I'm not sure where to post this, since it involves both the car and the EVSE, so I'm reaching out to two subforums. Perhaps someone has figured it out. Some background: I have a Siemens Versicharge (non-networked) and a 2013 SL. I drive the car very consistently, about 50 miles/day on weekdays and nearly nothing on weekends. It's a commuting appliance I typically return home around 6 and plug in immediately. The car sits at 100% for most of the night and almost all weekend. At my last service, the dealer said I should try to minimize parked time at 100%, so I'm trying to address this.
The Versicharge is good, but has limited programmability. I can either start a charge immediately by plugging in, or I can set a 2, 4, 6, or 8 hour start delay. The timer in the Leaf allows me to start/stop charges and choose either 80% or 100%, but is limited to one charge "event" per day and only one %age. Neither of those capabilities allow me to do this:
1. Arrive home 6pm with with approx. 30% battery.
2. Plug in and charge to approx. 80%. Stop charging.
3. At about 6am, start charging so the car is at 100% by 7am.
So, I need 2 "events" per 24 hours: an initial partial charge followed by a top-up. The Versicharge has a board-level remote switch which I have confirmed will work as a shutoff. Adding an external timer circuit will allow me to plug in and have the EVSE shut off after about an hour. Problem: 1) there are no instructions from Siemens on how to properly connect this. I am hoping someone here has done it. 2) I have yet to find a 2-event timer circuit.
Since my EVSE cannot sense charge %age (other than 100%), using the car's timer is nice, because it can be set to stop at a %age limit. However, it only handles one "event" per day. Using the car's timer together with an external timer seems like a good idea on paper, but the two programming techniques can conflict with each other.
Any ideas on how to accomplish the charging pattern in bold above?
The Versicharge is good, but has limited programmability. I can either start a charge immediately by plugging in, or I can set a 2, 4, 6, or 8 hour start delay. The timer in the Leaf allows me to start/stop charges and choose either 80% or 100%, but is limited to one charge "event" per day and only one %age. Neither of those capabilities allow me to do this:
1. Arrive home 6pm with with approx. 30% battery.
2. Plug in and charge to approx. 80%. Stop charging.
3. At about 6am, start charging so the car is at 100% by 7am.
So, I need 2 "events" per 24 hours: an initial partial charge followed by a top-up. The Versicharge has a board-level remote switch which I have confirmed will work as a shutoff. Adding an external timer circuit will allow me to plug in and have the EVSE shut off after about an hour. Problem: 1) there are no instructions from Siemens on how to properly connect this. I am hoping someone here has done it. 2) I have yet to find a 2-event timer circuit.
Since my EVSE cannot sense charge %age (other than 100%), using the car's timer is nice, because it can be set to stop at a %age limit. However, it only handles one "event" per day. Using the car's timer together with an external timer seems like a good idea on paper, but the two programming techniques can conflict with each other.
Any ideas on how to accomplish the charging pattern in bold above?