Nice look at the Charging Ports.

I had not seen the Fast Charging port open on any videos or photos yet...so I thought I would add this here:



Gavin

So there is no way to put just a standard 110v plug in here (i understand for safety reasons)...

My very stupid question, how do we charge at say a friends house...does our funky J plug have an adapter standard?

Gavin

Gavin said:

So there is no way to put just a standard 110v plug in here (i understand for safety reasons)...

My very stupid question, how do we charge at say a friends house...does our funky J plug have an adapter standard?

Gavin

Click to expand...

It is going to come with a J-1772 plug with an adapter and 120V plug, they are calling this the "trickle" charger, because it takes along time to charge the car. Here is the info on the connector:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772
You would keep that cord/adapter in the trunk and always have it with you, for emergency charging...

Here is a picture of the "charge cable" shown in the trunk of a plug in prius (not out until 2012)
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://z.about.com/d/alternativefuels/1/0/Z/K/-/-/Plug-in_Prius_chargecable.jpg&imgrefurl=http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/hybrids/ig/Toyota-plug-in-Prius-Preview/Plug-in-Prius-charge-cable.htm&usg=__FY4T0wSaPtamceTIGEZPqy3Mitw=&h=855&w=1286&sz=432&hl=en&start=9&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=wThWHGic42Id2M:&tbnh=100&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dplug%2Bin%2Bprius%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26tbs%3Disch:1

Sweet...thanks.

I kinda assumed all that, but wanted to see it in person

Gavin

Presumably this is very much like what Nissan will supply for the 110/120 "slow" charging with the Leaf, right?

Any reason why a 220/240 volt version cannot be made, that plugs into a standard electric clothes dryer socket?

Yes, I think there are (might be) two "standard" dryer sockets, an older standard in my pre-1980 home, and a "later" standard.

Electric code prohibits a plug connection when using 220V. It needs to be hardwired. I don't know whether it is because of safety reasons or so that electricians can get some work. I think that is a stupid code - since most of the world deals with 220V on a regular basis.

A close look at the plug ...



Thanks for the this link ...

yep, if electrical code prevents cars from plugging in to a 240V outlet, I wonder how those shifty eletric dryer mfrs got away with it for so long

I am betting we will see a number of "franken EVSE"s (the EVSE equipment mounted on a piece of plywood with a dryer plug and various adapters) pop up, so when you travel or visit your buddies house you can use their Dryer outlet, 240V Air Conditioner outlet, etc. Darel has done that with his old EV1 paddle charger, if you check out his "charging page"

http://www.evnut.com/charger_port_tal.htm

it just shows what a motivated indivudual can think up yes, it probably doesn't meet electrical code, but it will still work just fine. Of course Nissan can't be involved with "approving" it

evnow said:

Electric code prohibits a plug connection when using 220V. It needs to be hardwired. I don't know whether it is because of safety reasons or so that electricians can get some work. I think that is a stupid code - since most of the world deals with 220V on a regular basis.

A close look at the plug ...

Click to expand...

I don't see any mechanism for overflow? What if you charge too much? Won't you have a mess on your garage floor?
:lol: :mrgreen:

mitch672 said:

yep, if electrical code prevents cars from plugging in to a 240V outlet, I wonder how those shifty eletric dryer mfrs got away with it for so long

Click to expand...

The issue is not with the voltage. It's with the amount of current.

Bicster said:

mitch672 said:

yep, if electrical code prevents cars from plugging in to a 240V outlet, I wonder how those shifty eletric dryer mfrs got away with it for so long

Click to expand...

The issue is not with the voltage. It's with the amount of current.

Click to expand...

nope. your standard electric dryer runs on a 30AMP 240Volt circuit as well, and the EVSE equipment at 3.3Kw (or even 6.6Kw) is about the same (ok, 6.6KW is 40AMP circuit breaker). the EVSE could technically be plugged into a dryer outlet, but is that dryer outlet properly grounded and certified by an electrician? that's why they are insisting on hardwiring. nothing to do with the current.

mitch672 said:

Bicster said:

mitch672 said:

yep, if electrical code prevents cars from plugging in to a 240V outlet, I wonder how those shifty eletric dryer mfrs got away with it for so long

Click to expand...

The issue is not with the voltage. It's with the amount of current.

Click to expand...

nope. your standard electric dryer runs on a 30AMP 240Volt circuit as well, and the EVSE equipment at 3.3Kw (or even 6.6Kw) is about the same (ok, 6.6KW is 40AMP circuit breaker). the EVSE could technically be plugged into a dryer outlet, but is that dryer outlet properly grounded and certified by an electrician? that's why they are insisting on hardwiring. nothing to do with the current.

Click to expand...

I thought I read somewhere the EVSE would allow up to 80 amps. We'll know more when it arrives. I realize that 80A @ 240 is far beyond what the Leaf will accept, but these things are supposed to be more or less future-proof, right?

Frankly, the EVSE does almost nothing, from what I can tell, other than assure a safe connection and negotiate charge currents. I guess the installer will set some internal switches to let the unit know how much current it can draw.

Yes, the EVSE and the J-1772 Connector standard can provide up to 16.8KW (nearly an 80AMP circuit @ 240 Volts). that will not matter for these first Leafs comming out, they only have a 3.3KW charger onboard, so the EVSE mounted on a piece of plywood, with a dryer cord (and adapters) will work just fine (for now).

If you are running a line in your garage you would want to take care of future proofing it, if you just want to charge your Leaf fast using your buddies 30A electric dryer outlet, that is a different matter.

Around here, it is apparently illegal to install a 220 socket in the garage to charge a car.
However, it seems to be legal to have a socket INSTALLED (and wired with 240v) for using pluggable 240v shop equipment, like a welder.

I do not know if it is illegal to USE an existing dryer (or legally-installed "welder" socket) for charging a car.

For the Leaf, it is only 240v, 15a.
Any guesses?

While it may be tempting to some to not install J-1772 outlet (better name than charger!) to save on cost - considering it only costs like 1,200 (average) after federal rebate, I think it is a good idea to get it installed.

3.3KW @ 240V

we know the power, we know the voltage, the amperage then is 13.75AMPS,
however due to electrical codes you cannot load a circuit to more than %80 of capacity, so multiply that 13.75 * 1.20, and we get 16.5AMPS. Since you cannot buy 16.5 AMP circuit breakers, it will require a 20AMP breaker & wiring.

that is the minimum, if you want to be ready for the 6.6KW charger down the road then double that, or get a 40AMP breaker and wiring.