please explain the charging levels for me

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
E

evme

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2013
Messages
19
Location
Tucson, AZ
Please correct me if any of the info below is wrong.

I read that the Leaf can do Level 1 and Level 2 charging. Level 1 is a standard outlet (120 V), and adds about 4 miles of range per hour of charge, while level 2 is from something like a dryer outlet (240 V) and adds about 20-25 miles of range per hour of charge. Are Level 1 and Level 2 charging available on all model years and trims of the Leaf?
 
evme said:
Are Level 1 and Level 2 charging available on all model years and trims of the Leaf?
Click to expand...
Yes.

See AC level 1 and 2 of http://www.sae.org/smartgrid/chargingspeeds.pdf.

I don't like using mph for charging speeds as how many miles per kWh you achieve will depend on MANY factors, speed and grades up/down being the biggest. Look at how many miles/kWh you're projected to get at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=4295 depending on whether you go 35 or 75 mph.

Figure about about 1.1 to 1.2 kWh will make it into the Leaf's battery for every hour of charging at 120 volts at 12 amps.

L2 speed will depend on which on-board charger you have, the supply voltage and your EVSE (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=262630#p262630).

https://www.clippercreek.com/faqs/, https://www.clippercreek.com/charging-times-chart/ and http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098401_electric-car-charging-the-basics-you-need-to-know may help.

Common commercial power in the US is apparently 208 volts vs. 240 you can get at home. On a 30 amp L2 EVSE at 208 volts, 6.6 kW OBC Leafs (like mine) seem to be only able to pull about 5.7 to 6.1 kW on them. If they had a 240 volt supply, my car should be able to do the full 6.6 kW. Not all of that energy coming out of the wall makes it into the battery due to charging overhead.
 
Then there is DC Fast charge, aka "QC" or, in the case of the standard the Leaf and a few other cars use, "CHAdeMO." This uses an external high voltage, high amperage charger to directly charge the car's pack, bypassing the onboard charger. It is the fastest way to charge, and can get a 24kwh Leaf from "empty" to 80% charged in about 30 minutes. It is sometimes called "L-3" charging, but many frown on this term - I'm not sure exactly why. Possibly because L-1 and L-2 use the onboard charger.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHAdeMO
 
To add to what cwerdna said, here's a simple breakdown:

NOTE: assumes a 24 kWh battery pack, 6.6 kW onboard charger, and standard US 120/240V AC power:

  • L1: nominal charge rate is 120V x 12A = 1.4 kW, or roughly 6% of battery pack capacity added per hour. However, with losses, the rate is closer to 5% per hour
  • L2: nominal charge rate is 240V x 27.5A = 6.6 kW, or roughly 30% of battery pack capacity added per hour. Half that rate for Leaf's with 3.3 kW onboard charger
  • L3: charging rate varies, but is typically around 50 kW, or roughly 5% of battery pack capacity added every 2 mins. Requires a CHADEMO port (port on left in image below)

    2011_nissan_leaf_n_42-web.jpg

Note that the charging rate starts to slow down, for L2 and L3, as the battery pack approaches full charge. So, charging to 100% takes longer than expected.
 
alozzy said:
To add to what cwerdna said, here's a simple breakdown:

NOTE: assumes a 24 kWh battery pack, 6.6 kW onboard charger, and standard US 120/240V AC power:

  • L1: nominal charge rate is 120V x 12A = 1.4 kW, or roughly 6% of battery pack capacity added per hour. However, with losses, the rate is closer to 5% per hour
  • L2: nominal charge rate is 240V x 27.5A = 6.6 kW, or roughly 30% of battery pack capacity added per hour. Half that rate for Leaf's with 3.3 kW onboard charger
Click to expand...


  • Thanks. Is there a table showing which years/trims have 3.3 kW vs 6.6 kW onboard charger?
 
evme said:
Thanks. Is there a table showing which years/trims have 3.3 kW vs 6.6 kW onboard charger?
Click to expand...
2011 - 2012, trim doesn't matter: "3.3 kW" OBC (actually 3.8 kW from the wall at max)

2013 - 2017 S trim WITHOUT charge package: 3.x kW OBC (3.3 or 3.6 kW, whatever... Nissan's been sloppy about input vs. output power to the battery)

2013 - 2017 S trim WITH charge package and ALL 2013 - 2017 SV and SL: "6.6 kW" OBC (6.6 kW from wall at max, 6.0 kW to battery at max)

You can see what I'm talking about re: charge package by going to Specs tab and searching for Charge Package on URLs like these:
http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2015-nissan-leaf-press-kit
http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2016-nissan-leaf-press-kit
http://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/presskits/us-2017-nissan-leaf-press-kit

Change the year to find some of the others.
 
Thanks everyone for your responses, I feel I am much better informed. Now I just have to find the right used Leaf for me!
 
Thanks GetOffYourGas - I did not know the levels were actually defined for AC vrs DC - does make sense.

Of interest (somewhat limited - $$$s) for us 2011 and 2012 owners is some of the more recent chargers/controller that can "home" charge on household outlets up to 7000 watts. These apparently are Level I DC chargers!

http://www.setec-power.com/product/278603-3069417.html
 

Similar threads

C
New leaf 2021 owner (charger type, charging, mobile app)
Replies
9
Views
800
Bombastinator2
B
L
Has any one try this Grizzl-E Level 2 240V / 40A Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger ?
2 3
Replies
47
Views
2K
Jim66
J
Jnovoseljr
My EV Battery Life and Leaf observations.
Replies
10
Views
2K
GerryAZ
G
S
2018 Leaf Level 1&2 Charging cancels after 2 minute on any charger
2
Replies
25
Views
1K
cornbinder89
C
J
cable extension
Replies
3
Views
559
cornbinder89
C

Latest posts

Back
Top