The Competition: 6.6kW Charging

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Smidge204 said:
... That leaves materials. It's entirely possible that the materials used only permit the socket to be rated 30A, but that does strike me as odd. There may be other reasons unrelated to the actual construction as to why the rating is so low.

But for worst-case let's assume the socket and wiring are not up to snuff - I still think that would not add much more to the required modification, and that the difficulty of the upgrade is overestimated.
=Smidge=
Oh, I think the receptacle in the LEAF is highly likely capable of 30A ... which is all that's needed for 6.6 (6,600W/220V) ... not sure about the wiring and charger (see above speculations post from mwalsh) ... but my initial "beef" (sorry) was with the 80A-rated presumption. I just wanted to know where that info may have come from. It seems very unlikely to me.
 
I may be totally crazy here but I could have sworn the rep at our Orlando Drive Event mentioned that you could now opt for the 6.6kw charger when someone posed the question. Can someone that has already ordered chime in and let us know if they were presented with the option?

Thanks.
 
HankHillNeedsALeaf said:
I may be totally crazy here but I could have sworn the rep at our Orlando Drive Event mentioned that you could now opt for the 6.6kw charger when someone posed the question. Can someone that has already ordered chime in and let us know if they were presented with the option?

Thanks.

Although I think maybe it was misheard, I will say that I am lobbying as heavily as I can as a 3rd-rate electric car blogger :) for those of us from Florida to Maryland forced to wait until Late Summer to order be rewarded with the option for the 6.6kW charger and the Cold Weather Trim packages in a new, improved 2012 LEAF. :)

Yes, I know the Florida folks could give a flying stink about a Cold Weather Trim and I personally would yell at anyone who delayed the Florida rollout if it was for lack of that trim!
 
planet4ever said:
A lot of words have been exchanged, but has anybody considered opening up the hump in the back and checking the actual gauges of the wires into and out of the charger?

Ray
[X] Consideration
[X] Intention
[X] Tools at the ready
[ ] Car in the driveway

I guess that's a "YES" :lol:
 
HankHillNeedsALeaf said:
Seems like I didn't mishear if this story is correct :)

http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1056343_breaking-nissan-leaf-to-get-faster-charger-in-a-year-or-so


That has been the rumor since day one, it's only PR until it happens but it likely will so until it is an option or officially announced by Nissan it's not valid. For those thinking an affordable replacement will be available for your car even if it is offered I suggest you don't count on it unless you think under $2-3K is affordable.
 
AndyH said:
planet4ever said:
A lot of words have been exchanged, but has anybody considered opening up the hump in the back and checking the actual gauges of the wires into and out of the charger?

Ray
[X] Consideration
[X] Intention
[X] Tools at the ready
[ ] Car in the driveway

I guess that's a "YES" :lol:


As soon as I get my car I will check-
 
HankHillNeedsALeaf said:
Seems like I didn't mishear if this story is correct :)

http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1056343_breaking-nissan-leaf-to-get-faster-charger-in-a-year-or-so
Date? Price? Upgrade plan for 2011 LEAF? No. Only rumor of 6.6kW charger when Smyrna comes on line. Maybe.

And regarding the comment that Ford "doesn't even HAVE quick charging!”, here in Southern California, neither do we! Calling ECOtality, where are you!! Hmm, missing in action.

I guess we will yet see if 6.6kW charging matters.
 
honestly, is it realistic to think that EcoT would have 100 QC chargers installed when Leaf delivered fewer than 70 cars last month?
 
thankyouOB said:
honestly, is it realistic to think that EcoT would have 100 QC chargers installed when Leaf delivered fewer than 70 cars last month?
I'd settle for one site chosen somewhere south of San Luis Obispo that has a completion date.

No sites chosen. No dates promised. Silence.
 
thankyouOB said:
honestly, is it realistic to think that EcoT would have 100 QC chargers installed when Leaf delivered fewer than 70 cars last month?

Um, yes? Only because they promised they would, though. They're putting in 60 DC Fast Chargers in San Diego alone. Installations started in November and will be completed in June, right?

ecotality-promise.png
 
GroundLoop said:
thankyouOB said:
honestly, is it realistic to think that EcoT would have 100 QC chargers installed when Leaf delivered fewer than 70 cars last month?

