Install charging station?

Should I install a charging station (such as ChargePoint of JuiceBox) in my garage or just keep using the existing 220V outlet that is already there with the charging cable that came with the LEAF SL Plus 62 kWh battery?
I had an electrician (who has installed many charging stations) check the voltage, amps, etc. and he said it is fine.
Note - we are retired and probably will drive the LEAF 8k miles a year. Rarely run the battery below 50%.
Thanks!
EDIT - This is NOT A DRYER OUTLET - I STATED THE ELECTICIAN CHECKED THE AMPS - HE HAS INSTALLED MANY CHARGING STATIONS. It was an existing 50 amp welder outlet, I had the electrician rewire and install the NEMA-LEAF compatible outlet. Thanks for the information on extending the battery life, VERY HELPFUL. Cheers!

I'll likely leave this topic up for a while, then merge it with one of the existing ones.

My answer: if you are charging in your garage and don't need the Nissan EVSE to be in the car, that's quite adequate. If you want to charge outdoors, or want to carry the charging cable, install a charging station. Hopefully the 240 volt outlet you have is part of a 40 amp or larger circuit, because a 30 amp dryer circuit is too small for the car's nearly 30A draw. Did you tell the electrician that last point?

Like Leftiebiker said a dryer outlet is not a great idea, you generally want something like 125% above what you are likely to draw so you don't have problems. Do you do road trips or otherwise drive to out of the way places? If so I recommend you keep that Nissan charger in your car, there are places that may have an outlet available but not other charger. I see them on plugshare and know about some. I can think of some places I know but a common one you may run into is camp grounds. If you are just driving on well known routes around town then no need to buy another charger.

If you have a NEMA 14-50 receptacle in your garage, then just keep using the stock EVSE with that:



If you have a 30A dryer outlet, then I would keep the stock EVSE in your car and buy an EVSE that lets you choose the amperage draw. If you want something inexpensive, that will plug into a dryer outlet, then you can't go wrong with this one:

https://amzn.to/369gGet

When you order it, make sure one of your amperage set points is 26A, or 24A if you want to play it extra safe.

You can easily remove the unused neutral blade from the Zencar's plug so that it will plug into a NEMA 14-30R dryer outlet.

If you never run it down less than 50% are you charging all the way to 100%?

alozzy said:

When you order it, make sure one of your amperage set points is 26A, or 24A if you want to play it extra safe.

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What he means is:

Make sure one of the set points is 24A, which by electrical code is the 80% continuous load maximum you should use from a 30A circuit.
But consider a 26A setting if you don't mind a small increased risk of fire.

Oilpan4 said:

If you never run it down less than 50% are you charging all the way to 100%?

Click to expand...

Yes, I see your point....

The original poster has Nissan's biggest and best battery of 62kwh. YOU DO NOT WANT TO CHARGE TO 100%... Unless you are going on a trip where you will be discharging the battery THAT DAY to 70-80%.

With your driving of low miles per year, then you have the rare ability to make that car's battery last at least 10-15 years.... BUT, you should try to keep the battery around no more than 60% on the high side, and recharge at about 35-40% back up to 50-60%.

Basically the rule of thumb is that the Lithium batteries will last the longest possible when they are at about 50% charge. So, if you are at 50% charge and you know you will be driving a good amount, then charge up to about 85-90% so that at the end of the day, the charge will end up at 50%. Just a matter of doing the math with YOUR car's battery size.

My advice would be to just use the OEM EVSE that came with the car, I'd leave it plugged in since repeated insertions will wear out the receptacle. I agree that you don't want to charge the car to 100% SOC unless needed. Since the Nissan supplied EVSE doesn't have any way to limit charging, I'd just unplug the car a few hours after plugging it in. That EVSE should supply roughly 10% SOC every hour for your battery so it should be pretty easy to gauge how long to leave it plugged in based on the starting SOC and where you want to stop.

RYoungberg said:

Should I install a charging station (such as ChargePoint of JuiceBox) in my garage or just keep using the existing 220V outlet that is already there with the charging cable that came with the LEAF SL Plus 62 kWh battery?
I had an electrician (who has installed many charging stations) check the voltage, amps, etc. and he said it is fine.
Note - we are retired and probably will drive the LEAF 8k miles a year. Rarely run the battery below 50%.
Thanks!
EDIT - This is NOT A DRYER OUTLET - I STATED THE ELECTICIAN CHECKED THE AMPS - HE HAS INSTALLED MANY CHARGING STATIONS. It was an existing 50 amp welder outlet, I had the electrician rewire and install the NEMA-LEAF compatible outlet. Thanks for the information on extending the battery life, VERY HELPFUL. Cheers!

Click to expand...

You are good to go. No need for a separate permanent EVSE. What you have is fine for as many miles as you can drive.

goldbrick said:

My advice would be to just use the OEM EVSE that came with the car, I'd leave it plugged in since repeated insertions will wear out the receptacle. I agree that you don't want to charge the car to 100% SOC unless needed. Since the Nissan supplied EVSE doesn't have any way to limit charging, I'd just unplug the car a few hours after plugging it in. That EVSE should supply roughly 10% SOC every hour for your battery so it should be pretty easy to gauge how long to leave it plugged in based on the starting SOC and where you want to stop.

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I am sorry Goldbrick, You are dead wrong on the suggestion to "leave it plugged in" - If you mean - as in plugged into the car.

Yes, you should leave the charger plugged into the wall because the charger uses very little electricity when it is not connected to the car.

It's good you had a sparky check the "welding receptacle".
I have seen 50 amp welding receptacle on undersized wire.
It's normal to have a 50 amp receptacle for a welder on a 50 or 60 amp breaker with 8 or 10 gauge wire.

powersurge said:

goldbrick said:

My advice would be to just use the OEM EVSE that came with the car, I'd leave it plugged in since repeated insertions will wear out the receptacle.

Click to expand...

I am sorry Goldbrick, You are dead wrong on the suggestion to "leave it plugged in" - If you mean - as in plugged into the car.

Yes, you should leave the charger plugged into the wall because the charger uses very little electricity when it is not connected to the car.

Click to expand...

Seemed pretty clear he was talking about leaving the EVSE plugged into the wall ("receptacle") and not the car.

powersurge said:

I am sorry Goldbrick, You are dead wrong on the suggestion to "leave it plugged in" - If you mean - as in plugged into the car.

Yes, you should leave the charger plugged into the wall because the charger uses very little electricity when it is not connected to the car.

Click to expand...

That is what I meant, of course, since it is hard to actually drive the car while it is plugged into the EVSE

goldbrick said:

powersurge said:

I am sorry Goldbrick, You are dead wrong on the suggestion to "leave it plugged in" - If you mean - as in plugged into the car.

Yes, you should leave the charger plugged into the wall because the charger uses very little electricity when it is not connected to the car.

Click to expand...

That is what I meant, of course, since it is hard to actually drive the car while it is plugged into the EVSE

Click to expand...

Yes, I understand, however, all EV owners that I have seen regarding this issue state that you should NOT leave the EVSE plugged into the car for long periods of time.... Only enough to charge the car....

You don't want to leave it plugged in for days at a time for 2 reasons.
1 sitting at 80 to 100% degrades the battery.
2 when the car is plugged in the main battery won't kick on to keep the 12v charged up and you come back after a week to find you car plugged in with a dead 12v.