EVSE level 2 upgrade recommandation?

Hey guys!
I have 2015 S model no QC.
After a month testing my commuting route (50miles on highway round trip) failed with 110V charger.
hot day like over 90 degree with no A/C .. now it is cold at night coming home with no heater on...
my full charge takes 15 hr every day and i can not catch up till next morning before go to work. leave home with 100% on monday morning and leave home with 88% Tuesday, 70 Wed morning so on... I don't understand why nissan created S model without QC. QC should be a primary saurces for charging i think so even if you run out of juice, you still can do 30min spending at public charge station..i have done once charge in public for 2 hrs to get only few miles to get home. that is just so wrong!
anyway, that's why i decided to have home level 2 so i will have full charge every morning.
what is best charger out there? could anyone recommend for me please? i do not need super over kill 40A charger...leaf only can do 16A max anyway...what's what i heard...

please help me out.

thank you

gotd77 said:

i do not need super over kill 40A charger...leaf only can do 16A max anyway...what's what i heard...

Click to expand...

My SL will pull 27.5 Amps on my Clipper Creek HCS-40 so I am not sure where you heard that 16A is the max. Maybe for level 1, but certainly not at Level 2.

Anyway I love the Clipper Creek HCS-40, but it is nothing fancy - no timers or readouts, just good old USA made and supported EVSE.
EVSEUpgrade is another alternative. Depending on your needs it can be adjusted to draw less current if needed.

thank you much!
i was looking at that brand as well. however, what do you mean by no timer? once its completely charged then it will not over charge my leaf right?
clipper creek is bit pricy though..i was also looking at Juice box as well. with hard wired and 25ft 30amp cord will give me around 320 something...i can't remember top of my head.
what do you think about juice box? only down side i found is they only give out 1yr warranty and they don't have customer service center or any phone number exsist.

thank you

dan2112 said:

gotd77 said:

i do not need super over kill 40A charger...leaf only can do 16A max anyway...what's what i heard...

Click to expand...

My SL will pull 27.5 Amps on my Clipper Creek HCS-40 so I am not sure where you heard that 16A is the max. Maybe for level 1, but certainly not at Level 2.

Anyway I love the Clipper Creek HCS-40, but it is nothing fancy - no timers or readouts, just good old USA made and supported EVSE.
EVSEUpgrade is another alternative. Depending on your needs it can be adjusted to draw less current if needed.

Click to expand...

The max draw on a LEAF S with no QC is 16A, never more. You don't need to adjust an EVSE down for the car only an outlet below the rated capacity of the EVSE if the outlet does not match or exceed the EVSE rating. For the OPs car they only need a 16A EVSE.

EVDRIVER said:

dan2112 said:

gotd77 said:

i do not need super over kill 40A charger...leaf only can do 16A max anyway...what's what i heard...

Click to expand...

My SL will pull 27.5 Amps on my Clipper Creek HCS-40 so I am not sure where you heard that 16A is the max. Maybe for level 1, but certainly not at Level 2.

Anyway I love the Clipper Creek HCS-40, but it is nothing fancy - no timers or readouts, just good old USA made and supported EVSE.
EVSEUpgrade is another alternative. Depending on your needs it can be adjusted to draw less current if needed.

Click to expand...

The max draw on a LEAf S with no QC is 16A. You don't need to adjust an EVSE down for the car only an outlet below the rated capacity of the EVSE.

Click to expand...

Good to know about the S - why Nissan does that I don't know. Crazy.
Here is what typical charge cycle looks like:


The car draws as much as it can (16A in your case) and then tails off and then balances the battery (the squiggles at the end of the charge).
No such thing as "overcharging" unless you subscribe to the "must only charge to 80%" camp

gotd77 said:

thank you much!
i was looking at that brand as well. however, what do you mean by no timer? once its completely charged then it will not over charge my leaf right?
clipper creek is bit pricy though..i was also looking at Juice box as well. with hard wired and 25ft 30amp cord will give me around 320 something...i can't remember top of my head.
what do you think about juice box? only down side i found is they only give out 1yr warranty and they don't have customer service center or any phone number exsist.

thank you

Click to expand...

Buy the Clipper Creek LCS-20. All you need for your on-board charger, and a good US company.
See the link in my signature.

billg said:

gotd77 said:

thank you much!
i was looking at that brand as well. however, what do you mean by no timer? once its completely charged then it will not over charge my leaf right?
clipper creek is bit pricy though..i was also looking at Juice box as well. with hard wired and 25ft 30amp cord will give me around 320 something...i can't remember top of my head.
what do you think about juice box? only down side i found is they only give out 1yr warranty and they don't have customer service center or any phone number exsist.

thank you

Click to expand...

Buy the Clipper Creek LCS-20. All you need for your on-board charger, and a good US company.
See the link in my signature.

