My $0.02 worth:
... Nonetheless, I opine that, when it comes to plugging and unplugging 240V appliances, the SAE, NEC, and UL allow paranoia and fear to trump common sense --and even the statistical evidence.
For example, those organizations do not have a problem letting Winnebago and boat owners plug into 240V outlets at RV parks and marinas. Yet EV drivers are just too "stupid" to do so safely? It makes no sense.
Their assertation that it is just too "dangerous" prompted me to gather statistics from countries that use 240V as a standard. Are there, in fact, more deaths from electrocution in such countries?
I managed to find such statistics for Australian/New Zealand over a 10-year period (1992-2001) and compare them with those for the USA. The findings?
- A yearly average of 1.95 deaths by electrocution per million in Australia/New Zealand.
- A yearly average of 1.87 deaths by electrocution per million in the USA.
That's right: .08 more deaths per MILLION annually for those "down under" who have to plug and unplug with a "dangerous" 240V system every electric appliance that we use with 120V: hair dryers, coffee pots, shavers, curling irons, mixers, vacuums, computers, electric heaters, drills, leaf blowers, lamps, etc., etc., etc.
The difference is statistically negligible.
Consequently, I am convinced that --sooner or later-- 240V "mobile charging kits" will become a common EV accessory --despite the paranoia of the SAE, NEC, and UL. It makes me wonder just how easy it might be to take the J1772 plug off the Leaf's 120V "emergency" cable and splice it into a Telsa Universal Mobile Charging Kit.