Outdoor Domestic charging?

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booder

New member
Joined
Jun 18, 2018
Messages
1
Location
Briis-sous-Forges, France
Hi All,

First post here.

We have ordered our Leaf , which we pick up in August. We are looking forward to getting it, but we have come across some concerns which we are finding difficult to get answers to online.

We were not asked about our domestic setup with regards to charging the car by the sales rep. And reading the manual I downloaded from the internet, it seems to contradict it’s self with regards to types of charging. At first is says it is best to trickle charge, then later in the manual is tells us that it is not best to trickle charge.

Also we do not have an electric supply outdoors and no garage. Before we get a charge point installed, what are our best options in this situation please? We are finding it as clear as mud at the moment, now I find we cannot use an extension lead.

Oh, and we live in France!

Thanks for any advice.
 
The so-called "trickle charge" will work fine, as long as the wiring is in excellent condition, and rated for the load the car draws. I don't know the specs for French wiring, so I can't be more specific. Essentially, if you treat the wiring as if it will be powering a medium-sized, continuously operating electric space heater outdoors, you will be ok.
 
There's no reason to limit yourself to "trickle" charging, whatever that means exactly in France. All forms of AC charging are slow enough to be fine for battery longevity. There's reason to avoid excessive DC charging (CHAdeMO), but you wouldn't be installing that at home.
 
I could be wrong (probably am) but doesn't the EU "trickle charge" at 12 amps at 230 volts? Which is about twice what our stock 120 vac EVSE is?
 
LeftieBiker said:
Something like that, and they are only looking for an interim solution while waiting for an L-2 station.
It sounded to me like they were trying to decide what to install permanently. Anyway, the answer is the same, any form of AC charging is fine as long as it meets their driving needs. No need to avoid "trickle charging", no need to prefer it.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Something like that, and they are only looking for an interim solution while waiting for an L-2 station.
There is no L1 that I am aware of in France. Only L1 would be considered a 'trickle charge' IMO.

The only real issue is the convenience of getting the battery full overnight. About 20 amps L2 (230 volts) charging would be the minimum I would install.
 
It's possible that the L-1/L-2 cable that Nissan provides is the "trickle charge" source, in which case there really is no difference other than permanence and portability.
 
Not sure if this will be of any help to you, but in NZ we run 240V AC.

My wife covers around 70-80km per day in our 2013 Leaf on her various errands, then we plug the car into a standard wall socket overnight and the battery is full well before she needs it the next morning. We've only had the car for just under 4 weeks now but we've very quickly got used to just getting in and driving for the day, plugging in at night, unplugging in the morning, and repeat. Both range anxiety and charging anxiety disappeared within the first week.
 
Hello, Simon. I also park and charge my Leaf outside (not in a garage).

In the USA, the 2018 Nissan Leaf comes with an EVSE (charger cord) which is made to plug into a high-capacity electrical outlet, able to charge the Leaf at 6.6 kilowatts. The EVSE also comes with an adapter which lets the owner plug the cable into a normal American 120 volt home outlet. When using the adapter, the Leaf charges at only 1.44 kilowatts, which we call "trickle charging."

I would guess that in France, the Nissan EVSE comes with a grounded French E-type plug (230 volts, 16 amps). This would charge your Leaf at 3.68 kw, more than twice as fast as what we call "trickle charging." 3.68 kw is fast enough to add about 160 km of driving range, if the Leaf is plugged-in while you sleep each night (for 8 hours).

Because the standard American electrical outlet only provides 40% as much energy as a standard French outlet, many American Leaf owners install a high-capacity electrical outlet at their house, to allow the Nissan EVSE to charge at 5.76 kw or 6.6 kw. We call this "Level-2 charging." Your 3.68 kw E-type outlet is already "Level-2", and is probably fast enough to satisfy your charging needs.

Before you have an electrical outlet added outside for charging, I would recommend that you visit your Nissan dealer, and obtain a photograph of the electrical plug on the charging cable which will come with your Leaf. If you show that photo to the electrician, then the correct outlet can be installed.
 
You will want to have a dedicated 240 volt circuit installed on the outside of your house, close to where you park your car.
a small weatherproof plastic electrical box surface mounted is what you need.
A good EVSE designed to be installed outside in the weather and hard wired.. like a Clipper Creek... will serve you well.

Your leaf is best charged from a 240 volt EVSE that will supply the 6.6 kw the charger built into your leaf requires.
Contact Clipper Creek, and they will help you. You will add about 25 miles range per hour of charging, this way.

Trickle charging ( 120 volt outlet) is an emergency method only... terrifically slow ( a few miles range per hour)
and also it wont give you the best battery life.

If you may change to a newer EV in the next few years, be aware that battery sizes are increasing fast,
and so you can anticipate that onboard chargers will get bigger too.

Buying an EVSE with more capability than you need today ( a 40 or 50 amp unit instead of 30) is probably a smart thing to do.
Since you really don't want to have to upsize it later.

Charging at home almost all the time should be your goal.
 
Trickle charging ( 120 volt outlet) is an emergency method only... terrifically slow ( a few miles range per hour) and also it wont give you the best battery life.

False, true (it's slow), and false. Please don't post opinion as fact. Many of us, including me, use L-1 charging only at home. It's safe as long as the way it's plugged in is safe, it doesn't harm the battery (I turned in my 2013 SV this year with 12 bars) and while it is slow, having much more capacity with my '18 makes it more practical than before, as I can "bank" more charge/range by charging overnight.
 
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