Leaf home charging

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jjdoe

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 1, 2015
Messages
52
My 2018 Leaf with the 150mi range isn't driven much, and I've always charged it at 120v. But we are building a house and would like one outlet to charge both the Tesla and the Leaf, at different times. The 240 outlet I use now is 60A. Can the Leaf take that much? Would it just regulate it, like the Tesla does, using 33A? (and the circuit may be 100A? We'll find out... if they ever finish the house!)
They won't allow the outlet to be installed until we own the house - which means I'll have to have the sheetrock cut open, replaced, and repainted.
So kind of them! In that respect, I'd rather just have one outlet installed. Anyone know? Would the techs at the dealer know? Thanks
 
The charging station will also limit the current, so make sure that you get one that will provide enough current for the Tesla. That will ensure that the Leaf also has more than enough juice available. Some stations are adjustable, but most have a fixed current limit. Clipper Creek, BTW, makes a charging station that can charge two EVs at once. It will split the current if necessary, but since this will be a new installation, you may be able to provide it with enough current to charge both cars at full speed at once. That would be significantly more expensive, though.
 
jjdoe said:
They won't allow the outlet to be installed until we own the house - which means I'll have to have the sheetrock cut open, replaced, and repainted.
I don't understand. The circuit is in place, in a box, behind the sheetrock ?. That is not really possible because the j-box juts out past the stud. So what do you actually get ?

Your question was answered, but the time to put in dedicated charging circuits (notice the plural ?) is during construction.
 
^yeah, that is sort of weird.

Ask if you can install a non-populated sub-panel where you want to put the EVSE.

It is probably OK to have non-attached wires behind the sheetrock but I'm not 100% sure about that. And pulling new wires after the drywall is on will be a huge PITA in many cases.
 
Thanks for the answers, all. I'll have an outlet installed with the same plug for both cars. Likely on a 60 or 100A circuit. Whatever isn't being used. The Tesla outlet is a 14-50. I need to look at what the plug is under the Leaf's 110 adapter. And replace the Tesla charger's plug, if necessary. (I use the one that came with the car)
We don't drive either car that much. Especially the Leaf. I'm retired. And when my wife retires in a few months, the Leaf will be driven even less. It seems simplest to just have one outlet, and charge them separately. The Tesla may need 1-2hr of charging, a few times a week? The Leaf even less, at 240. But even with a car that isn't driven much - that 120v is so slow!

Sagebrush - I'm saying it is the wiring that goes behind the sheetrock - not the circuit panel. And no, I can't get it wired before I take possession of the house. PITA, indeed! And so much more expensive. But as with all other reasonable requests like this, they have a litany of reasons why things can't be done. Trust me - I've asked, repeatedly. Everyone in the office gives me some variation of the same answer. (it's a new development. You know - the kind in Florida that was a farm or orange grove, a year earlier). Changing ANYTHING, for them, is a liability, and eats into their timeline and profit. Any extra outlets, house mounted yard lights, a gas line to the Weber on the lanai... Sorry, Charlie! Call an electrician or plumber, later.
 
^^ not making sense to me yet.

Are you saying that they leave unused wires behind the sheetrock ??
I find that really hard to believe.

I don't doubt that a cookie counter house builder is not letting you put in ADDITIONAL receptacles, but perhaps they would agree to pull a larger gauge wire to J-boxes or to a sub-panel in the garage, and leave it to you to put in the receptacle(s) ?


---
Regarding the use of one receptacle for Tesla and LEAF charging:
Our solution was to buy a 50 Amp J-1772 EVSE. The LEAF connects directly, while the Tesla uses its J1772 to Tesla adapter.
 
jjdoe said:
(it's a new development. You know - the kind in Florida that was a farm or orange grove, a year earlier). Changing ANYTHING, for them, is a liability, and eats into their timeline and profit. Any extra outlets, house mounted yard lights, a gas line to the Weber on the lanai... Sorry, Charlie! Call an electrician or plumber, later.
The above comment(s) got my attention: we are about to build in Florida and get the same spiel: no changes until we own the house. While that's not what I've experienced in the past, that seems to be the "new normal" in these (supply chain disruption) times.
In my case, I have a second dryer outlet (elsewhere in the house) that I'm thinking of "repurposing" as a garage outlet. I have been thinking about what I can do to "help" my eventual EVSE plug install (the cable run goes right along the garage wall), so I would be interested in what you end up doing.
 
