Newbie question on 110v charging

This is a great forum and I am on the fence but leaning towards purchasing a LEAF--it will mainly be used for my wife's commute which is about 20 miles roundtrip---can we get away with charging only with 110?

thanks much

No trouble at all, I plan to continue doing similar as I wait for next year to get faster charging.

Yeah, for 20 miles a day you would be fine on 120. Figure 4 miles per hour of L1 charge or so... Better yet, get Phil's 240 upgrade for your charger and you can be charged in an hour and half...

rickc said:

This is a great forum and I am on the fence but leaning towards purchasing a LEAF--it will mainly be used for my wife's commute which is about 20 miles roundtrip---can we get away with charging only with 110?

thanks much

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I got mine last week, I drive 20 miles each way, I only charge 110, no problem in any way. I love it I hope your wife will as well.

not only will you be fine, you can charge it to 80% to optimize battery life and still only charge it every few days, even with the L1 charger. Be careful though, it's a gateway drug, before you know it, you'll be finding a lot more uses for the Leaf than you originally intended ... of course if that happens, and L2 is really not that big a deal to get installed. The Leaf was going to be our second car, now it's our primary.
g

GaslessInSeattle said:

The Leaf was going to be our second car, now it's our primary.

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Yep - you find yourself looking for ways to take the Leaf instead of your other car - even if it means driving a bit slower than usual and/or looking for a bit of a charge at your destination.

I used to use the Prius almost daily,
but now it gets used only about once a month!

The LEAF sits with 77% SOC waiting for tomorrow's trip,
only about 15 miles each way.

But, to be fair, my longer trips are ... fewer these days.
That is both good, ... and bad.

We drove our Leaf for about 3 weeks on 110v charging. No trouble at all with daily trips of 60-80 miles.

I have had my LEAF about 2 months. The only time is has been L2 charged was when it was initially at the dealer and once at the local Rabobank to try out the J1772 conversion of their chargers. I average about 25 mi/day weekdays, 35 mi/day weekends. Only about 25% freeway. Longest distance between charging was about 75 mi ( still had 2 bars left). I only charge to 80%. L1 charging has been simple and took no special wiring at my house. There already was an outside outlet next to the carport that no one would trip on the cord. Unless the L2 units dropped dramatically in price so I would contemplate a spare EVSE, I just don't see the need for myself.

I live on 110 and have over 3000 miles on mine. My commute is about 30 RT, and I add about ten miles after work often. I charge to 80% and set the car to charge after peak hours.

The only issue is if you want to use the pre-heat, pre-cool options. A/C and perhaps the heater want 220 and may pull juice from the battery using only 110. The owner manual mentions something about this, but it is a feature I have only used a few times.

The converted charger allows 220 charging at remote locations, so you may want to get that at some point.

I was told the 110 charger pulls about 8 amps, so unless the circuit you are plugging into has a lot of other stuff on it, you won't have any issues. Most circuits are at least 20, normal is 30 I think.

I am not an electrician or an engineer, just repeating what I have been told.

I have to wonder how long the wife will have it before you take it over.

It's 120, I doubt many of you have 110V in your home unless you have power issues.

Caracalover said:

I was told the 110 charger pulls about 8 amps, so unless the circuit you are plugging into has a lot of other stuff on it, you won't have any issues. Most circuits are at least 20, normal is 30 I think.

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Several errors there, I believe:

• There is no "110 charger", in fact there is no 110 volt service in the US. It's all been 120 volts for many years.
• There is no separate charger at all for the lower voltage. There is one charger in the car, which handles both 120v and 208-240v.
• The charger in the LEAF pulls 12 amps at 120v if the EVSE says it can. The 120v EVSE that comes with the LEAF tells the charger it can use 12 amps.
• I understand the 120v EVSE supplied with the GM Volt has a switch for 8 amps or 12 amps, but there is no such switch on the one supplied with the LEAF.
• Most 120v house circuits in new homes are rated for 20 amps. Older houses often have 15 amp circuits. 30 amp 120v circuits are often used in RV parks, but not homes. You can't plug a 120v EVSE into a 30 amp outlet without an adapter, because the shapes are totally different.
• You are very likely to have problems on a 15 amp circuit if it is used for anything else at all. In the US, so-called 15 amp circuit breakers are designed to allow up to only 12 amps of continuous current.

Ray

Easiest way to handle the "TT-30" sockets found at RV or Trailer Parks:

Search for
Camco 30M adapter
at http://www.AdventureRV.net
about $5, this adapter plugs into Trailer/RV Park 120v 30A socket
and lets you use your normal 5-15P plug.

Note: One picture is wrong.

Also, search for "Camco adapter" or "Camco plug" at
http://www.AceHardwareSuperstore.com
They seem to have occasionally good prices, but one picture is wrong.
Shop around if price sensitive.

garygid said:

about $5, this adapter plugs into Trailer/RV Park 120v 30A socket
and lets you use your normal 5-15P plug.

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Also available locally at Lowes. Saw them when I was getting the plugs/receptacles for my pigtail project.

Yes, there are lots of places to get the RV adapters, but that wasn't the point of my post. Unlike what Caracalover said, you will not find 30 amp circuits in a home and you will often find 15 amp circuits there. With a 15 amp circuit, if you have anything else drawing current while charging your LEAF you are quite likely to have to reset a circuit breaker. Even with a 20 amp circuit you don't want to have much of any other load on it - definitely no heaters or freezer chests or power saws or anything like that which can pull a heavy current. That's why the owners manual tells you to use a "dedicated electrical outlet", by which they mean one on a circuit by itself, no other outlets connected to the same circuit breaker.

Ray

I use the EVSE exclusively for charging my leaf with up to 40 miles per day of driving. (much more on many occassons)

I plug into an outlet that also has our water heater on it and have not had any breakers trip. I think as long as you have a newer home or upgraded wiring you would be fine. Speak with an electrician to make sure you can at least use the regular outlet without tripping any breakers. I failed to do this before hand, partly due to my ignorance of the amps it pulls when charging. I have not had any problems, but this is something you should consider before purchasing.

planet4ever said:

Unlike what Caracalover said, you will not find 30 amp circuits in a home and you will often find 15 amp circuits there. That's why the owners manual tells you to use a "dedicated electrical outlet", by which they mean one on a circuit by itself, no other outlets connected to the same circuit breaker.

Ray

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Thank you Ray, as I mentioned I am not educated on these matters, and was hoping some one would step up with this kind of info. Thanks again.

Does anyone know how much a spare 120V Nissan EVSE cord costs? Are they even readily available at dealers or do they need to be ordered?

The list price is (or at least was) $671 :!: I thought you could get them from http://www.everythingnissan.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for "only" $508, but I can't find any LEAF accessories there now. If you are going to put out that kind of money I recommend spending $800 for one that has been upgraded so it can be used on either 120v or 240v: evseupgrade.com. That way you can plug in to electrical dryer outlets, 240v outlets at RV campgrounds, etc. and still use it anywhere you can find a normal electrical plug.

Ray