Many people view 208 V and 240 V as the same thing, but they are not. The 208 V is a result of three phase power, and 240 V is the result of two phase (a.k.a. one phase) power. But I've taken my level II charger off the wall and on road trips before so I can drive long distance through places that don't have level II chargers, but do have 30A and 50A plugs for 208/240V. The higher voltage charges faster.
Have others noticed this too? This could also be observed from many commercial chargers being a little slower where they are likely to have 208 3-phase, vs. the 240V 2-phase at residential and some commercial locations. I carry around a multimeter now to measure the voltage where I plug in, but it is not always possible if there is not a normal 240/208 plug around.
The second question is whether anyone has heard of using a 3phase to 2 phase converter to speed up the charging at these 208V locations. 2-phase to 3 phase converters are available, so one could also go the other way. If I knew more about exactly what type of load the (leaf) charger presents to the EVSE plug, then maybe I could make one from just passive circuit elements like capacitors, inductors, and resistors.
Another way to do this phase conversion could be with a solid state converter which could either produce two phases directly out of sync or to just boost the voltage (by drawing more current) to 240V (or even better 250V). I say 250V because I also have noticed that the leaf charges faster at 250V than at 240V. My house has a line voltage of 245-255V, and I usually charge 35% in one hour.
Have others noticed this too? This could also be observed from many commercial chargers being a little slower where they are likely to have 208 3-phase, vs. the 240V 2-phase at residential and some commercial locations. I carry around a multimeter now to measure the voltage where I plug in, but it is not always possible if there is not a normal 240/208 plug around.
The second question is whether anyone has heard of using a 3phase to 2 phase converter to speed up the charging at these 208V locations. 2-phase to 3 phase converters are available, so one could also go the other way. If I knew more about exactly what type of load the (leaf) charger presents to the EVSE plug, then maybe I could make one from just passive circuit elements like capacitors, inductors, and resistors.
Another way to do this phase conversion could be with a solid state converter which could either produce two phases directly out of sync or to just boost the voltage (by drawing more current) to 240V (or even better 250V). I say 250V because I also have noticed that the leaf charges faster at 250V than at 240V. My house has a line voltage of 245-255V, and I usually charge 35% in one hour.