Nissan L1 EVSE third-party upgrade to both 120V and 240V

[Yanquetino]

If you have a 240V plug adaptor for the correct receptacle it will work.

It wil, huh? That's great news for those who are willing to upgrade their cordsets. I was worried about so many amps feeding into a lower-amp brick, but I suppose it only sucks up as many as it can swallow.

 

[EVDRIVER]

If you have a 240V plug adaptor for the correct receptacle it will work.

It wil, huh? That's great news for those who are willing to upgrade their cordsets. I was worried about so many amps feeding into a lower-amp brick, but I suppose it only sucks up as many as it can swallow.

Not sure what you mean by "brick" but the unit will only draw a max of about 12A, if you are using an RV plug, welder plug, etc, those are usually 30A or greater, you are not going to find an outlet for 240V that is rated under 12A.

 

[GeekEV]

In the computer and gadget world, the term brick is often used to refer to an outboard power supply. While not strictly applicable here, it does kinda look like an overgrown laptop brick.

 

[AndyH]

Great news Phil! I'm in for one come May(be) as well!

Andy

 

[GeekEV]

I was worried about so many amps feeding into a lower-amp brick, but I suppose it only sucks up as many as it can swallow.

Correct. Unless it has a short or other malfunction, an electrical device will only draw as many amps as it needs to do it's job. There's no harm in running it on a higher rated circuit. If there were, your little 500mA cell phone charger would blow up every time you plugged it into a 15A or 20A wall socket. The breaker rating is only there to prevent the circuit from drawing more power than the wiring can handle in the event of a malfunction so as to prevent the wiring from melting down and burning down your house. The malfunctioning device may fry, but the breaker will trip before any real harm is done to your house.

** I am not an electrical engineer, so this may be a gross simplification, but that's the basic concept anyway - in a properly wired house.

 

[Herm]

Dont forget the "brick" is merely a fancy extension cord.. it should use very little power itself.

 

[muus]

Do you know what is the time saved compared to trickle charge to top up the entire battery?

After the modification, when you plug into a 240v outlet your car will charge twice as fast compared to charging at 120v, so a full charge should take approximately 10 hours. If you plug into 120v it will still take 20 hours to charge.

With this modification, most people won't need a dedicated L2 EVSE, I know I wouldn't.

 

[mwalsh]

After the modification, when you plug into a 240v outlet your car will charge twice as fast compared to charging at 120v, so a full charge should take approximately 10 hours. If you plug into 120v it will still take 20 hours to charge.

+1.

 

[Yanquetino]

Correct. Unless it has a short or other malfunction, an electrical device will only draw as many amps as it needs to do it's job. There's no harm in running it on a higher rated circuit. If there were, your little 500mA cell phone charger would blow up every time you plugged it into a 15A or 20A wall socket.

Thanks! Makes sense! I knew that devices like the charge cords for my cell phone, iPod, shaver, laptop, etc., were designed to adapt to whatever current they're plugged into, whether in this country (120V) or in Europe (240V). It didn't used to be the case. Not too many years ago I'd have to haul transformers with me when overseas for my small appliances. Once, a friend had the transformer on the wrong setting and fried my cassette tape recorder. I still remember hearing the sizzle and seeing the smoke.

Given that kind of experience, I wasn't sure if amp ratings were as crucial as voltages. I guess I had the impression that, if I plugged a 5A AC adapter into a device that drew 500mA, I could damage something, but I was evidently mistaken. If I understand you correctly, it wouldn't matter if I plugged the upgraded L1 12A cordset into a 50A circuit: it would simply suck up its 12A and ignore the other 38A in the RV outlet.

 

[Stanton]

If I understand you correctly, it wouldn't matter if I plugged the upgraded L1 12A cordset into a 50A circuit: it would simply suck up its 12A and ignore the other 38A in the RV outlet.

Just because electronics/outlets/wiring/etc are RATED to a certain voltage/amperage doesn't mean they have to DRAW that amount. So the answer to your question is "yes". However, whether I would want to use such a (modified) device as my every day, full time charger is another question. At the very least, I would want to have a backup portable charger (just like the one we're talking about) available at ALL times (like in the back of the car)

 

[wwhitney]

A few questions on the mod:

Will the new twist-lock input to the EVSE be modified to be non-standard? If not, is there any safety issue with using a twist-lock configuration of one standard voltage for multiple input voltages?

What is the duty cycle of the twist lock connector? I.e. will it support a daily make/break cycle?

Is a twist lock connector suitable for long term exterior use?

How much of the board inside will need depotting? Do you repot the board when done?

