outlet choices at an RV park

[bernie82]

I drove out to Jackson Rancheria casino in Jackson Ca yesterday armed with Phil's EVSE Upgrade cable. The RV park allowed me to charge my leaf at no charge. When I opened the charging box they had a choice of 3 receptacles that I could plug into. A standard 110, 30 AMP, 50 AMP.
Is it safe for me to charge with the 50 volt outlet? If it is, will the 50 AMP charge faster than the 30 AMP.?
I didn't have a plug compatible with the 30AMP or 50AMP so I trickle charged for about 6 hours.
I started out in the morning from Sacramento with a balancing 100% charge and the trip was 50 miles and I never exceeded 60 MPH and drove with the air off and the windows closed. When I arrived the Leaf information screen told me I had averaged 3.9 miles per KWH and I had only 2 bars and 18 miles remaining on the SOC meter. Jackson is 1240 feet above sea level and Sacramento is 47 feet above sea level so the trip is at an incline which explained the 3.9 Mile per KWH.
According to Tony's range chart at 60 miles per hour, at 3.9 miles per KWH I should of had a range of 82 miles instead of the 68 miles projected by the SOC. That makes me believe that the Leaf's range 3.9 miles per KWH calculation was incorrect. I do believe that the two bars remaining was correct. The trip back at a decline averaged 6.5% and used only 5 bars. It appears to me that since the Leaf uses average miles per KWH in it's projection of miles remaining, that may explain the inaccuracies in the SOH meter.

 

[camasleaf]

A standard 110V, 30 volt, 50 volt.

Is this what you saw?

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-279-Receptacle-Industrial-Grounding/dp/B00009W3AA/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1347897905&sr=1-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-071-00278-000-Flush-Mount-Receptacle/dp/B00009W3A9/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1347897825&sr=8-14" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You need adappters to plug in.

http://www.evnut.com/charger_adapters.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The modified EVSE should work, if grounding is OK.

 

[smkettner]

Those are NEMA 5-20 (probably GFI), NEMA 30-TT (120v 30amps), and NEMA 14-50 (120/240v 50 amps)

All will provide same power to Leaf with OEM cord charging at 120v 12amps.

For faster charging you will need to upgrade the OEM brick and plug into the 50 amp connector.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

When I opened the charging box they had a choice of 3 receptacles that I could plug into. A standard 110V, 30 volt, 50 volt.

i am guessing you mean amps. sure you can plug it in. the car will only take what it needs.

 

[javan]

I have used RV plug-ins any number of times, but you do need an adapter to plug in to the nema 14-50 connectors (associated with the 50 amp circuits) if you have the re-engineered evse. Several folks sell these adapters if you look online or you can wire it yourself (I bought mine after an online search). The charging is then comparable to my home charger.

 

[Electric4Me]

Or if you end up in an RV park with only NEMA 5-20 & TT-30 connectors, you can use a Quick-220 (or Easy-240) to plug the upgraded EVSE into two circuits for 240V charging.

 

[TonyWilliams]

an incline which explained the 3.9 Mile per KWH.
According to Tony's range chart at 60 miles per hour, at 3.9 miles per KWH I should of had a range of 82 miles instead of the 68 miles projected by the SOC. That makes me believe that the Leaf's range 3.9 miles per KWH calculation was incorrect. I do believe that the two bars remaining was correct. The trip back at a decline averaged 6.5% and used only 5 bars. It appears to me that since the Leaf uses average miles per KWH in it's projection of miles remaining, that may explain the inaccuracies in the SOH meter.

I'm guessing that your "SOC" meter is what we call the GuessOmeter, so I won't comment further on that.

3.9miles/kWh is for 60mph on a level road. You went up hill, so you won't get 3.9 at 60. If you have an iPad or iPhone, try the "LEAF Energy" app.

 

[MaryC]

I'm glad to hear that they let you charge for free. I was up there last week w/my RV and had asked them if they were open to letting EV's charge in the park. Looks like it worked out. I will have to make my next trip up there in the Leaf.

 

[smkettner]

Or if you end up in an RV park with only NEMA 5-20 & TT-30 connectors, you can use a Quick-220 (or Easy-240) to plug the upgraded EVSE into two circuits for 240V charging.

I would not count on getting 240v out of a 30/20 pedestal. Besides most of the 20s will be GFI that will trip with a cross connection.

 

[bernie82]

Tony, all I want and expect from the SOC is a reasonably accurate readout of the available Kilowatt hours in the battery at all times. They can stick their calculations and mileage estimates up their you know where. As long as I know that the status bars reflect what's left, I can handle the rest with speed control. It seems that the bars are a more accurate predictor of remaining kilowatt hours when they're down to three or less. What's your feelings about that?

 

[KJD]

The bar graph is better than the number it displays, but that is not saying much.

If you want a real state of charge number you need a GID meter. I bought one assembled from Gary and it works great.

http://www.wwwsite.com/puzzles/socmeter/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Ingineer]

The best option for use with our upgraded EVSE is a NEMA 14-50 to L6-20 adapter. This will enable you to charge your Leaf at the full rate.

Here is what it should look like:

If you use the TT-30, (120v 30a) you will still only charge at the standard 120v rate, the additional amperage is of no assistance because the Leaf can only charge at up to 1.44kW when on 120v.

-Phil