Shocked by Nissan Leaf

It happened when plugging in the standard Leaf 110V charger included with the car, when my thumb touched the metal latch that secures it into the vehicle

The first two times it happened it was milder and I thought it was a common static shock

The third time my entire hand felt "stuck" to the charger by the current that flowed into it - it alternated between tingly/num and pained for hours afterwards, going as far as my forearm and elbow

I called Nissan Leaf Customer Service and they said to take use a rubber glove to remove the charging unit and take it into my dealership which I will do ASAP

Should I have myself checked out by a doctor for this to make sure I didn't damage myself in some way? Shouldn't Nissan pay for that? (I don't have medical insurance)

I've always had health-related anxiety so this incident is really freaking me out

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
--Daniel

Electrocuted is a bit harsh, more like shocked. Here are some other user experiences and what they did to alleviate the issue.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2545" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

palmermd said:

Electrocuted is a bit harsh.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2545" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Palmermd

it's not a static shock, i'm certain of it - I've been static shocked hundreds/thousands of times in my life

i had to force my hand off of the connector because it felt 'stuck' by the electricity going into my hand

it wasn't a 'zap' (i've been zapped plenty of times from touching other parts of the Leaf, touching door handles, dogs, etc) - this was different- i could feel a current *flowing* into my hand - this has never happened in the 1.5 years i've had this car, even when i drove it in a more static prone city than i'm currently in

just because it's not a common issue doesn't mean it's not possible or didn't happen to me

ok, thats another situation all together. There have been several times folks exaggerating in the past, so I point you to the thread where we discussed the electric shocks from the car. If you truly got power from the EVSE it is something you need to have investigated.

Electrocution is death by electric shock, so I think we can safely rule that out. On the other hand (pun intended), static electricity does not cause, "The third time my entire hand ... alternated between tingly/numb and pained for hours afterwards, going as far as my forearm and elbow". It sounds like there is a serious--and dangerous--malfunction of the EVSE.

palmermd said:

ok, thats another situation all together. There have been several times folks exaggerating in the past, so I point you to the thread where we discussed the electric shocks from the car. If you truly got power from the EVSE it is something you need to have investigated.

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Thank you for your response

I'm still having occasional spasms/pain/numbness in the hand/arm a day later, so it's definitely concerning

I was surprised that Nissan Customer Service didn't immediately offer to have me checked out medically - perhaps they too thought I was exaggerating

I'm not one of those frivolous people that sues anyone for any reason, but I wonder if I should get someone to represent my interests in this, because Nissan seemed more concerned about the car equipment than my well-being when I called them (they didn't even return my first voice mail on the matter)

Thanks again

I've been shocked with 240V back when I used to live in France (in your case it was *only* 120V). I do remember getting a few occasional spasms a few hours after but it stopped. Nothing permanent. If you still get it after a couple of days, by all means you should consult.

In order to get shocked the way you did, two things had to fail : the ground fault protection in the EVSE AND the insulation in the car's on board charger or the EVSE.

The ground problem could very likely be in your power outlet. You should have it checked ASAP by an electrician. It's IMO the most likely reason the EVSE failed to detect the other problem and protect you from getting shocked. You should definitely go to Nissan and have them figure it out but if my "theory" is correct, you should get an error on your EVSE if you try again with another outlet you know for sure is properly grounded.

I would check the outlet, too. Plug in one of those three prong outlet testers with the three lights. Make the the ground is really ground.

Shouldn't Nissan pay for that? (I don't have medical insurance)

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You don't have something mandated by that you purchase, so you want someone else to pay for it? Really?

ericsf said:

I've been shocked with 240V back when I used to live in France (in your case it was *only* 120V). I do remember getting a few occasional spasms a few hours after but it stopped. Nothing permanent. If you still get it after a couple of days, by all means you should consult.

In order to get shocked the way you did, two things had to fail : the ground fault protection in the EVSE AND the insulation in the car's on board charger or the EVSE.