So long as the main panel is inside the garage and has open slots and enough unused ampacity, it will not be too big a deal to run a circuit or two for EV charging. The run(s) can be in conduit attached to the interior facing sheetrock.

Personally, I would choose:
Main panel to sub-panel
Two branches from sub-panel, one to a 14-50 receptacle and the other to whatever the LEAF likes
 
Lucky me - the 240v plug on the Leaf was the same as for the Tesla. I removed the adapter and nothing blew up!
I think at the new house, I'll install two 14-50 outlets next to each other, so I don't have to remove the plug, when swapping. These plugs seem happier when they stay in place!
I like charging between 60 and 80%. I always charged to 100% on 120v. Now I'll have to learn how to set it for the lower level. I could do it on the 2015 Leaf, but never learned how to do it on the new one. The same for setting it to charge after the rates go down. I need to relearn that on the Tesla, too. They keep changing the settings on the car, and at some point, I didn't know how to do it anymore.
All the changes gets tiresome. Apparently, I'm too old to keep up! :)
And if charging to 80% meant anything, in the 5 years we had the first Leaf, my wife's daily driver - it still had all 12 battery capacity bars!
 
If you have a J1772 adapter for the Tesla, why not just use the LEAF's charger plugged into the 14-50 receptacle for both cars? You will probably need separate circuits for the two 14-50 receptacles (two 50-ampere, 240-volt circuits from the panelboard).
 
jjdoe said:
The Tesla outlet is a 14-50.

In an earlier post you said the Tesla was charging at 60A. Are you sure about that? Electricians should correct me if I'm wrong, but if the NEMA 14-50 outlet is attached to more than a 50A breaker, then you're committing an electrical code violation. If you want the Tesla to actually charge at 60A without violating code, you'll need to use a different type of outlet. Even if you used a NEMA 14-60 outlet on a 60A breaker, the Tesla would only charge at 48A, due to overhead.
 
daveizdum said:
jjdoe said:
The Tesla outlet is a 14-50.

In an earlier post you said the Tesla was charging at 60A. Are you sure about that? Electricians should correct me if I'm wrong, but if the NEMA 14-50 outlet is attached to more than a 50A breaker, then you're committing an electrical code violation. If you want the Tesla to actually charge at 60A without violating code, you'll need to use a different type of outlet. Even if you used a NEMA 14-60 outlet on a 60A breaker, the Tesla would only charge at 48A, due to overhead.

The highest current available with current Tesla products is an EVSE (the TWC) that goes up to 48 Amps if it is hard-wired.
The mobile Tesla EVSE goes up to 32 Amps when it uses its 14-50 adapter. Same holds true for the recent Nissan LEAF EVSE that terminates with a 14-50p, although in that case the car drops the Amps to ~ 27.

ANY EVSE that plugs into a 14-50r directly will not go higher than 40 Amps. The only way to get in trouble is if:

1. The car is able to pull > 40 Amps
2. The EVSE is able to pull > 40 Amps
3. A dumb adapter is present that does not limit the current to 40 Amps or less

So far as I know, it is not possible in the USA to buy a pluggable EVSE rated for over 40 Amps. The EVSE's available with 40+ Amps are hard-wired.
 
SageBrush said:
daveizdum said:
jjdoe said:
The Tesla outlet is a 14-50.

In an earlier post you said the Tesla was charging at 60A. Are you sure about that? Electricians should correct me if I'm wrong, but if the NEMA 14-50 outlet is attached to more than a 50A breaker, then you're committing an electrical code violation. If you want the Tesla to actually charge at 60A without violating code, you'll need to use a different type of outlet. Even if you used a NEMA 14-60 outlet on a 60A breaker, the Tesla would only charge at 48A, due to overhead.