Um, yes? Only because they promised they would, though. They're putting in 60 DC Fast Chargers in San Diego alone. Installations started in November and will be completed in June, right?

ecotality-promise.png
I saw the broken image link above and expected to find that it was a smiley face, and you were laughing at ECOtality having completed zero public installations thus far in San Diego, and started zero installations. But it looks like it was meant to be a copy of one of ECOtality's promises. Apparently the only public charger outside a Nissan dealer is one Chargepoint station at a McDonald's. (I think I'll go look at it soon, in lieu of having Burger King for lunch. :)

I talked to ECOtality about this recently. They quite properly were not willing to say semi-privately anything that hasn't been announced publicly. But he did manage to reassure me somewhat that the public infrastructure would in fact be built. Though he didn't say so explicitly, I expect that when the US shipments of LEAFs begin in earnest that we will see a different sort of press release from ECOtality than their usual: not just platitudes about EV's but specific locations and dates. And I expect that shortly thereafter we will finally see shovels being turned.
 
stanley said:
What is the location of the Mcdonalds charger station?
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=32.797466,-117.249711&num=1&t=h&sll=32.797635,-117.249779&sspn=0.000826,0.000892&ie=UTF8&ll=32.797499,-117.24972&spn=0.000843,0.000892&z=21
32.797466,-117.249711
(MacDonalds, Garnet Ave, San Diego)

It's not really part of McDonalds. Seems to share a lot with them.

The Google streetview and Aerial view in Google Maps doesn't show it until you Zoom way out.
If you look at the same coordinates in Google Earth, you can see the solar panels that power it.
Alas, if you switch to street view in Google Earth, it vanishes.
So it's only visible from the sky, apparently. :)
 
DeaneG said:
[Deleted snarky comment about a three-month delay to put them in the Leaf nav database after completion]

Not to mention 3 months turning into 12 on the east coast for LEAF delivieries; and oh, lest we forget EcoT announced in June of last year that they had added metro Washington, D.C. to the list of cities getting free home charging stations. I've done a little, not so thorough, research and I can say pretty confidently, they've not installed a single ClipperCreek or Blink unit in this region! :roll: Only ClipperCreek units installed in this area in the last year are those being listed on Form 8911 this year to get some of the money we personally spent back from the government, no thanks to TurboTax. :roll:
 
Meanwhile every home garage in the nation has a 110V socket installed, lots of progress have been made in that front.

You people that cant make it on 110V charging should consider driving less... just consider it.
 
Herm said:
Meanwhile every home garage in the nation has a 110V socket installed, lots of progress have been made in that front.

You people that cant make it on 110V charging should consider driving less... just consider it.

I have, but it turns out I seem to need to consume food even on this diet. And every time I go to the store to get some of this food stuff they tell me I need something called money. I did some looking around and no, this money stuff doesn't grow on trees, despite the afferium, though I hear it is constructed from linen. Either way, they wouldn't let me print my own and told me I had to get a job. I asked what a job was and they said it's where you go every day to work and in return they give you money.

So I said, money! that's just what I need because, remember, I needed this food thing even on my current diet. So I get this job but they get mad. Apparently, when I tried to walk to work at 05:45, I didn't get there until 17:45, but they were so kind and decided to give me another change. So the next day I got out my bike at 05:45, thinking I could get there much faster like this.

It was great at first. I peddled out of the community, made my way out to the bike and pedestrian paths. That got me over to about 1/3 the way, very safe and happy for the 45 minutes. Then the trails became much more disparate, so I had to cross a lot of dangerous intersections where these monstrous metal machines zoomed by at incredible speeds. I thought to myself, woah! I bet those could get me to work fast.

All that intersection crossing really cut down my time, so it took me another 90 minutes to just get to the 2/3 point. Still, I was happy; this was better than walking. Then I got to the last third. Crossing the bridge was easy, but then I had to cross these streets that were the most dangerous of all, with those metal machines piloted without any regard for me on my bike. I mounted the final hill at 09:30 and could just see my work on the other side. That's the last thing I remember.

A week later, when I got out of the hospital, my bike was totaled but my super kind patron said I could still come back to work when I was well again. This made me feel safe because I heard that these days, these job things are really hard to come by, so I was loving the one I'd found, even if I hadn't get there yet.

While I was in the hospital, I looked into pawning my residence in order to procure an abode in a closer vicinity to my wonderful work. I asked for one price, but no broker would take it. I asked for less, and still no-one. Eventually, I couldn't afford to offer any less, what with all the money I owe on my residence, so I was stuck with this nasty commute in order to work in order to get money in order to get food in order to live.