Click to expand...

thank you i was thinking about that too since price is reasonable and even if i buy next EV, i will get one with QC on board so i can spend 30 min at the public if i really have to or i can come home and charge during sleep time. next morning will be 100% so it will be great invest i think.

thanks!

gotd77 said:

I have 2015 S model no QC.
After a month testing my commuting route (50miles on highway round trip) failed with 110V charger.
hot day like over 90 degree with no A/C .. now it is cold at night coming home with no heater on...
my full charge takes 15 hr every day and i can not catch up till next morning before go to work. leave home with 100% on monday morning and leave home with 88% Tuesday, 70 Wed morning so on... I don't understand why nissan created S model without QC. QC should be a primary saurces for charging i think so even if you run out of juice, you still can do 30min spending at public charge station..i have done once charge in public for 2 hrs to get only few miles to get home. that is just so wrong!
anyway, that's why i decided to have home level 2 so i will have full charge every morning.
what is best charger out there? could anyone recommend for me please? i do not need super over kill 40A charger...leaf only can do 16A max anyway...what's what i heard...

Click to expand...

Please get your terminology straight. You're looking for an EVSE for home. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14728&p=332668#p332668" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Yep. Obviously you've discovered being unable to replenish charge quickly enough via 120 volts.

As for your dreams about using DC fast chargers, well, we don't even know if they are any CHAdeMO DC FCs in your area. Can you update your location info via User Control Panel (near top) > Profile (left side)? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

Even if there are some, they might be unreliable, ICEd, broken, or have a long line, besides being too expensive to use. Many of the ones in the SF Bay Area are broken for a weeks at a time. Also, working or not, many of the ones in the Bay Area have ripoff prices.

Yep, to charge at 240 volts at home, a 15 or 16 amp 240 volt EVSE is at home is more than enough for your Leaf S w/3.3 kW on-board charger.

At $395, Clipper Creek LCS-20 is not pricey in my book. At the beginning, most L2 EVSEs were on the order of $1000. It was a big deal when stuff like http://cleantechnica.com/2013/05/09/bosch-introduces-sub-450-level-2-car-charger/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; came out.

Clipper Creek LCS-20

Sorry to pile on to the other newbie's thread, but I am also looking to select the right 240v EVSE for home.

I am constrained by my home's 100 amp panel. I just bought this house and I'm not up for a panel upgrade right now. I might be able to squeeze out just one more circuit, 15 or 20 amps, dedicated to car charging.

My only issue with not going directly to the Clipper Creek LCS-20, is that I want to start charging after 11:00 PM when the PG&E rates go way down. Also, I won't be using the heaters, the stove, the TV, lights, etc. in the house after 11:00, and the battery will be cooled down, too.

From the CC website, it appears there is no timing control on the LCS-20, and my Nissan salesman told me the S model Leaf (like mine) does not have timing in the car, either. Only the SV model. I admit freely I have not read the whole Leaf manual yet. I just got the car yesterday.

So now I am seeking the magical unicorn of an inexpensive, lower amp, 240v EVSE with a timer on it to delay the start of charging.
Has anyone got a recommended unit for this scenario? Many thanks!

For only $54 more, the JuiceBox currently available from Amazon at $449 is the way to go. Trust me, you will really appreciate the extra long 25' J1772 output cable. It is also quite portable and versatile because it is a "plug-in" unit. The higher cost "Premium" unit includes an LCD, Remote control capabilities and a built-in timer function, which I find to be extremely useful features. I'm using mine to charge a VOLT (3.3kW OBC) and RAV4 EV (10kW OBC). My infrastructure wiring currently permits using a L2 EVSE for charging up 240V, 32A, which is more than adequate for a lowest, off-peak utility rate, overnight scheduled charge of either car. I also have the WiFi option in my JuiceBox, so I can monitor it over the Internet (via soon to be cell phone app). When I go to visit a relative, with the remote, I can easily reset the current limit to 24A, so I can connect to a NEMA 10-30 outlet (for an old style electric dryer) using an appropriate AC Adapter, a handy to have optional accessory available from Electric Motor Werks ($39).

scheherezade99 said:

From the CC website, it appears there is no timing control on the LCS-20, and my Nissan salesman told me the S model Leaf (like mine) does not have timing in the car, either. Only the SV model. I admit freely I have not read the whole Leaf manual yet. I just got the car yesterday.

Click to expand...

This is completely untrue! The S model does have a charge timer on the dash. If you look at pages CH-24 to CH-26 in the manual you can find out how to set it. The S model timer is "end-time-only" so you set the time by which you want the charge to finish and the car calculates when to start. So, for hitting a time of use (TOU) window for your electric rates, you would set the end-time for the end of the TOU window. Be aware that the LEAF usually finishes early so, with some experimentation, you might want to set the end-time for a half hour or forty minutes after the end of the TOU window. Since your car has the charge package (including the 6.0 kW charger) you will easily finish charging in the lowest cost TOU window if you have a 30 Amp EVSE. With a lower Amp EVSE it depends on how long the window is and how much charge you need each day.

So now I am seeking the magical unicorn of an inexpensive, lower amp, 240v EVSE with a timer on it to delay the start of charging.
Has anyone got a recommended unit for this scenario? Many thanks!

