A peek at the Leaf's Charger

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TimeHorse said:
But wasn't someone saying they hated all the non-charger related talk? Heavens forbid we don't go back there and get flamed again and what I'm curious about is how Ingineer did it: how do you push another 3.3kW into the battery pack from the front of the car?

I did mention the chargers ;-). But you're right. I'd love to know how it works ! Particularly how you control the extra chargers (through the CAN BUS I assume - which is why it depends on LEAFSCAN) ? Anyway, I'd be tempted to order a couple of those chargers, but I think it would be a hefty investment !
 
TimeHorse said:
In the US it's rare that anyone has 3-phase, even businesses.
In fact, there isn't even three-phase power running down the road by our house. The closest three-phase power is about one-half mile away, and that is a recent development. Before that, it was about two miles away.
 
TimeHorse said:
...Heavens forbid we don't go back there and get flamed again and what I'm curious about is how Ingineer did it: how do you push another 3.3kW into the battery pack from the front of the car? Use the existing drive lines via the regenerative breaking? Is that why the cautionary about not going over 10kW because that's the max those lines take in the forward (non-regenerative) direction? If so, that's bloody clever! Bravo!
It shouldn't be too much of a mystery. The HV bus connects under the hood to both the inverter and the DC-to-DC converter. I'm sure finding a connection to use wasn't that hard.
 
TonyWilliams said:
TimeHorse said:
there's no way that's ever gonna be 3-phase and thus no way I'm ever gonna have a home DC Fast Charger.

My DC fast charger will be operational at my house in about one month... on 80 - 150 amp 240 volt.

Hope you put the plans and circuit diagrams for it on the Wiki. :)
 
Ingineer said:
In my experience, MOST businesses in the US DO in fact, have 3-phase. Residential areas do not. (with MDU's being the exception)

-Phil

I find it less common here but either way, all I'd really wish for is 3-Phase at the highway rest areas where we already have gasoline stations.
 
Ingineer said:
It's also designed such that in the unlikely event something goes wrong with it, that the original charging system is unaffected. Reliability was my top concern after safety. Unfortunately because I am using the best parts available to meet these goals, it's not cheap. .....
The upgrade is designed to be very reliable and safe, and to respect all limits and safeties in the Leaf's existing design, but it's still a modification. Nissan could give you a raft of flak if you try to make a warranty claim even though from a technical and engineering standpoint they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Of course it can be easily removed without much effort.

So Phil mind sharing how you connected to the J1772 inlet?
 
Some more questions about the add-on charger 6.7kW upgrade:

Will the ad-on charger follow the charge schedule of the on-board timer?
For instance, if you set to charge to 80%, stopping at 5AM, will both chargers stop charging at 5AM? ( I would assume so, but just checking. )

Has the add-on charger (6.7kW total) been tested successfully on all major brands of EVSEs? Blink, ChargePoint, SEMAconnect, AeroVironment, etc.?

If you charge the car from an EVSEupgrade 12A or 16A portable EVSE what happens? Is the 2nd charger smart enough to "stand down" when there isn't a high enough ampacity signal, or is it up to the 'driver' to manually turn down the charge rate (disable the add-on) so the car doesn't doesn't pull more than 12A/16A through the J1772 ?
 
I just got around to reading about Phil's 6.7 kW charger upgrade. Assuming the price is not terribly high (could the kit be about $1000, or would it have to be more?), this would be of great utility to us! To me, this is much more interesting than even the LEAFScan (though I understand the latter is a prerequisite). Even without DC fast chargers everywhere, our LEAF would become significantly easier to take on longer drives. :)
 
abasile said:
I just got around to reading about Phil's 6.7 kW charger upgrade. Assuming the price is not terribly high (could the kit be about $1000, or would it have to be more?), this would be of great utility to us! To me, this is much more interesting than even the LEAFScan (though I understand the latter is a prerequisite). Even without DC fast chargers everywhere, our LEAF would become significantly easier to take on longer drives. :)
From what Phil told me at the Green Drive Expo, it's more like $4K! Most of that is the charger he buys, which is very high end.
 
