IDIOT ALERT: Car didn't charge last night

[cdub]

I get the dope of the day award.

Got in my car to go to work and realized I only had 4 bars. I started thinking what was wrong with my car...

Then I remembered... I went to see Harry Potter last night... and I got back at 11:30. My timer starts at 10pm. Didn't even think about it.

So my cars charging now. I only need 5 bars to get to work and back... but I want some wiggle room. Might even try charging with the 110 at work if possible. Looks like I'll at least be an hour late though.

Yay. I'm a dope. This won't happen again.

 

[rawhog]

.

 

[TomT]

I did that once early-on... I took the ICE car that day. Right after that was when I enabled the "parked near a preferred charging station but not plugged in" message from Carwings to remind me if I ever forgot again...

 

[occ]

I get the dope of the day award.

Got in my car to go to work and realized I only had 4 bars. I started thinking what was wrong with my car...

Then I remembered... I went to see Harry Potter last night... and I got back at 11:30. My timer starts at 10pm. Didn't even think about it.

Hmm...not sure I understand. My charge timer is set at 11pm. A week ago, we got back at 11:20pm and low on bars so I plugged in wondering if it would start charging or not because it was after the start time of 11pm...it started charging right up! Did I hit that timer-off button and didn't remember it? I'll try this again the next time we get back after the start timer and see...

 

[shay]

Right after that was when I enabled the "parked near a preferred charging station but not plugged in" message from Carwings to remind me if I ever forgot again...

Almost exactly my experience. My wife and I were going to concert about 25 miles from the house. I risked the drive in the Leaf and made it fine. The emails and / or texts are a good thing though they are like backups, you don't want to relay on them.

 

[evnow]

Then I remembered... I went to see Harry Potter last night... and I got back at 11:30. My timer starts at 10pm. Didn't even think about it.

Use an end time for your timers. That way if you plug-in after the start time, Leaf will still charge.

 

[cdub]

Then I remembered... I went to see Harry Potter last night... and I got back at 11:30. My timer starts at 10pm. Didn't even think about it.

Use an end time for your timers. That way if you plug-in after the start time, Leaf will still charge.

Really? That's awesome. I didn't know that. It'll still charge to 80%?

Also - I was so careful on the drive to work today.. I actually GAINED a bar on the drive. It went away as soon as I got on the short freeway portion of the route I was taking... but driving down La Crescenta Blvd to the 134 I was 1 bubble or regen the whole way. I also didn't accelerate more than one bubble for that part of the route... by the time I got on the 134 I went from 6 bars to 7.

I definitely charged more than I needed to at home.. didn't need to be as late to work. Oh well. Thank god I work in a job with "flexible hours"... as long as I get the work done I'm good.

-C

 

[popak]

See Guide to LEAF charge timers for the latest info and tips/tricks on charge timers.

 

[cdub]

That is great info. Thanks.

 

[Yanquetino]

My dumbass move was driving 40 miles to work and then realizing I left the charge cord in the garage. Had to have the wife bring it to me.

I'll bet that happens fairly often to those who use ingineer's L1-to-L2 upgrade as their sole EVSE. This is why, when I finally get my LEAF, I'll use my AV unit for charging at home, and keep the L1-to-L2 upgrade in the LEAF at all times. I am sure that I would forget the cord otherwise, and end up in a melluvahess. :shock:

 

[TangoKilo]

I don't use the timer... K.I.S.S... Train yourself that when you get outta the car you plug in.... If you don't have a place to charge then carry on....

 

[cdub]

I use the timer for the 80%.

 

[DeaneG]

Then I remembered... I went to see Harry Potter last night... and I got back at 11:30. My timer starts at 10pm. Didn't even think about it.

I went to the 5:25pm showing. That's the fix I'm recommending, since at that time it is easy to get a center seat even for the 3D version.

 

[davewill]

I'll bet that happens fairly often to those who use ingineer's L1-to-L2 upgrade as their sole EVSE. This is why, when I finally get my LEAF, I'll use my AV unit for charging at home, and keep the L1-to-L2 upgrade in the LEAF at all times. I am sure that I would forget the cord otherwise, and end up in a melluvahess. :shock:

I doubt it happens often at all...but I agree that I wouldn't want to have to pack and unpack the portable EVSE for my nightly charge. Especially since I find myself plugging in when I get home, then unplugging the same evening for unexpected trips. On a Sat or Sun, I sometimes plug in 3 or 4 times without actually charging. I would buy a second upgrade, if I didn't already have a Blink.

 

[adric22]

I guess I'm good so far.. I've never forgotten to plug my Leaf in. Even if I did, since I only commute 10 miles per day, it wouldn't be an issue.

 

[TomT]

This is what I use except I use 12:10pm and 12:10pm. I'm not on a TOU so all I care about is charging to 80 percent. I did that to eliminate any possible ambiguities around midnight.

Scenario 5: Timer start = 12:00 AM; End = 12:00 AM
Will start charging immediately. Same as scenario #1 except the window is the entire 24 hour day. So, no matter when you plug in, you're always within the window. Recommended for users on non-TOU (tiered) rates and who want to charge the battery to 80%.

 

[davewill]

I use 12AM to 12PM, which works well for my 12am-5am super off peak and 5am-12pm off peak. It maximises SOP without stopping before the car is fully charged (80%). If I return home before noon but I don't want to charge, I just don't plug it in. It also makes it easy to reprogram for all day 80% if I need to, I just change the end time from PM to AM and save.

 

[gbarry42]

From what I understand, here is how the timers behave:
Time plugged in: 12:08 AM
Scenario 1: Timer Start = 12:00 AM; End = 8:00 AM
Will start charging immediately because ...
(Etc.)

If we had a "thanks" button, you'd get one for this summary.

Due to a lack of knowledge, I happened to program my timers for off peak (8:10 PM thru 8 AM), which gives me a big charging window. (I didn't realize at the time, that there were "other" ways to set it!) Then, the Blink is set to start at midnight+10 minutes, so if it's plugged in, that's when it happens. There's an option on the Blink if I want to charge "now", so it's as easy as tapping that button. That leaves public charging, where I may have to remember to hit the "timer off" button in the car, if it's daytime.

Fortunately, the Blink always seems to charge on time, despite the myriad ways of crashing the box that the programmers have come up with .

 

[popak]

If we had a "thanks" button, you'd get one for this summary.

Thanks, gbarry42.

Forgot to mention what I personally do. I use Timer 1 (12AM - 10AM) assigned to Mon - Fri and Timer 2 (12AM - 12AM) assigned to Sat and Sun.

SCE's TOU times are Mon-Fri Peak from 10AM - 6PM, Super off-peak from 12AM - 6AM, and Off-peak all other times. With my timers, during the weekdays, I avoid the peak rates (or rather, I let my solar panels export them back to the grid at the high rate) and use the super off-peak as much as possible, with the possibility of using the off-peak 6AM - 10AM time for any spillage (although, with my usage, this will likely never happen unless I plug in the car at like 4AM).

 

[planet4ever]

From what I understand, here is how the timers behave:
Scenario 1: Timer Start = 12:00 AM; End = 8:00 AM
Scenario 2: Timer Start = 12:00 AM; End = <None>
Scenario 3: Timer Start = <None>; End = 8:00 AM
Scenario 4: No timer
Scenario 5: Timer start = 12:00 AM; End = 12:00 AM

[Go to his post to see the behaviors.]

Great summary, popak! You have covered all the cases, and I think you have them all right. I hadn't sat down and figured all this out myself, and now I'm going to go out and change my timer setup. Many thanks!

Ray