The ground problem could very likely be in your power outlet. You should have it checked ASAP by an electrician. It's IMO the most likely reason the EVSE failed to detect the other problem and protect you from getting shocked. You should definitely go to Nissan and have them figure it out but if my "theory" is correct, you should get an error on your EVSE if you try again with another outlet you know for sure is properly grounded.

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Thank you very much EricSF

Even though I haven't made any electrical changes to the house or outlet since I've been using the car, I just called my electrician to come and check the ground on the outlet immediately

I'm so surprised that the Leaf doesn't have some redundancy in place to prevent this even in the case of an improperly ground outlet!

When I was a kid I wired a metal headphone jack directly to a plug to make my own power supply, and then plugged it into a 240V 15A socket. Now THAT is electrocution.

LakeLeaf said:

Shouldn't Nissan pay for that? (I don't have medical insurance)

Click to expand...

You don't have something mandated by that you purchase, so you want someone else to pay for it? Really?

Click to expand...

I signed up this month but it won't take effect until April 1

But as others have said above, regardless of the grounded outlet, there should insulation in both the car and the EVSE - if a defective product allowed me to get injured, then absolutely I feel the manufacturer of that product should take responsibility

topaz420 said:

ericsf said:

I've been shocked with 240V back when I used to live in France (in your case it was *only* 120V). I do remember getting a few occasional spasms a few hours after but it stopped. Nothing permanent. If you still get it after a couple of days, by all means you should consult.

In order to get shocked the way you did, two things had to fail : the ground fault protection in the EVSE AND the insulation in the car's on board charger or the EVSE.

The ground problem could very likely be in your power outlet. You should have it checked ASAP by an electrician. It's IMO the most likely reason the EVSE failed to detect the other problem and protect you from getting shocked. You should definitely go to Nissan and have them figure it out but if my "theory" is correct, you should get an error on your EVSE if you try again with another outlet you know for sure is properly grounded.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much EricSF

Even though I haven't made any electrical changes to the house or outlet since I've been using the car, I just called my electrician to come and check the ground on the outlet immediately

I'm so surprised that the Leaf doesn't have some redundancy in place to prevent this even in the case of an improperly ground outlet!

Click to expand...

You have a good point. I've never tried to plug by EVSE in a outlet that's not grounded. I remember reading that people who tried to use generators had to trick the ground connection so that EVSE would work... so you're right: there is some detection of grounding problem in the EVSE... so maybe it's your EVSE that is defective. Let us know what they find.

topaz420 said:

But as others have said above, regardless of the grounded outlet, there should insulation in both the car and the EVSE - if a defective product allowed me to get injured, then absolutely I feel the manufacturer of that product should take responsibility

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Agreed. It's called product liability:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_liability" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You could call a personal injury attorney. I don't know about where you are but around here they have billboards all over town.

Got me $1.2M !

Ground-hot reverse on the outlet you plug into would be a hard thing for an evse to protect against. If it's any consolation there are plenty of other things you could plug into such an outlet that would hurt you too.

Assuming that's the problem.

LTLFTcomposite said:

Ground-hot reverse on the outlet you plug into would be a hard thing for an evse to protect against. If it's any consolation there are plenty of other things you could plug into such an outlet that would hurt you too.

Assuming that's the problem.

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topaz420's earlier comments seem to imply that this outlet had no problem in the past. This explanation could fly only if this was the very first time he ever touched bare metal on the car while it was charging. Almost everthing is plastic or painted. Possible.

topaz420 said:

The third time my entire hand felt "stuck" to the charger by the current that flowed into it

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Weird. Sort of sounds like DC. With AC you can generally flinch away from contact. DC can cause muscles to clamp down.

Were you wearing shoes?

mwalsh said:

Dude. Don't be a pussy. When I was a kid I wired a metal headphone jack directly to a plug to make my own power supply, and then plugged it into a 240V 15A socket. Now THAT is electrocution.

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Lol, it's a wonder we ever made it to puberty. Basements would flood periodically on the street where we lived. Which provided a treasure trove of discarded appliances for us to "play" with. Many happy summer afternoons spent "electrocuting" ourselves. :lol:

If you were electrocuted you world be dead and posting from the grave!