Trickle VS Level 2

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cfloater

New member
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Aug 18, 2020
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3
I recently purchased a 2013 Leaf with 65K miles on it. I'm not sure how the previous owner charged it, but I was reading in the owners manual that:

"Trickle charging is not recommended for regular use. Trickle charge can be used when it is necessary to perform an emergency charge at a destination such as a friend’s house."

So I have a few questions
1: Does anyone exclusively trickle charge?
2: Any reason not to?
3: Wouldn't trickle charging be better for the batter than a Level 2 charger?
4: Other than charging the battery faster, any benefits from a level 2 charger, like the Juice Box Pro?

Thank you,
 
1. Yes, several of us. I have for 7 years.

2. Slow charging speed, somewhat lower charging efficiency.

3. Sometimes, like in hot weather. L-2 also does not seem to raise battery temp under most conditions, though.

4. Other than faster charging, the only benefit is that a L-2 setup providing more than 16 amps will let you preheat the car while plugged in with no significant loss of charge.
 
It depends a lot on how much you use your LEAF. When our kids were younger, there were several days where we would go to a hockey practice or game for one daughter and have an afternoon soccer game for our other daughter. In between games, we would come home for lunch and an L2 charge for the LEAF. Without the L2 charging, we wouldn't have been able to make the second trip in some cases.

Otherwise, there's the luxury of being able to charge faster when you forget to plug in the night before ;)

My wife doesn't know it, but that definitely happened a few times and L2 charging saved me the next morning when I woke up, walked the dog, realized I forgot to charge when passing the car in the driveway, and then plugged in right away. We'd later rush out the door, after getting breakfast and the kids organized, and the LEAF would be ready to go. Sometimes, my wife even thanked me for remembering to plug in the night before :D
 
Good point....

We did actually have that happen once, when we forgot to plug in and woke to having only 25% on the car and needing to drive downtown and to wrigley, then a drop at a friends, and home (maybe 30 miles in total). We ended up driving down town, sitting outside of walgreens for 45 minutes to charge before work, then continued on for the rest of the day, getting home with 10% (which translates to having like 1% left on our new Plus models when you include the buffer), which was ample for the day. An L2 would have allowed us to not make the extra stop.
 
Like many above I think it is worth it for when one forgets to charge, to heat the car, and to save electricity. On the saving 10% which I have heard about in the past not sure how long that electricity savings (monetary) would equal the cost of an l2 charger and more so if one has to have a new outlet or such put in, probably quite a while.
 
The things that sort of bugs me is that the user manual seems to imply that L1 is worse than L2 for the car. I can't imagine why except for the extra wear and tear on the charging system. Obviously L2 is faster and more convenient but I don't see any issues with using L1 when adding L2 would be expensive or unnecessary.
 
Is your LEAF purchase a hobby or an appliance ? Will your significant other give you grief when the inevitable forgot to charge shows up ? Do you live in a cold winter climate ?

L2 solves the skeptical spouse, winter and appliance scenarios. L1 pretty much forces you to think about charging every time you use the car, and this is doubly true with a small battery.

On the flip side, people sometimes have to make do with L1 if installation of a 240v receptacle is expensive for them. That is an atypical case for homeowners but it comes up with rentals.
 
goldbrick said:
The things that sort of bugs me is that the user manual seems to imply that L1 is worse than L2 for the car. I can't imagine why except for the extra wear and tear on the charging system. Obviously L2 is faster and more convenient but I don't see any issues with using L1 when adding L2 would be expensive or unnecessary.

Yeah ... Nissan does not win any clarity points here (big surprise -- NOT.)
They are just pointing out that L1 is in general an inferior car ownership experience.
 
With the 80% charge option it's not hard to just plug it in any time you get home and forget about it. Oh....except maybe for the 12V charging algorithm problems. That's what my father is doing since he's on a fixed income and got a quote for $1k or something to run 240V to his garage.

For me, I charge about 2-3 times a week so it's never been an issue. I do have an OpenEVSE I'm going to install once I get the sub-panel installed in the garage but it can wait for now.
 
Oh yes and I believe there is a tax credit in the US for having a charger installed which can help a little with the cost if you choose to do it.
 
salyavin said:
Like many above I think it is worth it for when one forgets to charge, to heat the car, and to save electricity. On the saving 10% which I have heard about in the past not sure how long that electricity savings (monetary) would equal the cost of an l2 charger and more so if one has to have a new outlet or such put in, probably quite a while.

L1 -> L2 might save $5 a month in efficiency. So yeah, a long payback period :)
 
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