Fast charger - recommendations?

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jadrake

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2018
Messages
46
Location
Coquitlam, BC, Canada
Hi guys,

I'm just about to purchase my first Leaf: 2013 SV Premium package. I'm looking forward to getting to use it.

What I need is a 240V charger for home. My car does not have the large, fast charge port, only the small one.

Can anyone recommend a good charger that can be plugged in to a 240V socket (which I'll have mounted outside house)?

Thanks,
Adam
 
The "charger" is on board the car. You are looking for an "EVSE" (electric vehicle supply equipment) or "charging station." What they do is provide the car's charger with a verified-safe supply of either 120 or 208-240 volts. In your case you want a charging station, which is wall mounted. I suggest Clipper Creek (US made, with a 3 year warranty) but a Zencar should be ok for a Chinese unit.


If the car had a QC port, then connecting it to a QC station would be connecting it to an actual external charger that bypasses the car's onboard unit and charges the pack directly.
 
jadrake: I would suggest you especially consider a direct wired EVSE first if the electrical outlet box is outside -- and even if it is indoors. If you decide on a plug-in EVSE, make sure the dedicated circuit for it is protected by a (appropriately sized) GFCI breaker. The simpler and more fool-proof your setup, the better (remember and respect Murphy's Law!)
 
Some good 208/240-volt UL Listed EVSE units will not work on a GFCI-protected circuit so refer to the installation instructions for the particular EVSE you buy before you install the new circuit for it.
 
Look at Clipper Creek and Juicebox. Both made in the US. I chose Juicebox based on price, otherwise they're pretty equal.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The "charger" is on board the car. You are looking for an "EVSE" (electric vehicle service equipment) or "charging station." What they do is provide the car's charger with a verified-safe supply of either 120 or 208-240 volts. In your case you want a charging station, which is wall mounted.
...

If the car had a QC port, then connecting it to a QC station would be connecting it to an actual external charger that bypasses the car's onboard unit and charges the pack directly.
Yep, although EVSE is Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment.

OP can look at:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=332668#p332668
https://web.archive.org/web/20150619074649/http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=262630 - specifically the diagram by planet4ever
https://web.archive.org/web/20150604142825/http://www.sae.org/smartgrid/chargingprimer.pdf

OP is not looking to buy a "fast charger" either. Fast charging in the US is generally DC fast charging that is usually 20 kW or more. The cost of the hardware and installation would (assuming he has the necessary power at home) would almost certainly exceed the value of the OP's car. I posted some costs at http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3753. Also see http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=332063#p332063 and https://web.archive.org/web/20140515081226/http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2014_04_29_pulling_back_the_veil_on_ev_charging_station_costs since the RMI link is dead.

He's looking for an L2 EVSE. Leaf can only draw 6.6 kW out of the wall at max due to its OBC and that is the vehicle's max acceptance rate: https://www.clippercreek.com/three-things-determine-ev-charge-time/

In fact, Nissan likes to refer to 208 to 240 volt charging as "normal charge" in the manual as opposed to trickle (for 120 volts) and quick charge (for CHAdeMO, which is DC (usually fast) charging).
 
At this point in the evolution of the Leaf, any charger is fine... They all work the same, and will all do the job. What you are paying extra is for timers, and being able to connect to the internet.... etc.

I like mine that just plug in and unplug whenever I feel like..... simple. Don't spend more than $400-450.
 
powersurge said:
At this point in the evolution of the Leaf, any charger is fine... They all work the same, and will all do the job. What you are paying extra is for timers, and being able to connect to the internet.... etc.

I like mine that just plug in and unplug whenever I feel like..... simple. Don't spend more than $400-450.

I agree simple is best, but I would disagree that all units on the market are equivalent. Personally I'd insist on a UL listing and a known reputable company just as I would with any large high-power electrical appliance.
 
Clipper Creek is US made, and has a three year warranty. They stand behind their products and they are reasonably priced. The only downside is they lack bells & whistles and the cases are plastic (which is actually good for outdoor mounting) with slightly fragile mounting tabs. Just use care and washers when mounting one.
 
The car will take 27.5A assuming it is available. The car will match the available current based on the EVSE's pilot. For example an EVSE plugged into a 30A dryer outlet would be 24A unit to comply with the NEC. (80% of 30A).

I build OpenEVSE units as a hobby. I have both a 16A and a 32A unit on hand. The car will work with either unit but slower with the 16A unit.If you charge over night that is OK. The car sets the current not the EVSE assuming there is enough current. More current over 30A is a waste of money.

I want $250 for the 16A unit and 350 for the 32A unit. Email me if you are interested.

I see the op has a car with no QC port. That limits the L2 charging to 16A at 240VAC. That is fine for overnight charging. My 2012 Leaf only had 16A and it was fine.
 
jadrake said:
@nubo and @powersurge:

Any specific recommendations?

I chose Leviton because they had the UL listing and a good warranty, they had the 16A unit I needed at the time, and I wanted a plug-in unit that I could transport for L2 duty. I liked that they used a Yazaki handle, the cable seemed seriously overbuilt, unit had a strong steel enclosure, and a feature called "cold load pickup" -- random time-delay after a power outage before engaging the auto-restart.
 
Check out the JuiceBox Pro 40. In addition to it being a very well-made EVSE it comes with a lot of nice features. It has a great app for your phone to control the charger wirelessly and monitor charging progress, even when you're not home.

It also has a really cool additional feature called JuiceNet Green charging which uses predictive modeling to minimize the use of dirty grid power sources like coal while charging.

Their website has dashboard and reporting/export capabilities to track kWh and $ spent on charging.

I am very happy with mine and I've found their support to be top notch. Can't say enough good things about it.
 
The "AmazingE" is made by Clipper Creek and is much less expensive. Buy from their website, better pricing overall than from Amazon. Works great as a home L2 charger. I plug mine into the dryer outlet, but you could run a 220 circuit just as easy.
 
theothertom said:
Look at Clipper Creek and Juicebox. Both made in the US. I chose Juicebox based on price, otherwise they're pretty equal.

For those that may be interested, there are a couple of differences worth noting in functionality between the two.

The JuiceBox is wifi enabled, has energy and cost reporting capabilities via a web dashboard and can be programmed and controlled via a remote phone app (including the 'charge to 80%' capability that so many of us like to do). It can also use optional predictive analytics called Juicenet Green to use the cleanest power available from the grid to charge your car if you choose.

The Clipper Creek is without question a quality EVSE with great reliability but does not have the smart capabilities of the Juicebox.

Some may not value or prefer these smart features and that's absolutely fine. They will be very happy with the Clipper Creek I'm sure.

As an owner of a 2018 Leaf S however (and an admitted data geek), I really appreciate them. I can't use Nissan's app to manage charging because their app only works with the SV and SL trim levels. I find the JuiceBox app invaluable because it give me remote capabilities I wouldn't otherwise have.

Again, both great EVSEs but depending on what your needs are you might prefer one over the other.
 
I didn't mention it in my original post but JuiceBox makes a "lite" version that does not include wifi. It's cheaper than the "regular" version and also cheaper than ClipperCreek. I just noticed on ClipperCreek's website that they sell certified refurb models which are probably the least expensive option of either manufacturer. I agree both are quality models and either will do a fine job.
 
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