority of household garage plugs which will be at 110v.
 
m99m said:
I got my 2013 leaf and the sales & tech both confirmed that the charging adapter is capable of 240v Level 2 charging, but the plug head is compatible for 110v Level 1 only. They are offering a off market service to convert the plug head to a Dryer plug, so it can be used at the dryer outlet. (240v).

I guess they want the plug to be compatible with majority of household garage plugs which will be at 110v.

Is that "off-market" service from a company called EVSE Upgrade? The man behind the company is a member of this forum. Either way, I'm surprised they offered anything other than Nissan USA's "official" home charging solution made by AeroVironment.
 
m99m said:
I got my 2013 leaf and the sales & tech both confirmed that the charging adapter is capable of 240v Level 2 charging, but the plug head is compatible for 110v Level 1 only. They are offering a off market service to convert the plug head to a Dryer plug, so it can be used at the dryer outlet. (240v).
Sigh... not this again. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=305986#p305986" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. More needs to be done than changing the plug. If it were only that simple...

Can you update your location info via User Control Panel (near top) > Profile (left side)? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it. Maybe you went to the same dealer as the OP?
 
I don't understand why no one has suggested the obvious solution: go to the dealer and ask for your upgraded EVSE back, in exchange for the new, 120 volt unit you got with the car. If they say they don't have it, insist that they pay to have your new EVSE upgraded, and loan you a standard one while it's away. Their salesperson gave you information that was both wrong and resulted in you losing valuable property. It isn't as if there is no recourse here...
 
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