Charging Station Location

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.

ByeFO

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Messages
69
Location
Philadelphia area
I have a one car garage and a one car driveway. When I get my leaf I will have two cars. My backup vehicle - an ICE - will sit in the garage and I will park the Leaf in the driveway. At first I thought about putting a portable charging station inside the garage next to the electric panel and run the charging cord outside. Then when I move, I can take the charger with me. However, this means that the garage door would be closed on the charging cable every night and I don't know if that would harm the cable.

However, eventually my ICE will go when my fiance moves in at the end of the year. This would mean my EV could be parked in the garage and her ICE would be parked in the driveway and this of course makes the charging station inside the garage a better idea.

I am thinking I could hardwire a charging station on the outside wall of the garage and then have a 240v plug inside the garage for a portable unit. But this seems like an expensive solution.

I am putting this out there in case someone has been in this situation and has a solution I am missing.

Thanks!
 
I have done this with great success. I would not put the charger next to the panel if the panel is far inside the garage. Then you would be wasting the length of the charger cable just to get it outside to your car...

I installed an outlet and mounted the charger on a piece of plywood right by the inside of the garage door. In order to guarantee that the door closes and locks with the cable going outside, I adjusted the inside bracket (by LOWERING THE BRACKET ON THE DOOR ABOUT 3/4-1 INCH) of the locking bar on that side of the garage door. That leaves a slight gap on that side between the door and the floor. That way, I can close and lock the garage door with an inch or so gap. So then the cable can comfortably sit under the closed garage door. Some people have talked about mounting the charger outside (but you NEED and outdoor rated charger only), or cutting a hole in the garage siding to have the cable come out of the building. Neither is easy. My method takes about 5-10 minutes and is non-destructive when you change the setup..
 
We have two stations mounted side by side in the garage. (Two EV's). We routinely run the cable under the door and close the door on the cable BUT we cover it with a cloth to keep it from being marked by the door. There is a half inch gap under the door when it's closed. So far so good.
 
I will look into adjusting the garage door so it does not close all the way, but still locks, on the side where the cable would run outside.

powersurge said:
I installed an outlet and mounted the charger on a piece of plywood right by the inside of the garage door.

Do you mean you have the charger on a piece of plywood that is attached to the wall near the garage door or is the plywood unattached?
My electric panel is on the wall about a foot away from the garage door. So I think that if the charger's cable is long enough I'll be able to hang it on the wall next the the NEMA plug that I'm going to get installed.

Thanks!
 
The Nissan charging cable (called an "EVSE" as the charger is built into the car) isn't necessarily designed for constant exposure to the elements, and it isn't designed to be submerged in water, so your plan to leave it inside is good. You can cut a 12' 2x4 to sit under the door (flat), with a gap in it for the cable. You'd also have to cut a lock hole or two in the door track so it can be locked in that position. One problem with that, though, is it leaves gaps at the top of the door where it meets the garage wall, so wind and bugs can get inside.
 
ByeFO said:
I have a one car garage and a one car driveway. When I get my leaf I will have two cars. My backup vehicle - an ICE - will sit in the garage and I will park the Leaf in the driveway. At first I thought about putting a portable charging station inside the garage next to the electric panel and run the charging cord outside. Then when I move, I can take the charger with me. However, this means that the garage door would be closed on the charging cable every night and I don't know if that would harm the cable.

However, eventually my ICE will go when my fiance moves in at the end of the year. This would mean my EV could be parked in the garage and her ICE would be parked in the driveway and this of course makes the charging station inside the garage a better idea.

I am thinking I could hardwire a charging station on the outside wall of the garage and then have a 240v plug inside the garage for a portable unit. But this seems like an expensive solution.

I am putting this out there in case someone has been in this situation and has a solution I am missing.

Thanks!

My charging station is inside the garage, and I have a small, 1/2 inch block that I put under the garage door to keep it from closing all the way. I put it in the center when the ICE car is parked, and the routine is that the block/cord is checked before the garage door is shut. The block is removed so the door closes all the way when no one is home. This leaves just enough room to allow the cord to slide under the door with no chance that it gets pinched when in use. On the weekends, the LEAF is the primary car, so it gets the garage, and the block is placed just inside the center of the garage to allow the door to close all the way.
 
I recommend that you mount the EVSE on the wall just inside the door. This allows the cord to reach the charging port when the car is inside and gives the most reach down the driveway when routing the cord under the door. I have thick rubber/plastic flexible seals on the bottoms of both doors and have the openers set to stop with the seals only partly compressed. This allows me to route the charging cable under either door without worry. I have been charging in the driveway for almost 6 years and the cord on my AeroVironment EVSE has no sign of excess wear from doing this.
 
Back
Top