240 V in Home Charging station

Does everyone who owns an EV have a 240 v charging station at home? The 120 V takes 3 times as long to charge your car in my experience... :?

GreenPlanet777 said:

Does everyone who owns an EV have a 240 v charging station at home? The 120 V takes 3 times as long to charge your car in my experience... :?

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I doubt that everyone has a 240v EVSE at home. Many folks (like myself) have opted to upgrade our stock 120v EVSE to 240v via evseupgrade.com which isn't quite like having a permanent 245v EVSE installed, but somewhere in between (both in cost and convenience I suppose). Although I leave mine plugged in at home the vast majority of the time.

Upgrading from the stock 'trickle charger' is also a matter of efficiency as more of the power drawn from the wall is actually stored in the batteries.

Based of my research no way in hell it'd have worked with out the L2, so when I ordered the car I got the charger same time.

Summer starting from 40% usually less then 4 h plus cell balancing, worst time in winter from 10% was 6 hours, but it was -60c and the car was not in a garage so I can not blame it or the evse!

Makes it way way more convenient having L2 at home, not to mention preheating goes way better.

*EDIT*

Mine is 240v 40Amp

It would be somewhat rare to find folks relying on 120 volt / L1 charge rates with anything bu the lowliest of EVs and shortest daily drives.

TonyWilliams said:

It would be somewhat rare to find folks relying on 120 volt / L1 charge rates with anything bu the lowliest of EVs and shortest daily drives.

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Man, the i-MiEV gets no love! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
But yeah, having 240V charging at home was necessary for me. I'd have to charge to 100% for Monday morning and watch my range slowly decrease through the week if I didn't have an L2 charger.

GreenPlanet777 said:

The 120 V takes 3 times as long to charge your car in my experience... :?

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That's the ratio I see at my house, but depending on which EVSE you are using (and the charger in your car), you could get between 2.28X and 5.36X:

RegGuheert said:

Adjustable EVSEUpgrade rates:
120V/12A: 1.12kW = 1X
240V/12A: 2.56kW = 2.28X
240V/16A: 3.3kW = 2.94X (Limited by 3.3kW charger, not EVSE.)
240V/16A: 3.52kW = 3.14X (For a 2013 LEAF with 6kW charger.)
240V/20A: 4.48kW = 4.0X (For a 2013 LEAF with 6kW charger.)

For other EVSE charging rates which can be purchased for your home:
240V/24A: 5.44kW = 4.86X (For a 2013 LEAF with 6kW charger.)
240V/32A: 6.0kW = 5.36X (For a 2013 LEAF with 6 kW charger. Limited by charger, not EVSE.)

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I'm not planning on installing a Level 2 EVSE anytime soon, but my situation might be rare. I have a 40-mile commute, no problem to recharge to 80% overnight using Level 1. In addition, I have access to a Level 2 EVSE at work, so I only have to charge at home on the weekends if I use the car for errands.

With the install and equipment being paid for by EV Project and LADWP it was a no-brainer for me at the time I since moved though, and ran into $$$$ with electrical upgrades in my new home some related to installing the EVSE, so I guess the balance of things is now restored...

It would be somewhat rare to find folks relying on 120 volt / L1 charge rates with anything bu the lowliest of EVs and shortest daily drives.

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Not as rare as you think. I've had only L-1 at home since I leased my 2013 almost exactly two years ago. Before I retired I had a 43 mile RT commute, in Upstate NY, in one of the worst Winters we've had lately. No problems because I don't drive a lot at home, and I'm now retired and drive even less. I intend to install L-2, but it isn't absolutely necessary.

LeftieBiker said:

It would be somewhat rare to find folks relying on 120 volt / L1 charge rates with anything bu the lowliest of EVs and shortest daily drives.

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Not as rare as you think. I've had only L-1 at home since I leased my 2013 almost exactly two years ago. Before I retired I had a 43 mile RT commute, in Upstate NY, in one of the worst Winters we've had lately. No problems because I don't drive a lot at home, and I'm now retired and drive even less. I intend to install L-2, but it isn't absolutely necessary.

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For the first 8 months of Leaf ownership (or is that lesseeship?) I only had L1 charging. With supplemental public L-2 charging (no QC on my car) I still managed to rack up 1,000 miles per month on my Leaf.

I only went with L2 for two reasons: 1.) faster turnaround time, and thus greater flexibility on usage, and 2.) a tax credit on EVSE purchase installation that I wasn't sure would be renewed (and AFAIK never was after that).

I bought a Clipper Creek L-2 station last April (not this April, last April) but health problems have made it difficult for me to get around to installing it. I hope to get it in before June....Damn, make that July!

My 2015 leaf gets along fine with L1. Since purchase last year in September it has accumulated 3800 miles and there has never been a need for an L2. If I were not retired things might be different.

Yes, there are a few owners who rely L1 alone. At L1 rates though, it is not possible to fully charge the car from empty overnight (takes 20+ hours), so the miles you can drive are limited further than they would be otherwise. As I recall, depending on how much "overnight" you have, a daily average of 40-50 miles is about the most that can be sustained. For some, this isn't a problem, either because the don't need more, or they can supplement at work.

XeonPony said:

...Makes it way way more convenient having L2 at home, not to mention preheating goes way better...

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This (for me).

Some people with short commutes or workplace charging can get away with L1. But it sure isn't as convenient or efficient.