Selling MDX and purchased 2014 SV

[GerryAZ]

The 6 kW onboard charger will fully charge a 24 kWh LEAF from dead in 4 to 5 hours (depending upon how much charge tapering and balancing is needed) if the EVSE can supply at least 28 amperes at 240 volts (at least 32 amperes if voltage is only 208). The car will not charge faster than this even if the EVSE is capable of higher current.

Gerry

 

[RockyNv]

Even when the L2 ChargePoint is running at 6.6 KW I am only seeing an estimated 20 miles added per hour.

 

[jjeff]

I prefer to compare charging amps to % gained in charge and on that I get:
208v@19a=a tad less than 20% per hour
240v@19a=25%/hr
[email protected]=a little over 30%/hr

I guess figuring 75 miles on a full charge on my 24ah battery that would mean:
208v @19a=15 miles/hr
240v @19a=18.75 miles/hr
240v @27.5a=22.7 miles/hr

I hope I did my math correct, what I mainly charge at is 208v@19a and I can say for a fact I gain a tad less than 20%/hr, the other numbers I use far less and am going off memory. I also never see anywhere around 30-36 miles/hr charge rates.

BTW it makes a big difference where in the % charged you are as to how much you gain in charge or miles/charge-time. I'm mainly talking about the sweet spot of 20%-~90%, outside those SOCs you don't gain as much charge% or miles/charge-time. Especially when you near 100% where cell balancing is mainly taking place or if the battery is extremely cold or hot, again basing my numbers on the sweet spot temp of ~60-80 degrees.

 

[RockyNv]

You really can't exceed the max limit of the built in charger regardless of the input voltage to the charging station. During brownouts one might only see 5.9 kw and an 18 mph charge rate or lower. Try to overdrive the built in charger and you might just see it shut down from over voltage. In the Tampa Bay area they seem to have or possible allow a larger voltage deviation than many other parts of the country.

The voltage regulator I use to protect my motor home is quite often in high boost mode with the low voltage warning on the input side lit up. It is also a bit unsettling how often our computer UPS systems are going into brownout mode too. These both have probably made me more aware of how often throughout the day we are hit with brownouts. After installing power regulation to deal with low voltage instead of just surge and blackout protection there is a remarkable difference in how reliable the devices are on the power regulated circuits compared to the unregulated ones. I will probably keep repeating this as this has literally saved me thousands of dollars in repairs over the years. On my RV low voltage was taking out the starting capacitors and hard starts every 6 months to a year putting a lot of stress on the compressors however since installing the regulator its been almost a decade since we have had any electrical failures whatsoever.

I am hoping that the power regulation and liquid cooled charger built into the Leaf is robust enough to stand up to the power deviation one might expect in this area at a public charging station.

 

[GerryAZ]

I tested the Nissan 120-volt EVSE and the onboard charger in the 2011 down to 100 volts with no issues. I also tried L2 charging down to about 200 volts with no issues. Although I have not tested the onboard charger in the 2015 to these extremes, L2 works fine at 208 volts (which would be a severe brownout on a 240-volt residential service). The onboard charger will draw more current at lower voltage to maintain full charging power if EVSE pilot signal allows.

Gerry

 

[RockyNv]

How long were the tests? It can take a years to really see the results in normal use depending on the frequency and duration of the low power events. I had a dear friend who was an electrical engineer in the test lab and his job was to test devices and make them fail so he could do the forensics and send the device back to the designers for improvements based on his recommendations. He had plenty of time to catch up on his reading and pursue personal education during those tests which would be monitored 24/7 while in progress. Many times it was design or materials changes demanded by the bean counters that were at the root cause of the failures. The big C got him and we lost him way too early.

It is good to hear that the charging components inside the Leaf are fairly robust and have held up to the low power tests you have performed thus far. The effort is appreciated.


Regards,

Rocky

 

[jjeff]

I also tried L2 charging down to about 200 volts with no issues. Although I have not tested the onboard charger in the 2015 to these extremes, L2 works fine at 208 volts (which would be a severe brownout on a 240-volt residential service). The onboard charger will draw more current at lower voltage to maintain full charging power if EVSE pilot signal allows.

Gerry

I regularly use my EVSEupgrade'd EVSE at 192v for hours at a time. It's supposed to be 208v but closer to 204v NL and drops to 192v @19a, it's a 30a L6-30 outlet but I believe the outlet is several hundred feet from the panel. I gain about 18%/hr under these conditions.

 

[gswcowboy]

So I finally got my Leaf today. 27 mile range at pickup with 13 miles to get home so I was a bit worried especially with bay area traffic. Got home with 18 miles left on range so that was cool. Plugged it in to my juicebox and was able to go from 20% battery to 82% in 2 hours with 65 mile range. I commuted to work late this evening which is about 25 miles from home. Question is it normal to see battery go down to 69% and range to dip to 55 miles given a 25 mile drive? I was on cruise at 70 the entire time. Heater was off. I had radio turned on and my iphone charging using the cig light adapter.

Thanks!

 

[LeftieBiker]

Speeds above 60MPH, and especially above 65MPH, drain the range a lot faster. The car looks aerodynamic, but it isn't. The big wheel wells, especially with the 16" wheels, add a lot of drag. Try setting the cruise at 65MPH, which is actually 63MPH. Most of us set it at 57-60.

 

[cwerdna]

I tested the Nissan 120-volt EVSE and the onboard charger in the 2011 down to 100 volts with no issues. I also tried L2 charging down to about 200 volts with no issues. Although I have not tested the onboard charger in the 2015 to these extremes, L2 works fine at 208 volts (which would be a severe brownout on a 240-volt residential service). The onboard charger will draw more current at lower voltage to maintain full charging power if EVSE pilot signal allows.

Common household voltages in Japan are 100 volts and 200 volts, so it's no surprise that it'd work.

208 volts is of course no problem because that's common commercial voltage in the US. It's only 208 volts on all our work EVSEs, AFAIK. The free public L2 I use sometimes is I'm pretty sure 208 volts. My car and previous one have probably rarely ever received 240 volts. (I have no L2 at home.)

 

[gswcowboy]

Speeds above 60MPH, and especially above 65MPH, drain the range a lot faster. The car looks aerodynamic, but it isn't. The big wheel wells, especially with the 16" wheels, add a lot of drag. Try setting the cruise at 65MPH, which is actually 63MPH. Most of us set it at 57-60.

Awesome! i'll do that on the way home! thanks for the tip.

 

[gswcowboy]

last question for me (well for now) but could someone please shed light on the values extracted by leaf spy for me? the bad...the good?

 

[cwerdna]

The AHr, SOH and Hx stats look pretty good. I'm assuming 271 gids is on a full charge.

My stats from a few days ago on my '13 are at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=471488#p471488.

 

[gswcowboy]

Thanks! Yep this on full charge. So based on research that's a 4% decrease from full GIDs capacity over two plus years.

 

[gswcowboy]

Speeds above 60MPH, and especially above 65MPH, drain the range a lot faster. The car looks aerodynamic, but it isn't. The big wheel wells, especially with the 16" wheels, add a lot of drag. Try setting the cruise at 65MPH, which is actually 63MPH. Most of us set it at 57-60.

Awesome! i'll do that on the way home! thanks for the tip.

That basically was the issue. 70mph shortens my range by half even w/ a 23 mile commute. There's just no way I can see myself driving at a lower speed during commute hours, especially after I get my HOV stickers. Thanks for the heads up nonetheless!