Testing of Nissan Headquarters Level 3 Charging Station.

[bryan38401]

Me and my dad were planning on seeing Gabriel Iglesias in Nashville in the coming two weeks and we were deciding whether or not to take the Leaf or a different car. The main problem is we did not know if the charging station at Nissan Head Quarters was working or not. We decided to test it for ourselves and drive to Franklin. On the way there, we followed behind a semi-truck and learned something very interesting. By using the “draft” concept Nascar drivers use, we stayed at a constant rate of power the whole way. We did not lose any power until the driver started to accelerate his speed and move away from us. As long as we were in his “draft”, we weren’t losing power or not losing as much. We would like to thank the driver for Eagle Express Lines for the chance to “draft”.

We finally reached the headquarters to find the level 3 charging station out front with two other level 2 chargers (they were from AeroVironment). At the front of the building, there is an intercom which you need to press and someone from security will come activate the charge with their keyfob which will start to charge the car. Thank you to the security guard for activating said station (and yes, they do drive Leafs). The time was 11:34 when we started and we were at 57%. After 30 minutes, we reached 98% charge. We both noticed it started to give us a slower charge and took an extra 30 minutes just for it to complete charging (we never got to 100%) but it did say we had a complete charge. The main idea behind this? Get your 30 minute charge and go. We have been told if you are below 50%, it will only get you to 80% and stop charging so next time we have a trip, we are going to test out that theory. If you would like to see the video of our trip, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAe4bfJb8gI&context=C3cf8b66ADOEgsToPDskKRnbe0Djwudpc-4nMCFjYc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and check it out for yourself. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Thank you for reading!

 

[derkraut]

Thanks for the interesting post. Here in California, Level 3 charging stations are almost impossible to find so far. Today, I drove up to the grocery store, and there were 4 Leafs in the parking lot. So, we have lots of Leafs----but few quick-charging stations.

 

[EVDrive]

The interesting thing about this video for me was watching the % state of charge meter on the fast chargers display. It is sad that we can't get the % state of charge while we are in the car.

I'm looking forward to Nissan getting some fast chargers in California so we can put them to good use.

 

[bryan38401]

To EVDrive, we will try that next time. We were just seeing if the station worked and if we could make it back home easy. The next trip we will turn the car on after the charge as started and see what happens for you.

To derkraut, level 3's are not that far away. Square D has promised me full production of level 3 by end of May. So hang on brother!!!

 

[EVDrive]

That would be cool as well to see, however, I meant that the %SOC is on the charger but Nissan didn't add a % SOC meter to the leaf console for us to use while we speed down the road. The technology that could show us a more accurate charge state is in the car but not available fully to us drivers. It would be interesting to start with a leaf on low battery warning then start charging while watching how each bar of charge added inside the Leaf corresponds to a % state of charge showing on the outside meter. Maybe somebody has done this chart already...

 

[LakeLeaf]

On the way there, we followed behind a semi-truck and learned something very interesting. By using the “draft” concept Nascar drivers use, we stayed at a constant rate of power the whole way. We did not lose any power until the driver started to accelerate his speed and move away from us. As long as we were in his “draft”, we weren’t losing power or not losing as much. We would like to thank the driver for Eagle Express Lines for the chance to “draft”.

Yes - it is quite amazing how much power we use to push air around the car. With features now showing up in cars such as the front sensor that tells when you are getting too close the the vehicle in front and adjusts your cruise control so as not to get too close, and the accident avoidance features, one wonders how long it will be until we be driving *safely* in long chains of vehicles and saving oodles of energy. Smart cars and smart highways of the future perhaps. But it might take a lot of the fun out of driving.

 

[garygid]

That's why we made the SOC-Meter (see the "Leaf CANbus" subforum).

TonyWilliams made an excellent chart (see the 1st link in his signature).

 

[JeremyW]

The stop button is RED!!!!!!! You can't believe how happy that made me to see that. I hate the green stop button which is part of the standard... :shock: :?

 

[garygid]

In what standard do you find that the QC
machine's STOP button should be Green?

