New 2016 SV slow to trickle charge

[Psyclonus]

Well, she drove it Monday, came home right after work, and plugged in. By the time she would have left on Tuesday, she only had 11 bars. Tuesday (yesterday) we got hit by a blizzard, so actually both of our employers closed for the day, so she was back at 100% today. She may in fact be able to get by all week, just with a lower starting SOC every day, and then having to fully recover on the weekends... But... That means no using the car to go shopping at night, run errands, etc.

 

[fooljoe]

True, you'd have to use the Dodge for most of those around-town errands, which might total something like 10 miles a week. But the alternative means 140 additional miles a week in the <20 mpg Dodge instead of the Leaf...

 

[Phatcat73]

Is the outlet on a 20 amp circuit? The stock evse charges at 12 amps. With evse upgrade you can charge at 16 amps continuous. 25% improvement.

 

[rcm4453]

I was thinking the same thing. I might go this route myself as for right now I only have access to a 120V outlet but at least it's 20A. That 25% will help a lot in my situation, I have roughly 13.5 hours per night to charge so I would pick up almost 20kwh per night during the week. (given the 75% efficiency of 120V charging).

 

[fooljoe]

Is the outlet on a 20 amp circuit? The stock evse charges at 12 amps. With evse upgrade you can charge at 16 amps continuous. 25% improvement.

Does the new Leaf let you do that? My 2011 will charge at no more than 12 amps on L1, regardless of pilot.

 

[rcm4453]

2011 - 2012 Leaf's OBC doesn't support anything higher then 120V @ 12A. Only 2013 - 2016 Leafs support this. I suppose a work around solution would be to use a step up transformer to take your 120V 16A and step it up to 240V 8A. There may be some additional efficiency losses doing it though.

 

[Phatcat73]

It'll actually be slightly greater than 25% as I recall 300 watts per hr are lost due to the OBC operation.

 

[DaveEV]

It'll actually be slightly greater than 25% as I recall 300 watts per hr are lost due to the OBC operation.

Yep, charging will be slightly more efficient, just make sure your outlet and wiring are in good shape and up to the task.

 

[vwDavid]

Just get it to an L2 once or twice for a few full 100% charges and balancing and see if the time estimates change after that?

 

[Psyclonus]

I talked my wife into seeing a movie tonight so we can leave it at the BMW dealership across the street to soak up some juice (I have never seen an i3 on their lot, so it will certainly be free). She was at 91% SOC when she left for work this morning, so maybe a once-weekly top-up at L2 will get us through until we get a house purchased. Warmer weather will obviously help too.

 

[Reddy]

I talked my wife into seeing a movie tonight so we can leave it at the BMW dealership across the street to soak up some juice (I have never seen an i3 on their lot, so it will certainly be free). She was at 91% SOC when she left for work this morning, so maybe a once-weekly top-up at L2 will get us through until we get a house purchased. Warmer weather will obviously help too.

A once a week date night will help keep more than the battery topped up