Portable Charge Cable for 2018 LEAF?

[powersurge]

+1... If they made the 30 amp cable TOO portable, that constant load may turn off the breakers on a lower rated power line..

I would imagine they explain that in the manual??

[DaveinOlyWA]

+1... If they made the 30 amp cable TOO portable, that constant load may turn off the breakers on a lower rated power line..

I would imagine they explain that in the manual??

They made sure of that. I will likely never use mine. Too bulky. My EVSE upgrade is half the size and just as capable

[EVDRIVER]

A dryer in the US is 30 amp 240 volts with 10 gauge wire (usually). Yes technically, it should be a charge drawing no more than 24 amp continuous, but (I) would still do it at 27 amp. Apparently you have the blessing of the Nissan on this one.

This is an irresponsible stance for the record, the 24A rating is the continuous load rating of the outlet and the dryer outlets are often old and worn. In addition I can assure you that someone will plug the unit into a car that can draw the full 30A as well. Any adapter from a 50A to a 30A is also a complete hazard as someone will plug a 50A load into one of them at some point. Because Nissan marketing has the wrong wording on the site is no reason to imply this is acceptable or safe. There are so many reasons this is a bad idea and so many instances of history of this that it's really a poor position to suggest this. There are so many instances of people creating hazards making screw on type adapters that fail and using them to do things like this and the last thing we need is endorsing that type of behavior. You can do as you choose of course but please don't suggest this is safe or acceptable because there are large numbers of people that will do this and cobble together an adapter that will fail or use an outlet or device that can't safely handle the inappropriate load.

The circuit is over designed to allow headroom and the 30 amp breaker is the built-in fail-safe. Changing the wall permanent outlet was not suggested on my part. If the EVSE is in fact 27 amps, this is a mere 3 amps over. It is not ideal and generally not recommended but it is very close to parameters.

We are going to leave it because it appears... however, the car manufacturer is instructing to do so.

No it's not "over designed" it is derated for safety and there are continuous duty breakers marked 30A and rated for 30A use. These breakers have different connections to prevent the wires from coming off from heating and contraction cycles and preventing high resistance leading to arcs, etc. I don't recall mentioning changing the outlet I said using an adapter which is completely irresponsible and there is no such adapter made that is compliant to do this for a very good reason. What you call "generally not recommended" is actually not to code and should not be done. Unfortunately you are trying to justify dangerous and irresponsible implementations by eliminating many facts. Besides the fact the circuit should not run over 24A as is eliminates the required headroom (there for a reason) you also fail to address the fact that the EVSE can draw 30A in any vehicle that can draw that current. This is exactly why these standards are in place and I can assure you some ignorant person will build an adapter that will melt and someone will also use the Nissan EVSE on another car they own that is 30A plus rated, it happens every single day.

Lastly, using the argument that Nissan instructed you to do so is pretty comical. Please post the link where they "instructed" you to make an adapter and plug a 50A rated plug into a 30A circuit. Nissan mistakenly called an outlet a dryer is in no way a justification to pound a square peg in a round hole and say it's fine. I really wish people would stop posting reckless electrical advice, there are far too many uninformed DIY types trying to cobble together adapters in the wrong direction and using the wrong wire gauge, etc.

The EVSE is rated for 30A and it needs to be on a 40A plus circuit to be safe, end of story.

[fooljoe]

On page three the first poster it looks like pasted a passage from what I interpreted as an instruction manual.

Apparently not, but I found a place that has such a passage:
https://www.nissanusa.com/buildyourniss ... erformance

That was me that posted the image (from a screenshot), and as I said in the same post it came from Nissan's "configure/build" page. Thanks for finding the direct link to the image.

I think we can all agree that the verbiage there is at best misleading and at worst dangerous (as I also suggested back on page three) - hopefully someone at Nissan is paying attention and will remove/change the text! While it's good to know that the manual has the correct info about the EVSE I would expect a great deal more Leaf drivers will read the marketing materials than read the manual.

I applaud the spirit of Nissan's decision to bundle a level 2 EVSE with the car (at least some versions), but as with so many things Leaf-related they botched the execution.

[lilly]

Thanks for your replies.

I took delivery of the Leaf and to my surprise, it came with a "portable charge cable" in ALL trim levels. However, the "build your car" function on the Nissan website doesn't state this and implies that you have to buy the "charge package" in S, "technology package" in SV or SL trims to get the "portable charge cable".

The cable that the S and SV comes with is 120V only. The optional cable (standard for SL) is 120/240V.

I did not have to buy a charge cable. Between the free recharges for 2 years that NIssan offers and the trickle charge cable, I'm doing just fine. No 120/240V "portable charge cable" required.

All trim levels come with a "portable charge cable" to charge the Leaf with! Yay!

[koolkev]

Nissan needs to bold the 240v function of the optional charger. That makes a major difference in the charger capability. I miss read it and it looked to me like you had to buy a $2000 option package to get a basic 120v charger!?

Did anyone post a picture of the actual device? In the wild. Not nissan's image.

[campyleaf]

I just brought my 2018 Nissan Leaf S home. When I opened the portable charging cable provided, it standard with level 2 (240) plug and a level 1 (110) adapter which snaps onto the level 2 plug. Quite nifty! This was not optional equipment.

[LeftieBiker]

I just brought my 2018 Nissan Leaf S home. When I opened the portable charging cable provided, it standard with level 2 (240) plug and a level 1 (110) adapter which snaps onto the level 2 plug. Quite nifty! This was not optional equipment.

You don't have the Charge Package with the second, larger charge port?

[cwerdna]

Nissan needs to bold the 240v function of the optional charger. That makes a major difference in the charger capability. I miss read it and it looked to me like you had to buy a $2000 option package to get a basic 120v charger!?

Did anyone post a picture of the actual device? In the wild. Not nissan's image.

All Leafs still ship with at minimum a level 1 120 volt EVSE. Some Leafs instead ship with a 120/240 volt L1/L2 EVSE (see earlier discussion on which come with it or not).

For L1 and L2 AC charging over J1772, the charger is on-board the car. It's under the hood, in this case. The external device (e.g. brick w/2 cables) is an EVSE.

Please see http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 30#p262630 and https://web.archive.org/web/20150604142 ... primer.pdf.

As for an actual picture, I've personally seen it various Nissan EVents + when one was brought an '18 Leaf was brought to me for a test drive. Various people have posted a pictures.

Examples:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... ater&ifg=1

[alozzy]

FWIW, here's the 2018 Nissan Leaf owner's manual:

http://www.nissan.ca/content/dam/nissan ... n-LEAF.pdf

On page CH-5 they state:

Use only a 220-240 volt, 50 amp, dedicated outlet installed by a qualified electrician

So, there's nothing in the owner's manual recommending the use of a 14-30R...

Later, on CH-23, they again state:

The NISSAN Genuine L1 &L2 EVSE draws 30 amps continuously while charging the Li-ion battery with AC 220–240 volt outlet. Do not plug in to any electrical circuit unless it is inspected by a qualified electrician to confirm that the electrical circuit can accept a 30 amp draw