When do you charge?

[docj]

At what point do you guys recharge your leaves? Mine is an SV with a range of 149. I have level two in my garage. Thank you

 

[Chad E. Mo]

I plug in and charge L2 when I get home. I drive almost every day. At least three days per week I'm logging over 100 mi round trip.

I warm up the cabin via app 10-15 min before heading out.

 

[cornbinder89]

We use our Leaf to go to town and back aprox 25 mile round trip 6 days/week most weeks. I have it set to charge for 2hr starting at midnight and turning off at 2 am. I am playing around with the max input between 20 and 24 amps most nights. It seams to be enough.
During the deep cold (-20F) I turn off the charge timer and leave it plugged into the EVSE with the max amps input of 10 amps (240 volt).
On the very rare occasion we need to take a 2nd trip in one day, I turn off the charge timer, raise the input current to max out the Leafs OBC. Once it has charged for the 2nd trip, turn the charge timer back on and drop the current setting back.
Very rare for me to pre-heat the interior, and since the car is parked inside an un heated garage it doesn't need to de-ice the windows. Use the heated seats and may be a little car heat, just to take the chill off the interior.
Since the only variable is where we go in town and how many stops, the range is never maxed out by the time we return.

 

[RPaulThomas]

@docj - FWIW I have an '18 SV 40kWh as well, plus a 220V in my garage. I drive mostly around town and when down to 40-50% I charge for 2 hours, using the supplied Nissan charge cable. This Nissan version has no real controls that are variable, so at 16% charge rate per hour I get to 80-85%.
To add to this there are other conversation strings that talk about temperature vs battery abilities. But, if your car (battery pack) is mostly between 20F to 70F you need not worry about babying the charge current and amount.

My electric supply is a variable rate so I only charge evenings or weekends, and there is a large variation in cost if charging at the high cost rate. If you have concerns about charging only at certain times there are also onboard time of day filters (timers) in the car s/w that can be set for your desired times.

 

[Stanton]

Depends on whether it's winter or summer.
In cool/cold temps, I charge whenever I need it (based on the next day's trip)...and often let it go to completion (100%) overnight. In warm/hot temps, I charge only/if/when I'm at or under 6 temperature bars...even if that means doing little bit each day.
With the Leaf, it's all about the heat.

 

[popgoesweasel]

Georgia Power has a special tariff for EV owners. We get a super de dooper a la Peter T. Hooper low low rate from 11PM to 7AM which is when we charge our 2020 Leaf Plus on a standard 115vac outlet. We keep the charge below 80% and above 20%.

 

[Snakebitten]

I consume between 40-45% SOC daily. It's a very routine route with only the weather and an occasional errand making up the 5% variation.

I charge every evening. ~2 hours at 240V/27amps. Average about $1.80

2018 SL 40KW

Car is amazing
Battery in excellent condition
EVSE is an Emporium with a nice app for scheduling and variable rate charging.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my first BEV and have learned a lot more than I expected about living with an EV. You can research all you want, but you just can't substitute for actual seat time.

 

[Deleted member 25281]

If you can get away with charging at 20% up to just 80% for most of the time, with a 100% charge just when you need it; all will be good from a longevity perspective.

 

[Mcflocki]

There is a short and long version of this in video format that explains best practice and why. I’ll include a link to both for those interested in either. Going off the information in these videos and my use case I came up with what works best for me while extending the battery life. What works best for you may be a different story. The video explains that higher SOC is not a problem in the winter but is more of a problem in the summer. I also don’t like the idea of driving around in winter with low SOC. Most people usually report problems with the battery under 50% SOC in the winter under heavy load. I have a plus model and I only drive over 60 miles two days a week usually it is closer to 30. I drive 6-7 days a week. I have a use case that allows a me to use 30% of the battery and if I charge in the middle a little maybe keep the car in a 25% of the battery being used on any given day or less. I will target 50-75% SOC in the winter and 25-50% SOC in the summer. This is to avoid the two main sources of degradation as much as possible. If you can’t do this that’s ok, do what works best for you. Charging every day if possible to use the smallest SOC % possible and keeping lower SOC in the summer when more power is accessible but higher SOC is more harmful.

 

[DougWantsALeaf]

I habe a 3.5 hour timer for over night charging on my Plus. I plug in when in the low 40s or upper 30s SoH, and the charge takes it close to 80% SoC