I do not remember seeing the colors.
Thanks.

 

[lpickup]

Thanks Bryan.

How close were you to the truck when you were drafting? How many miles do you think you drafted him? I like the QC charging station icon on your map. I hope to see one of those on my map someday.

It's too bad the whole solar panel charging station wasn't full of LEAFs!

Enjoy the concert!

 

[bryan38401]

lpicup, we were maybe a car length or two behind it and followed him for about 30 miles.
We were going about 65-66.

 

[lpickup]

lpicup, we were maybe a car length or two behind it and followed him for about 30 miles.
We were going about 65-66.

Whew! Not sure I would have the stomach to follow that closely, but good to know it worked out for you!

 

[bryan38401]

sorry we where about a trailer length away 45-50 feet!!

 

[planet4ever]

So, let me see, here. 65 mph = 95 feet/sec. You were half a second behind the truck. If it takes you 1 second after you see the tail light for your brain to process that and get your foot onto the brake, you will now be 45-50 feet beyond where the truck was a second ago, and you will still be going 65 mph. The truck might now be going 55 mph and have traveled only 85-90 feet, so you are only 40 feet away and going 10 mph faster.

The problem is, if the truck's ratio of braking wheel adhesion to weight is close to yours, and you both continue to brake hard, you are always going to traveling 10 mph faster than it is. That means you will get 15 feet closer every second, so you will collide in about three more seconds. You'd better pray that truck is heavily loaded so it can't brake as quickly as you!

Ray

 

[TonyWilliams]

To derkraut, level 3's are not that far away. Square D has promised me full production of level 3 by end of May. So hang on brother!!!

The problems with DC quick charging in California is not lack of production of equipment. AV, Ecotality, Eaton, et al, would be happy to sell you a unit right now.

 

[EVDrive]

Yes, I have definitely seen Tony's chart. NIce Job Tony. The addition of the GIDs comparison is cool. The scientist in me still wonders how closely the GID Meters %SOC matches the %SOC on the QC display.

That's why we made the SOC-Meter (see the "Leaf CANbus" subforum).

TonyWilliams made an excellent chart (see the 1st link in his signature).

 

[garygid]

We believe (from looking at QC-CAN bus Logs), that the "Progress Bar" (or "SOC%"-ish bar) shown on the Eaton is derived from an SOC-like (or GID-like) value sent by the car to the QC machine.

Somehow, perhaps by spec., the car and QC appear to agree on the value that represents 100%.

 

[LEAFfan]

The scientist in me still wonders how closely the GID Meters %SOC matches the %SOC on the QC display.

I can only speak for the Blink QC since that is the only one I've used so far. When you set it to '90%' charge, you get close to 80% actual SOC and nine bars. After the '90%' charge, selecting the '100%' charge will get you close to 90% actual SOC and twelve bars (10-12 miles on first bar). The Blink QC receives its information from two CAN busses, but my gauge uses only one which explains the differences in readings.

 

[LEAFfan]

The next trip we will turn the car on after the charge as started and see what happens for you.

I can only speak for the Blink QC as it is the only one I've used so far. You must leave the car off to start, then you can watch your bars and SOC meter (if you have one) inside the car by using the 'On' (two button push). I've never been above 50% SOC actual before I quick charged, so it always stops at around 80% SOC/nine bars (set to '90%' on the Blink screen). Then it will take an additional 25-28 minutes to get to 90% SOC/12 bars (set to '100%').

 

[Ingineer]

The Blink QC receives its information from two CAN busses, but my gauge uses only one which explains the differences in readings.

This is false, the only data ANY QC receives from the Leaf is over a dedicated CAN link. (Actually not technically a Bus, as only 2 devices are on it.) This link is from Leaf's on-board charger unit in the back of the car, which of course, has access to SOC and many other bits of information derived from the Battery ECU, VCM, etc.

Gary's "SOC" meter is not reading SOC, it's reading watt-hours / 80. Actual SOC is accurate to 3 decimal places and does not match the numbers generated by Gary's SOC meter.

-Phil