2018 Leaf factory cable won’t work at home

Has anyone had this problem? My dad recently installed a 220v plug in their condo building and the cable that came with the car won’t work on level 2 charging. The lights indicate a malfunction in the cable according to the manual. It will charge on the level 1 however.

AMRA said:

Has anyone had this problem? My dad recently installed a 220v plug in their condo building and the cable that came with the car won’t work on level 2 charging. The lights indicate a malfunction in the cable according to the manual. It will charge on the level 1 however.

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Is your house voltage 240 or 208? (There is no longer any 220 volt.) The Nissan EVSE won't work on 208 volts.

The usual problem is with the ground. I do not know any way to check without opening it up. You should measure ( with it off) between ground and the neutral for continuity. In a normal panel they go to the same place. Even with a sub they eventually go to the same place.

Depending on how it's wired it may only have 2 hots and a ground or neutral.
The either line to ground should show 120v.

I have seen all kinds of crazy stuff like 240v receptacles wired with a 120v line going to the ground prong, a clothes dryer receptacle wired with 120v.

Since the location is a condominium, the panelboard is probably supplied with 2 phases, neutral, and ground from a 3-phase 208Y/120-volt circuit. This gives 120 volts between either line and neutral, but only 208 volts between the two line conductors. Most Level 2 EVSEs work fine on 208 volts, but the portable Nissan unit supplied with 2018 models requires a higher voltage (nameplate says 240). As others have said, a bad ground connection for the receptacle will also cause failure to charge. There are a couple of other threads on this topic.

Since the location is a condominium,

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That caught my eye as well, which was why I asked about the voltage.

Thanks for all the info. Yes, it reads 208volts. The electrician tried to get it to work but nothing seems to help. My dad also thought it could be a ground issue. The cable that came with the car says it can work with 200-240volts, but I guess in this case it doesn't. We’ll see what they come up with.

GerryAZ said:

Since the location is a condominium, the panelboard is probably supplied with 2 phases, neutral, and ground from a 3-phase 208Y/120-volt circuit. This gives 120 volts between either line and neutral, but only 208 volts between the two line conductors. Most Level 2 EVSEs work fine on 208 volts, but the portable Nissan unit supplied with 2018 models requires a higher voltage (nameplate says 240). As others have said, a bad ground connection for the receptacle will also cause failure to charge. There are a couple of other threads on this topic.

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So is there another cable that will work with 208 volts that will charge at level 2?

There should be several options. Someone will post them shortly, I hope.

If you are looking for an inexpensive but reliable level2 EVSE that will work on 208V, this one is hard to beat on a value basis:

https://www.zencar.net/product/32a-evse-portable-adjustable-sae-j1772/

I own the same unit, have had zero issues with it.

Clipper Creek makes high-quality EVSEs that work fine on 208 volts. I have an HCS-50P (50-ampere circuit with maximum of 40 amperes of charging current) at my workshop garage that plugs in to the 14-50 receptacle fed from two phases of the 208Y/120-volt source. HCS-40P (40-ampere circuit with maximum of 32 amperes of charging current) are two options. The HCS-50P allows maximum allowable continuous current from a 50-ampere circuit if the car can use it, but the maximum current the Leaf can draw is 32 amperes on Level 2 under low voltage conditions (my car draws about 30 amperes at 212 volts at my workshop or about 26.4 amperes at 245 volts at home since my utility runs a little above nominal voltage) so the HCS-40P is sufficient for maximum charging rate.

The AeroVironment EVSE I bought back in 2011 that I use at home will also work on 208 volts at my workshop.

Could you post a photo of the nameplate of the Nissan EVSE? The one I saw in the showroom at my dealer did not say 200 volts on it.