Leaf charge power requirements

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groingo

Active member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Messages
30
:ugeek: 1. Can you charge using pure sine wave or modified sine wave power.

2. Is there a minimum charge amperage?

Am planning a dedicated home solar charger.
 
Minimum charge current per J1772 SAE Standard is 6 amperes for L1 (120 volts) or L2 (208 or 240 volts). The portable L1 Nissan EVSE that comes with the car provides a pilot signal to the car to charge at 12 amperes at 120 volts. The onboard charger will charge from a pure sine wave inverter (either 120 or 240 volts) if the EVSE provides a pilot signal which meets the J1772 specification and does not exceed the continuous output capability of the inverter. I do not know if the onboard charger would charge from a modified sine wave inverter and, if so, whether there would be any issues such as overheating of EMI filters, etc.
 
Somewhere on this forum Phil (who does the EVSE mods) thought that the Leaf should charge from a modified sine wave or even DC applied to the J1772. But I haven't seen anywhere where that's been proven.

We know that pure sine wave works. Also "dirty" non inverter generator sine wave works, but so far we haven't seen one that works well (charges much slower than it's supposed to.) And I haven't seen anything on modified sine even being tried.

Ingineer said:
Yes, I have successfully charged using my EU2000i after providing a path for the ground verification.

pic


I suspect the LEAF's on-board charger will also happily accept DC. Modified sine (step square wave) should not be a problem.

-Phil

We are taking about the guy who modifies EVSE's to accept 240V and who put a micro turbine engine on his Leaf and could charge it while doing down the road.
 
Good useable info thanks all, gonna have to see if I can find the info on the Micro turbine in a leaf....sounds interesting.
 
groingo said:
Good useable info thanks all, gonna have to see if I can find the info on the Micro turbine in a leaf....sounds interesting.

I might have sounded misinforming when I said micro turbine on Leaf. He built it on a trailer he would tow with his Leaf.

Ingineer said:
Here's my Propane-Powered combination 30kW Quick-Charger/Range Extender. The Japanese guy to the left is Hidetoshi Kadota, Nissan's Chief Vehicle Engineer for the Leaf, he was asking me a lot of questions, and his English is so-so, but of course my Japanese is horrible! =)

pic


Another pic:

pic


-Phil
You can follow Ingineer Phil in this thread: http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6847&hilit=
 
Phil started out with a Prius, swapped to a LEAF, and has now emigrated to Tesla. He does leave fascinating work where ever he goes.
 
I don't understand why so many people are trying to charge from a trailer generator... It's not like there are no electrical outlets in this country.

You would think you are driving the car into the plains of Africa!! And if you were, don't waste gas money running a generator for a whole day to charge an electric car.. Then Use an ICE car.
 
powersurge said:
I don't understand why so many people are trying to charge from a trailer generator... It's not like there are no electrical outlets in this country.

I know for me I wanted to be able to charge my leaf with my already owned generator for need in case of emergency. Such as evacuating from a hurricane or returning afterwards where power outages may exist widespread. For about five dollars I was able to get it to work thanks to this forum. I realize it is not very efficient and would give me something along the lines of 25 MPG and take a long time to recharge as I am only charging with 120 volts, but it is for emergency usage and fortunately I have not had a need for it yet. Just like the spare tire I bought. :D
 
Yep, using the Capstone micro turbine...reminds me of the Rosen brothers when they fit the Capstone into a Saturn SL and full sized Mercedes coupled to a flywheel generator, problem was the inertial torque from the flywheel made the car handle strange, always pulled to one side.
 
powersurge said:
I don't understand why so many people are trying to charge from a trailer generator... It's not like there are no electrical outlets in this country.

You would think you are driving the car into the plains of Africa!! And if you were, don't waste gas money running a generator for a whole day to charge an electric car.. Then Use an ICE car.
If you live in New York or California there's an outlet every 1/4 mile. If you live in other parts of the US, well...
north-end-AK11-distance-sign_DSC4314.jpg

For me I'm wanting to take my Leaf to the places I normally go on those occasional long trips and make it my only car. But the charging infrastructure is growing very slowly here. It's 70miles to the next 240V outlet (on a library in Saguache) going south of here, after crossing Cotchetopa pass. There isn't any town, not even a gasoline station between here and there. I might make it, but a little reassurance from a backup generator would be nice.

But no. I don't think I need to charge and drive at the same time. I just need a backup, that's all, until the EV takes over and there's a charging station every 15 miles like in parts of Europe.

Another thought, I've been trying to figure out how to bring along a portable solar charging setup. But that's not as easy to do at it sounds.
 
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