Click to expand...

You really don't need an EVSE with a timer. So, the Clipper Creek LCS-20 might work for you since it only takes a 20 Amp circuit. But be aware that it will slow your charging so that a full charge might take six to seven hours to charge from empty to full. (How long it actually takes would depend on how much you drive each day. If you only use half the charge in the battery the time to charge will also be reduced by half.)

Another option would be to use EVSEupgrade.com to have your Nissan EVSE upgraded to 240 Volts. That would require a 30 amp circuit but you can adjust the current to draw to between 6 and 20 Amps I believe. That still wouldn't charge your car as fast as the 27.5 Amps the 6 kW car charger can take.

The Clipper Creek LCS-25 would also require a 30 Amp circuit but draws only 20 Amps. That would charge your car from empty to full in four to five hours.

To charge at maximum speed, you would need a 30 Amp EVSE that is on a 40 Amp circuit. I presume that you don't want to do that on a house with 100 Amp service.

How long is your cheap rate PG&E TOU window? If it is six hours or longer you could use just about any of the lower amperage EVSEs and still hit it. And if your daily driving doesn't use all the charge in the battery, it becomes even easier to get a full charge in the TOU window.

Hope this helps.

Many thanks for the recommendations!

I have two pieces of good news to be thankful for this TG turkey day:
1. The Leaf S does have timer capability (yay!) I came to this conclusion also , by, *gasp* reading the manual
and
2. My electrician says he is comfortable with a new 20 amp, maybe even 30 amp circuit on my existing panel. Huzzah!

I hear a lot of positives for Clipper Creek, which is probably the way I will go.
I believe they have a 20a, 25a, and 30a in the LCS models, but for 30a EVSE I really need 40a circuit, so that seems off the table.

Just one last time, no fans of Aerovironement EVSEs? Anyone? I'm confused why Nissan endorses them if no Leaf owners like the brand.

scheherezade99 said:

...Just one last time, no fans of Aerovironement EVSEs? Anyone? I'm confused why Nissan endorses them if no Leaf owners like the brand.

Click to expand...

For longtime LEAFers the fact that Nissan tried to force us to go with AeroVironment, which was then very expensive, was somewhat off-putting. We had to specifically opt out of having one installed at our house to be able to order our cars. Many of us, myself included, opted for the less expensive and much more versatile EVSEupgrade instead.

AV makes decent, if rather expensive, EVSEs so far as I have heard. However you can spend less to get similar capability now that there are many brands and prices have dropped quite a bit. One reason Clipper Creek gets a lot of praise is because they were one of the first companies to make EVSEs and their units tend to be robust, reliable, and not very expensive. But there are a number of good brands nowadays. My favorite public charge station is a Schneider unit so I am inclined to view them favorably. But there is no one obvious choice for home L2 EVSEs.

scheherezade99 said:

Sorry to pile on to the other newbie's thread, but I am also looking to select the right 240v EVSE for home.

I am constrained by my home's 100 amp panel. I just bought this house and I'm not up for a panel upgrade right now. I might be able to squeeze out just one more circuit, 15 or 20 amps, dedicated to car charging.

My only issue with not going directly to the Clipper Creek LCS-20, is that I want to start charging after 11:00 PM when the PG&E rates go way down. Also, I won't be using the heaters, the stove, the TV, lights, etc. in the house after 11:00, and the battery will be cooled down, too.

From the CC website, it appears there is no timing control on the LCS-20, and my Nissan salesman told me the S model Leaf (like mine) does not have timing in the car, either. Only the SV model. I admit freely I have not read the whole Leaf manual yet. I just got the car yesterday.

So now I am seeking the magical unicorn of an inexpensive, lower amp, 240v EVSE with a timer on it to delay the start of charging.
Has anyone got a recommended unit for this scenario? Many thanks!

Click to expand...

Its actually not that hard.

You could put a 220v Pool timer inline with a plug in EVSE. Have an electrician wire an outlet from the pool timer and plug in the EVSE (i.e. EVSE upgrade) That would give you the ability to "go portable" and still have a level 2 at home.

FYI, if anyone cares, I did get the Clipper Creek LCS-25.
https://www.clippercreek.com/store/product/charging-station-lcs-25-level-2/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My electrician was able to squeeze in a 30 amp dedicated circuit for the CC unit. The only other thing on that circuit is a 110v receptacle (which I need for xmas lights) and an outdoor light so I could see what I'm doing.

I made a little house for the charger close to the breaker box and where I park. It came out pretty cute, I must say.
i'm trying to attach a couple of photos for it.


https://plus.google.com/10024701387...6096509928544237922&oid=100247013877743613253
https://plus.google.com/10024701387...6096509911712994898&oid=100247013877743613253

scheherezade99 said:

I made a little house for the charger close to the breaker box and where I park. It came out pretty cute, I must say.
i'm trying to attach a couple of photos for it.

Click to expand...

Really Cute