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Aina

New member
Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Messages
1
Dear all,
I have a 2013 Nissan leaf with 18,310 miles. My battery capacity went down to 8 bars within 1.5 years (second hand car that had 12 bars when I bought it) so I will get a free battery replacement very soon! 6 weeks :)
Now...
I have been mostly using the EV1 charging station at home (110v in the garage in a 50 years old home with no GFI plugs) , and a few times the EV2 at work. twice the EV3.
1-The Manual says it is not recommended to charge on EV1 to preserve the battery's life??? WHY??? I always thought slow charging was better?
2- The "mileage" I get after recharge puzzles me: When I charge my car at home, with 110 v (EV1) I get after some 12h 100% battery charged and 75 miles autonomy.
When I charge my car at work on an EV2 (220v), I get a 100% charged battery but 59 miles autonomy... When I charge it to another EV2 station (other job site and a different brand) battery is 100% charged but displays 55 miles autonomy. ? WHY?
On all occasion there is no light blinking outside (as te car is charged), and the battery is fully charged to 100%. The mileage "autonomy" refers to how many miles I can drive before recharging the battery. AND of course this is when I just start the car: no A/C, no radio, nothing on and I am not yet driving!
SO: How come the number of miles I could drive is different while my battery is 100% charged??
Yes I do know mileage range will change depending on how is my driving:A/C, no A/C, steep slope, accelerations etc... BUT this display is just when I start the car, still in parking mode and NOT yet driving!!!
I don't understand the logic behind that! To me if the battery is 100% charged I should have before I start driving the same amount of miles before I need to recharge it, right?
3- Planning to install an EV2 charging station at home: someone suggested that I buy a converter to convert my 110v from my plug to a 220v and then connect the EV2 charging system... Does not make much sense to me beside the reduced costs, but... would that work? Won't I loose amps somewhere in the conversion?
4- within 6 weeks I'll get a NEW battery from Nissan, free of charge - yeh!- What should I do to preserve my new battery better? Install an EV2 (as recommended by the manual)?, not "toppling off and select the 80% charge only?
5- Finally: appears that Nissan does not offer an EV2 setting and a tech told me I can buy one at any store like home depot etc... True?
I am a woman, pretty handy-skilled but NOT an electrician.... My brother told me it is very easy to "pull" a 220v from my electricity box...??? Really?
Thank you for your help!
Aloha, Aina!
 
First off, your use of EV1, EV2, EV3 is really confusing.

In the US, for AC charging, we have level 1 and 2. People tend to incorrectly call DC (usually fast) charging "level 3". Leaf w/quick charge port/inlet is compatible w/CHAdeMO chargers.

Please see these:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054618/https://www.sae.org/smartgrid/chargingspeeds.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20150604142825/http://www.sae.org/smartgrid/chargingprimer.pdf
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=262630#p262630

As for #3, don't bother with stupid guess-o-meter: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=271853#p271853. It's based upon recent driving history. If you had a charging station at the top of the hill and charged to full, it will ALWAYS have a FAR lower full GOM estimate than one at the bottom of a hill.

If you approach the same charging station driving REALLY fast w/hard acceleration, hard braking, heater blasting on full, esp. when it's cold and wet out, you'll have low GOM value at full charge vs. if you drove slow, no heater, no AC, gentle braking, etc. We even have this thread: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12899.

If you want to charge faster at home, you want to buy a level 2 EVSE (to charge at 240 volts) or get the stock L1 EVSE upgraded via a service like http://evseupgrade.com/. If you do NOT know what you're doing w/electricity and don't know NEC (National Electrical Code), it's strongly recommended you hire a licensed electrician to either hardwire a level 2 EVSE) or properly install wiring and an appropriate outlet + make any other changes, if needed.

If you cannot tell what's wrong w/the work at https://web.archive.org/web/20140910071030/http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=17914 like the folks who commented, I'd say you aren't qualified to do the above work. There are some more comments starting at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=17914&start=20, which didn't get archived along with https://web.archive.org/web/20150603232448/http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=17914&start=30 and https://web.archive.org/web/20141201025253/http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=17914&start=40.
(Raises hand. I'm not qualified either.)

US household voltages are 120 and 240 volts, not 110 and 220.

Not "any store" carries EVSEs, but Home Depot does sell them: https://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Alternative-Energy-Solutions-EV-Charging-Stations/N-5yc1vZc3gj. (I don't not like them calling them chargers. For level 1 and 2 charging, the charger is on-board the car. The external unit is an EVSE.)
 
There is also no harm in using L-1 (120 volt) charging. It is slower and slightly less efficient, but it does no harm to the battery. Under some circumstances it can even be better for it. Nissan appears to have been worried about risks associated with substandard wiring and outlets, as well as driver inconvenience due to long charging times, when they warned about L-1 charging.
 
Here is what I have found has been working for me:
  • If you charge to over 80%, get it down to 80% within 12 hours.
  • If the charge drops to below 20%, charge it to at least 50% within 12 hours.
  • Quick charge until the charge stops automatically, not longer.
  • Do not do multiple quick charges on very hot days and watch the battery temperature.
  • Use Level 2 charging when possible
  • Use Level 1 charging when there are no other choices available
  • Make sure that the charger you are using is not damaged in any way
  • Park in shaded spots or indoors whenever possible when it is warm out
  • Use LeafSpy Pro to make sure you aren't doing any damage to your battery

I have been doing this since my battery got replaced last year and LeafSpy originally reported the SOH had gone up by about .1%, but since it stabilized there, it hasn't budged at all.

I am not saying this is what you should or should not do, just that this is what is working for me.
 
Aloha Aina,

+1 on hiring an electrician to do the wiring if you decide to use L2 charging (240V). 120V is dangerous but 240V can be fatal so please don't DIY without having someone help you. The 'converter' to change 120V to 240V would be a transformer and unless you know how this works and why it is a bad idea you shouldn't be doing your own wiring. No offense, but there are many ways that things can go wrong with wiring and unless you know what you're doing you shouldn't attempt this yourself.

As mentioned, L1 charging shouldn't have any effect on battery life. Charging to 80% is actually recommended as Li batteries tend to degrade when stored at full charge, especially when warm.

If it's convenient for you, I'd recommend to just keep using your L1 charger and limiting your charge to 80% for most days. Once a month charge to 100% (it will balance the cells in the battery pack) but don't let the car sit at 100% charge for a long time. When you do charge to 100%, drive it asap after the charging is done.
 
If the charge drops to below 20%, charge it to at least 50% within 12 hours.

I don't see any necessity to charge to 50% from a low state, except to get some range back. In hot weather, with a higher pack temp, if I get below 20% I charge it just to 25% or so, using L-1 as I always do, then finish charging late at night when it's cooler outside.
 
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