When I was finally recovered, I looked into this thing called public transportation. I started walking down the road and after about 10 minutes I came to this signage with the peculiar marking "Bus Stop" and I knew this must be the place! 10 minutes later, a very large metal machine with number markings pulled up and opened a door. I got in and put this card I got from my patron that she called a travel voucher. Then I sat down in one of this machine's many seats.

After I got on the machine, it stopped many times. After 15 minutes of this, the pilot stopped the machine one last time and told me to get off. I asked the pilot how do I get to my job, and he told me to look for another bus with a different number on it. 5 minutes later, that travel machine arrived and I again shared my card with it. I was lucky to get there early and find a nice seat.

This travel machine was much faster than the other one. It even seemed faster than some of the smaller machines with people in them beside us. I just sat back and relaxed! When this machine finally did stop, I asked the pilot where to go and she said to just follow everyone else. I went inside this building and there was a guy in some sort of cage who told me to use my card and enter the bowels of the building, with a warning that I should turn left at the self-propelled stairs and wait for a train, then listen for a special name.

After 10 minutes had passed, I saw some lights flash and a large, connected machine glided up silently next to me, without any smoke or steam. The doors opened automatically and I entered the vehicle. Unfortunately, this time there was no place to sit so I stood there waiting for the special name the man in the cage told me. Repeatedly, a fantom voice annunciated strange concepts, none of which I recognized save from vague memories of my earlier long walk.

It was 30 minutes later when I finally heard that name; I was elated! I was shoved out of the connected machine with the surge of people also desiring egress. Then I was again befuddled. I found another man in a cage and explained my dilemma. He told me to go deeper into the Earth and there I would need to keep right, then wait for a new connected machine and listen for a new special name.

I followed his instructions and waited an additional 10 minutes for the latest connected machine. It arrived; I mounted it. A mere 5 minutes later, the new special name was announced and I got off again. Befuddled once more, I asked a third man in a cage what I should to. He asked where I was headed and I explained. After a gesture of surprise that unnerved me, he explained I should look for another numbered large machine and where I should dismount. I then had trouble exiting this building, at which point he chuckled again and showed me how to use my card to escape.

Another 10 minutes went by and the proffered machine arrived. I entered, presented my card, explained my goal and found a seat. This conveyance was nearly empty. I sat there as the machine repeatedly stopped and started until about 25 minutes in, the pilot signaled me and, knowing my plan, suggested I leave. With a final gesture, he pointed to a guard I should talk to next. This guard greeted me warmly and welcomed me to my first day on this job. It was 08:15; my journey had taken 2 hours and 30 minutes. A new best.

I met my patron and was explained the peculiarities of my current employment. I explained all the trials and tribulations I had in my journey and my patron sympathized. At the end of the day, I found I was advanced reimbursement for my first day; my patron was glowing with compliments. I was told such an early compensation was entirely unusual, but as I needed this money I was given in order to procure food which, as I have previously said, I needed to live, I was overjoyed.

I went outside and looked for the large machine with the same number I arrived in, only this time heading in the opposite direction. I met the large machine a little past 16:45 and again shared my card. When we arrived at the large building that covered the connected machines, it was dark. Someone approached me and demanded this money thing. I was unsure, but the brute was insistent. When I hesitated further, I felt a sharp pain in my side, like white hot pokers deep with me.

In a flash, he was in my pocket and then off with the meager earnings of the day. Then I noted my clothes turning deep red. I was bleeding. I'd been stabbed and no-one stopped to help. I felt drowsy and in pain and fell to my knees. Slowly, my eyes shut; the world went dark.

I awoke in my old hospital room. The matron welcomed me from my slumber and told me I had lost a lot of blood but was well on the way to recovery. A kind constable had come to my rescue, apparently, and here I was again laid up. When I explained to my matron why I was where I was, that I needed that money to trade it for food so that I could live, she smiled and explained an easier way.

She called it a car.

Now, if I could only get one of those powered by electricity.
 
GroundLoop said:
Um, yes? Only because they promised they would, though. They're putting in 60 DC Fast Chargers in San Diego alone. Installations started in November and will be completed in June, right?
Ya, I remember way back when I first signed up for the EV project and was excited that we were going to get FREE charging at all their stations until MAY of 2011. WOOT! WOOT!

The air has gone out of the balloon a bit now that it turns out I will be lucky to even have my Leaf by May...and there aren't any L3 stations around here anyway... :cry:

TT
 
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