$188 seems to me to be below most people's willingness to pay, so you could probably charge 5-20% more if the economics are borderline for you.

Thanks, Wayne

 

[EVDRIVER]

Correct. Unless it has a short or other malfunction, an electrical device will only draw as many amps as it needs to do it's job. There's no harm in running it on a higher rated circuit. If there were, your little 500mA cell phone charger would blow up every time you plugged it into a 15A or 20A wall socket.

Thanks! Makes sense! I knew that devices like the charge cords for my cell phone, iPod, shaver, laptop, etc., were designed to adapt to whatever current they're plugged into, whether in this country (120V) or in Europe (240V). It didn't used to be the case. Not too many years ago I'd have to haul transformers with me when overseas for my small appliances. Once, a friend had the transformer on the wrong setting and fried my cassette tape recorder. I still remember hearing the sizzle and seeing the smoke.

Given that kind of experience, I wasn't sure if amp ratings were as crucial as voltages. I guess I had the impression that, if I plugged a 5A AC adapter into a device that drew 500mA, I could damage something, but I was evidently mistaken. If I understand you correctly, it wouldn't matter if I plugged the upgraded L1 12A cordset into a 50A circuit: it would simply suck up its 12A and ignore the other 38A in the RV outlet.

Not all devices can run on universal voltage, the upgraded EVSE has a universal power supply upgrade. The wall outlet does not "push" current to devices. A simple illustration is that in your home you have many outlets, if you plug your cell phone into the wall in your kitchen on a 15A circuit it will not pull 15A it will pull it's max load required. If you plug a device into that same outlet that draws 20A it will likely blow the circuit breaker as it will pull more than the circuit is rated to supply.

 

[garygid]

Actually, the charger in the car does the "sucking", the EVSE "loaf" just acts (primarily) as a safety switch to connect the wall to the car.

Other than safety-features, the "E-loaf" has one other important function: informing the car of a "maximum-current" value that the car is supposed to respect as it decides how much current to draw ("suck").

This Nissan-included L1 EVSE tells the car "12 amps maximum", by sending a 20% duty-cycle square wave signal (PWM) on the Control Pilot wire that goes to the car.

 

[Yanquetino]

You LEAFers are all great to help novices like me understand. The bottom line here is that the upgraded L1 12A cordset will work just fine if plugged into a 50A outlet at an RV park. The LEAF won't charge as quickly as with one's EVSE in the garage, let alone a Tesla plugged into the same outlet, but nonetheless much faster than with its original 120V limitation. Thanks!

 

[DarkStar]

I'm definitely in with the sub-$200 price, you guys rock!

 

[mwalsh]

With this modification, most people won't need a dedicated L2 EVSE, I know I wouldn't.

The only slight disadvantage, at least if you're as retentive as I am, is the unpacking/packing of the EVSE from/to it's bag. From that standpoint alone, it's nice to have that permanently mounted L2 on the wall at home. But that's just me.

 

[mwalsh]

Here's a picture of me charging at work (right now as it happens). The EVSE is plugged into the outlet we use for the metals band saw. This is 3-phase 208v, so charging is a hair slower than plugging into 240v at home (my figures say 60 minutes per bar @ 208v vs. ~53 minutes per bar @ 240v). But, again, no drama, explosions, or crisped employees - the mod simply works the way it's supposed to.

BTW, it was very cool driving onto the shop floor...I practically had the car plugged in and charging before anyone realized it was there!

 

[DarkStar]

Here's a picture of me charging at work (right now as it happens). The EVSE is plugged into the outlet we use for the metals band saw. This is 3-phase 208v, so charging is a hair slower than plugging into 240v at home (my figures say 60 minutes per bar @ 208v vs. ~53 minutes per bar @ 240v). But, again, no drama, explosions, or crisped employees - the mod simply works the way it's supposed to.

BTW, it was very cool driving onto the shop floor...I practically had the car plugged in and charging before anyone realized it was there!

That's some pretty sweet reserved parking!

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

Any worry about sparks/bits/shavings/dust?

My friend was doing some welding and plasma-cutting next to his Prius and ended up with bits of metal fully embedded into the windshield glass. Weird. Sure tore up wiper blades that way.

 

[mwalsh]

Any worry about sparks/bits/shavings/dust?

My friend was doing some welding and plasma-cutting next to his Prius and ended up with bits of metal fully embedded into the windshield glass. Weird. Sure tore up wiper blades that way.

Yeah, made the guys promise that they'd stay well away for the duration. There is actually another outlet at the other end of the shop that I would be more inclined to use, but there was a piece of equipment in the way of getting there today.