2013 stock Leaf EVSE charges at both 120V and 240V?

I'm told that the 2013 stock Leaf EVSE will charge at 240V with a plug adapter or a cord change, no internal modification needed. Anyone know if this is true?

Who told you this? They willing to sacrifice one of their own in this manner to prove it?

cwerdna said:

Who told you this? They willing to sacrifice one of their own in this manner to prove it?

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Not really helpful...It's kind of a yes or no question, hopefully with some details.

The answer should be no. Whoever told you that is almost certainly wrong.

I wouldn't trust whoever told you unless they sacrificed one of their own to prove that the "magic smoke" isn't let out at 240 volts, or in they'd guarantee their claim in writing and would replace a blown EVSE that was fed 240 volts.

Nissan themselves (at a meeting I attended w/the Googleplex w/Kadota-san (chief vehicle engineer), Mark Perry, their quality guy, and other Nissan folks and engineers in late 2011) mentioned that they'd been receiving L1 EVSEs that had been damaged by people using adapters to feed into 200+ volts. I'm pretty sure it was their quality guy that made the statement. Previous posts on this at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=246513#p246513" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

We had a previous thread on this before: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=12426" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Since I have no idea where you are and don't have specifics about apacheguy, I can only guess that both of you went to misinformed dealers, possibly the same one.

I'm asking about the 2013 EVSE, which is a different model than the the 2011 and 2012. If anyone out there has experience with this, pls let me know.

I understand. If Nissan added this capability, don't you think they'd advertise it?

Again, if the source isn't willing to do what I said, then I would highly doubt his claim. I don't think anyone here would like to sacrifice their '13 Leaf's stock EVSE to test this claim. The best person to do so is whoever told you.

http://evseupgrade.com/?main_page=index&cPath=1&zenid=kia66k4qdj7dts24h1mkk393m6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (run by Ingineer here) provides a '13 Leaf EVSE upgrade.

cwerdna said:

I understand. If Nissan added this capability, don't you think they'd advertise it?

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Better yet, I would imagine Ingineer himself would say so. Nissan has no business interest in steering anybody to any other charging solution besides their "official" one made by AeroVironment.

:shock: NO NO NO :shock:

Maybe open the unit up and get the data off the relay? Or is that too simple?

Or, just go for it!!! Plug it in to 240 volts and have a fire extinguisher.

This rumor comes from an interesting source:

AlexG said:

You'd think they would make one and have different plugs for different markets, like all phone and laptop manufacturers do. I bought the $10 conversion plans on Ebay, and on the 4th page, it states 2013 EVSE only needs an adapter if you're ok with 12 amps at 240V. It has a photo of the EVSE hooked up to a meter running nice and cool on 245 VAC supplying about 11.6 to 11.8 amps. Doing the $300 conversion will give you the 6.8Kw charge, if you bought the upgrade, which I did not, so the 3Kw charge rate is fine for me.

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http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=11805&p=293681#p293687" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The scary thing is since they are not labeled as 240volt Panasonic may have not started out the new model at 240 volts, or they could remove 240 volt support in a later revision and you wouldn't know until the smoke came out.

In some countries I think this is true. Not the USA! Do not change the plug and jam it in an outlet.

I just searched out this thread because I wondered why I hadn't heard about the 240V capability. I just talked to a guy who decided to gamble with his 2013 EVSE and is now happily charging daily at 240V off of his dryer plug after making an adapter. I assume this is at the 12A rate...

Electric4Me said:

I just searched out this thread because I wondered why I hadn't heard about the 240V capability. I just talked to a guy who decided to gamble with his 2013 EVSE and is now happily charging daily at 240V off of his dryer plug after making an adapter. I assume this is at the 12A rate...

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I can't tell if this is a urban myth or if it's actually true

QueenBee said:

I can't tell if this is a urban myth or if it's actually true

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Me neither, but I expect to see it with my own eyes when I meet up with him to install a hitch next week! I'll report back.

We have received units in where people have done this, and they definitely will work for a short while (variable time), then the switch-mode supply in the unit catastrophically self-destructs. There are several components that aren't rated for the 320VDC that is generated when connected to 240VAC, and they operate in a high-stress mode over their design ratings, so it's roulette as to when they will fail.

Unlike the generation 1 (2011-2012), We have not had much success repairing these once they fail. This is due to the fact that the entire PCB is potted into the bottom housing and extraction of the PCB does extensive damage, whereas the gen 1 units had a separate power supply, and a removable PCB. So unfortunately if you feed 240V into a non-upgraded gen 2 unit, you are gambling with an ~$800 device. When the power supply components fail, they often blow many other components as well as traces on the PCB and these are not accessible due to the potting.

Nissan has also been getting these back under "warranty" and has a service bulletin out instructing dealers to open the case before honoring any warranty claims. When the unit goes, it leaves a huge mess inside, and it's very obvious what happened.

As others have noted, even if it worked, you are only going to get 2.8kW out of it without a firmware upgrade.

-Phil

smart man. ee intellectual, and he can write.

Now THAT'S an answer

KillaWhat said:

Now THAT'S an answer

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Yes, thanks for the reply Ingeneer!

You can also do the same thing to the Gen 1 (2011-2012) units, but they seem to self-destruct much faster. We will usually repair these free-of-charge if sent in for upgrade, as we end up replacing the parts anyway. So if you are a 2011-2012 owner and you tried this and are left with a dead unit we can help!

If you did this to your gen 2 unit (2013), we'll be happy to look at it. There's a small chance it can be repaired, but don't get your hopes up. If not, we'll be glad to make you an offer on the carcass, as we can use the handle and cord for other customers with damaged units, and we can sell you a new unit at a discount.

-Phil

Electric4Me said:

KillaWhat said:

Now THAT'S an answer

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Yes, thanks for the reply Ingeneer!

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+100

Thanks, esp. for the info about the gen 1 and gen 2 units. It's also kinda funny how the OP hasn't returned. Their last visit was 5/21/13...