DoxyLover said:
From what Phil told me at the Green Drive Expo, it's more like $4K! Most of that is the charger he buys, which is very high end.
Ouch! No wonder it's better than the charger that comes with the car. I have to hand it to Phil for only selling quality products, though. We can hope that prices drop with time.
 
TonyWilliams said:
When would you need the 6.7kW charger on a timer? For overnight, for either 80% or 100%, just use 3.3kW. For midday, hit the override and charge at 6.7kW.

I don't like to charge past 80% unless I really need it.
But lets say I go to a movie at 50%, and want to get to 80% (but not more) during the movie...

Also, are you saying that the aux 3.4kW won't turn on unless you press the override button?
 
TEG said:
TonyWilliams said:
When would you need the 6.7kW charger on a timer? For overnight, for either 80% or 100%, just use 3.3kW. For midday, hit the override and charge at 6.7kW.

I don't like to charge past 80% unless I really need it.
But lets say I go to a movie at 50%, and want to get to 80% (but not more) during the movie...

Also, are you saying that the aux 3.4kW won't turn on unless you press the override button?

I don't have any idea how it works. In the movie scenario, it sounds like just using the 3.3kW charger would work there with the timer at 80%.
 
DoxyLover said:
abasile said:
I just got around to reading about Phil's 6.7 kW charger upgrade. Assuming the price is not terribly high (could the kit be about $1000, or would it have to be more?), this would be of great utility to us! To me, this is much more interesting than even the LEAFScan (though I understand the latter is a prerequisite). Even without DC fast chargers everywhere, our LEAF would become significantly easier to take on longer drives. :)
From what Phil told me at the Green Drive Expo, it's more like $4K! Most of that is the charger he buys, which is very high end.

this is the norm for off the shelf EV components. limited use, limited quantities, etc. means higher pricing. hopefully this will change but right now the DIY EV'er is still a pretty rare breed.
 
TonyWilliams said:
TEG said:
TonyWilliams said:
When would you need the 6.7kW charger on a timer? For overnight, for either 80% or 100%, just use 3.3kW. For midday, hit the override and charge at 6.7kW.

I don't like to charge past 80% unless I really need it.
But let's say I go to a movie at 50%, and want to get to 80% (but not more) during the movie...

Also, are you saying that the aux 3.4kW won't turn on unless you press the override button?

I don't have any idea how it works. In the movie scenario, it sounds like just using the 3.3kW charger would work there with the timer at 80%.

Yes, I know it would obey the timer if I disabled the add on charger.
But what if the add-on charger is left on... would it shut off at 80% just like the on-board?

Using the movie example, lets say I was at 40% and I wanted to get to 80% before the movie let out, but not risk going above 80%...
Then I might want both chargers running to get the charge I need, but don't want the extra charger to keep going after I hit the target SoC.
Maybe not the best example, but my point is that there are scenarios during the day where you could want the full 6.7, but make sure if shuts off after it gets to 80%. Also you won't have to calculate "do I have enough time to get the charge I want with only the 3.3"? You would just run both and expect them both to shut off at the target SoC, and not have to worry about manually turning the 2nd charger on/off.
Sometimes you don't know how long you will be away too. Instead of the movie (which has fairly predictable times) say you were going to a party, and you figured it would last between 2 and 4 hours... 3.3 would be OK if it was 4 hours, but you would need 6.7 if you were done in 2 hours.
You see where I am going with this...? You don't want to be a "slave" to your chargers, you want them to work to your schedule...
 
Could we put together enough Bay Area LEAFs as a "fleet" that wants the 6.7kW charger to install at a reasonably similar time en mass? What's the minimum number needed for a fleet?
 
I think what Phoenix is saying is "Could Phil offer a discount if we arranged a 'group buy' opportunity?"

It can be a little tricky to orchestrate. (Probably need deposits to make sure the 'hand wavers' are serious.) Then Phil would probably need to approach the main component (charger) vendor and ask what volume (if any) qualifies for quantity discount...
 
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