Leaf Ownership without Home Charger

[johnrhansen]

About how much charge is it when the level 2 charger charges just as fast as level 3? I want to make sure I have good charging etiquette next summer when I take my trip. After one dcqc stop I have a 70 mile leg, and want to have as full of a charge as possible, but don't want to hog the charger!

 

[smkettner]

EVSE-Upgrade will allow you to turn the L1 power down if you find it trips the breaker in the garage.
Slower is fine if you need just 15 miles per day and the power goes on the house meter.

 

[cwerdna]

About how much charge is it when the level 2 charger charges just as fast as level 3? I want to make sure I have good charging etiquette next summer when I take my trip. After one dcqc stop I have a 70 mile leg, and want to have as full of a charge as possible, but don't want to hog the charger!

Since you have the 6 kW on-board charger, I would disconnect once the DC FC ramps down to 6 kW or so, assuming someone's waiting.

The Chargepoint equipped http://nissanqc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; units tell you in kW output. The ones w/o Chargepoint equipment tell you voltage and amps. They seem to have around 380ish to 400 volt output (I haven't watched that closely), so given 6000/400 or 6000/380, you should probably disconnect once the output drops to about 15 amps.

If nobody's behind you, you may as well keep going...

 

[TonyWilliams]

The Chargepoint equipped http://nissanqc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; units tell you in kW output. The ones w/o Chargepoint equipment tell you voltage and amps. They seem to have around 380ish to 400 volt output (I haven't watched that closely), so given 6000/400 or 6000/380, you should probably disconnect once the output drops to about 15 amps.

If nobody's behind you, you may as well keep going...

I'm not completely sure what this refers to, but CHAdeMO (and even Frankenplug) chargers put out up to 500 volts DC, but are regulated by the car to whatever value below 500 volts that the car needs.

For a LEAF, that's 395 volts. Below 50% battery SOC, the car may only ask for 388 volts.

 

[johnrhansen]

I was hoping someone had went to the trouble to plot KW in vs percent charge. Someday when I'm on a trip sitting in my car watching it charge, I will do that

 

[asemeco]

Is there some sort of cap as to how many free/Charge Point charge ups one can get at the dealership?

To me the cap with free L3 EVSEs is: Do not become a pest.

I draw a big difference between taking advantage of incentives and loopholes, and inconveniencing others others by abusing the "honor system" implicit in many free-use shared resources.

Take as many free lunches as you legally can, as long as you don't ruin everybody else's free lunch experience.

 

[johnrhansen]

I don't think one should ever put free charging in their daily commute if you can do your charging at home or at work. Come on, compared to what we paid for the car, the electricity needed to run it is chicken feed. I only use dealership charging on the weekends if I am taking a trip or if I'm going somewhere I don't normally go during the week and need some extra juice.

 

[cwerdna]

The Chargepoint equipped http://nissanqc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; units tell you in kW output. The ones w/o Chargepoint equipment tell you voltage and amps. They seem to have around 380ish to 400 volt output (I haven't watched that closely), so given 6000/400 or 6000/380, you should probably disconnect once the output drops to about 15 amps.

If nobody's behind you, you may as well keep going...

I'm not completely sure what this refers to, but CHAdeMO (and even Frankenplug) chargers put out up to 500 volts DC, but are regulated by the car to whatever value below 500 volts that the car needs.

For a LEAF, that's 395 volts. Below 50% battery SOC, the car may only ask for 388 volts.

As I said, the http://nissanqc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; units that don't have the Chargepoint equipment show you the voltage and current in amps. It seems like the voltage is usually somewhere between 380 and 400 volts... I'm not watching the screen the whole time. From a picture of mine and IIRC, it shows that + % SoC and elapsed time.

Once Chargepoint equipment is installed, the (replacement?) LCD screen doesn't show voltage nor amps anymore. It will show power in kW, energy dispensed in kWh, elapsed time and % SoC. The DC FC at Premier Nissan in San Jose previously had no Chargepoint equipment on it and had the old earlier behavior. Now it has Chargepoint equipment.

I still sometimes use a free non-networked http://nissanqc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; at a Walgreens. It behaves just like the Premier Nissan one, pre-Chargepoint.

 

[teichholtz]

I don't think one should ever put free charging in their daily commute if you can do your charging at home or at work. Come on, compared to what we paid for the car, the electricity needed to run it is chicken feed. I only use dealership charging on the weekends if I am taking a trip or if I'm going somewhere I don't normally go during the week and need some extra juice.

I ran into a situation with my Leaf the second day I had it. There was a charger very close to work but hidden and next to a construction site in downtown Boston. After parking and getting free parking and free electricity I sent mail to the owner of the charging station asking what the etiquette was and was told that as long as I was plugged in I could park there. I had a card in the windshield with my cell phone number. I parked there every day for six months, never got a phone call. So, no gasoline cost, no electric cost and no parking cost. When that company moved (and took their charger) they sent me a piece of mail apologizing and said they hoped I found the charge station useful. Um, yeah...

 

[johnrhansen]

I don't think one should ever put free charging in their daily commute if you can do your charging at home or at work. Come on, compared to what we paid for the car, the electricity needed to run it is chicken feed. I only use dealership charging on the weekends if I am taking a trip or if I'm going somewhere I don't normally go during the week and need some extra juice.

I ran into a situation with my Leaf the second day I had it. There was a charger very close to work but hidden and next to a construction site in downtown Boston. After parking and getting free parking and free electricity I sent mail to the owner of the charging station asking what the etiquette was and was told that as long as I was plugged in I could park there. I had a card in the windshield with my cell phone number. I parked there every day for six months, never got a phone call. So, no gasoline cost, no electric cost and no parking cost. When that company moved (and took their charger) they sent me a piece of mail apologizing and said they hoped I found the charge station useful. Um, yeah...

It's good to give. Anybody who takes a charge for free ought to put themselves on plugshare. Pay it forward.

 

[teichholtz]

I don't think one should ever put free charging in their daily commute if you can do your charging at home or at work. Come on, compared to what we paid for the car, the electricity needed to run it is chicken feed. I only use dealership charging on the weekends if I am taking a trip or if I'm going somewhere I don't normally go during the week and need some extra juice.

I ran into a situation with my Leaf the second day I had it. There was a charger very close to work but hidden and next to a construction site in downtown Boston. After parking and getting free parking and free electricity I sent mail to the owner of the charging station asking what the etiquette was and was told that as long as I was plugged in I could park there. I had a card in the windshield with my cell phone number. I parked there every day for six months, never got a phone call. So, no gasoline cost, no electric cost and no parking cost. When that company moved (and took their charger) they sent me a piece of mail apologizing and said they hoped I found the charge station useful. Um, yeah...

It's good to give. Anybody who takes a charge for free ought to put themselves on plugshare. Pay it forward.

I agree, but in a year I have not installed a home level 2 ESVE. No need.

 

[BiosDude]

When I first got my Leaf just over a year ago, I used the Blink free DCQC stations near work and home exclusively. When I got the Blink notice that they were going to the session based charge model, I got my EVSE upgraded with an assortment of adapters. I now rarely charge anywhere but home. Can you do it? Yep. Is it easy and stress free? Nope. I just got my first battery report. Only 3 stars on the quick charge section. This is due to the almost exclusive use of quick charging during the first 4 months of owning my electron steed. Weigh your options, think about it, then do what works for you.

 

[CMYK4Life]

I am 1 year and 13k miles in; survived one of the coldest hardest winters in Michigan history. I have nothing but a 120v. My daily commute is 30 miles. IF it were 50mile commute I would get a L2 EVSE.