The highest current available with current Tesla products is an EVSE (the TWC) that goes up to 48 Amps if it is hard-wired.
The mobile Tesla EVSE goes up to 32 Amps when it uses its 14-50 adapter. Same holds true for the recent Nissan LEAF EVSE that terminates with a 14-50p, although in that case the car drops the Amps to ~ 27.

ANY EVSE that plugs into a 14-50r directly will not go higher than 40 Amps. The only way to get in trouble is if:

1. The car is able to pull > 40 Amps
2. The EVSE is able to pull > 40 Amps
3. A dumb adapter is present that does not limit the current to 40 Amps or less

So far as I know, it is not possible in the USA to buy a pluggable EVSE rated for over 40 Amps. The EVSE's available with 40+ Amps are hard-wired.
My Juicebox Premium goes up to 60a....... has a 14-50 factory-installed range pigtail.......with 10g wire :eek:
Back then Joicebox wasn't as "safety" conscious as they are nowadays :lol:
There is a somewhat common 60a plug, the 14-60 standard that as said "could" go up to 48a continuous but whether anyone makes a 48a portable(with plug) EVSE I don't know, but they could.
 
SageBrush said:
daveizdum said:
jjdoe said:
The Tesla outlet is a 14-50.

In an earlier post you said the Tesla was charging at 60A. Are you sure about that? Electricians should correct me if I'm wrong, but if the NEMA 14-50 outlet is attached to more than a 50A breaker, then you're committing an electrical code violation. If you want the Tesla to actually charge at 60A without violating code, you'll need to use a different type of outlet. Even if you used a NEMA 14-60 outlet on a 60A breaker, the Tesla would only charge at 48A, due to overhead.

The highest current available with current Tesla products is an EVSE (the TWC) that goes up to 48 Amps if it is hard-wired.
The mobile Tesla EVSE goes up to 32 Amps when it uses its 14-50 adapter. Same holds true for the recent Nissan LEAF EVSE that terminates with a 14-50p, although in that case the car drops the Amps to ~ 27.

ANY EVSE that plugs into a 14-50r directly will not go higher than 40 Amps. The only way to get in trouble is if:

1. The car is able to pull > 40 Amps
2. The EVSE is able to pull > 40 Amps
3. A dumb adapter is present that does not limit the current to 40 Amps or less

So far as I know, it is not possible in the USA to buy a pluggable EVSE rated for over 40 Amps. The EVSE's available with 40+ Amps are hard-wired.

My copy of the electrical code is for 2017. For any real use, get an up to date copy. If it ain't to code, disconnect and fix it now.


NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE 2017 Edition 625.44(B) gives a limit of a 50 Amp (40 Amp contiguous) for a pluggable EVSE. (C) allows higher for hardwired units.

So even with a 60 Amp outlet, 40 Amp EVSE is the limit unless hardwired.
 
jjeff said:
My Juicebox Premium goes up to 60a....... has a 14-50 factory-installed range pigtail.......with 10g wire :eek:
Back then Joicebox wasn't as "safety" conscious as they are nowadays :lol:
There is a somewhat common 60a plug, the 14-60 standard that as said "could" go up to 48a continuous but whether anyone makes a 48a portable(with plug) EVSE I don't know, but they could.
evseupgrades.com builds and sells a Tesla mobile EVSE pigtail that terminates in a 14-60p but so far as I know the EVSE is limited to 32 Amps so this would only be for compatibility, not for faster charging..

The JuiceBox 10 awg story rings a bell ...
IIRC, it is only the 18" or so of wire from the receptacle to the electronics that is 10 awg. I don't know where in the NEC that short run is allowed but I vaguely remember people opining that it was compliant. I presume it was done for installation ease and not out of penny pinching or incompetence.
 
Back
Top