Charging at top of hill?

My nearest level 3 charger is 18 miles away and at an elevation of 4500 ft from my home. What happens if I charge a new Nissan Leaf fully and then ride down the hill? Will I lose all of the energy that I would normally gain from the regenerative system going down the hill? Is there a buffer built in to my battery system that will allow my battery to take more charge than usual if it is generated from the regenerated braking system? Should I stop charging at 90-95% so that I can accept regenerative power from the ride back down hill?
Thanks

^^
Potential energy in joules is mass*G*elevation in Kg, 9.8 and meters
Level ground driving is 200 - 250 Wh/mile. That is ~ 4 kWh +/- 10%

Approximately ... If the potential energy is greater than the 18 miles of level ground driving, the difference will be wasted if you start at 100% battery.

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Unclear ?
Charge up to 80-90% and drive home. Check you SoC on arrival. Any SoC higher than you charged to says don't charge to 100%

You will have no regen when the battery is at 100% SOC. The regen will start when the SOC drops and will probably be noticeable around 90% (ish).

The Leaf is a heavy car and if you are going downhill for 4500 feet I'd stop charging at 90% so you can have some regen to help the brakes out. As mentioned, some experimentation will allow you to dial in the SOC that works best in this situation. Also, I believe regen decreases when the battery temp is colder so if you live where it gets near or below freezing that is another factor to consider.

Finally, Li batteries in general and Leaf batteries in particular degrade faster when stored at high SOC. Leaving the car at 100% SOC for long periods, especially if the battery is hot, is a sure fire way to accelerate the degradation.

^^
Good points.
Another is that charging from 80 -> 100% is slooooow

What is the significance of the Level3 charger 18 miles away?

For this reason it would be sooo nice to have a hil top or 80 percent switch. I’m surprised no one has figured a work around yet. Or a hack.

webeleafowners said:

For this reason it would be sooo nice to have a hil top or 80 percent switch. I’m surprised no one has figured a work around yet. Or a hack.

Click to expand...

There are a couple of charging stations that will accept your manual input of the starting SOC, and then stop at the desired SOC. I, er, kind of thought you had one...

LeftieBiker said:

webeleafowners said:

For this reason it would be sooo nice to have a hil top or 80 percent switch. I’m surprised no one has figured a work around yet. Or a hack.

Click to expand...

There are a couple of charging stations that will accept your manual input of the starting SOC, and then stop at the desired SOC. I, er, kind of thought you had one...

Click to expand...

I do. It’s the juicebox 40. Yah. It can be setup like that and we have used it when charging Angela’s car. Takes some fiddling and practice but it’s doable.

Here’s the thing. Our second charger is a basic 12 amp 240 volt clipper creek unit. Short of the built in timer the leaf is on its own....unless I steal her garage parking spot....and yah...that ain’t happenen.

The upside to lower charging rates is that you can do some quick mental arithmetic, then unplug the car X hours later, at Y SOC. I do that with mine, and my L-1 charging.

webeleafowners said:

For this reason it would be sooo nice to have a hil top or 80 percent switch. I’m surprised no one has figured a work around yet. Or a hack.

Click to expand...

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Set the end time for about an hour after you plan to leave

LeftieBiker said:

The upside to lower charging rates is that you can do some quick mental arithmetic, then unplug the car X hours later, at Y SOC. I do that with mine, and my L-1 charging.

Click to expand...

We are doing that now with our 2016. It’ll probably easier with the big battery.

SageBrush said:

webeleafowners said:

For this reason it would be sooo nice to have a hil top or 80 percent switch. I’m surprised no one has figured a work around yet. Or a hack.

Click to expand...

.
Set the end time for about an hour after you plan to leave

Click to expand...

I read this suggestion before. I’ll have to try that. So if I understand this right, does it automatically delay the start of the charge so that it finishes at the prescribed time?

webeleafowners said:

SageBrush said:

webeleafowners said:

For this reason it would be sooo nice to have a hil top or 80 percent switch. I’m surprised no one has figured a work around yet. Or a hack.

Click to expand...

.
Set the end time for about an hour after you plan to leave

Click to expand...

I read this suggestion before. I’ll have to try that. So if I understand this right, does it automatically delay the start of the charge so that it finishes at the prescribed time?

Click to expand...

.
It might vary a bit between models. IIRC, some you set the finish time only; others you set a start time too late to complete charging by the finish time and this forces the car to calculate the correct start time.

SageBrush said:

webeleafowners said:

SageBrush said:

.
Set the end time for about an hour after you plan to leave

Click to expand...

I read this suggestion before. I’ll have to try that. So if I understand this right, does it automatically delay the start of the charge so that it finishes at the prescribed time?

Click to expand...

.
It might vary a bit between models. IIRC, some you set the finish time only; others you set a start time too late to complete charging by the finish time and this forces the car to calculate the correct start time.

Click to expand...

How does the car know the EVSE capability/output.

webeleafowners said:

SageBrush said:

webeleafowners said:

I read this suggestion before. I’ll have to try that. So if I understand this right, does it automatically delay the start of the charge so that it finishes at the prescribed time?

Click to expand...

.
It might vary a bit between models. IIRC, some you set the finish time only; others you set a start time too late to complete charging by the finish time and this forces the car to calculate the correct start time.

Click to expand...

How does the car know the EVSE capability/output.

Click to expand...

.
They chat. That is a large part of what an EVSE is all about.

SageBrush said:

webeleafowners said:

SageBrush said:

.
It might vary a bit between models. IIRC, some you set the finish time only; others you set a start time too late to complete charging by the finish time and this forces the car to calculate the correct start time.

Click to expand...

How does the car know the EVSE capability/output.

Click to expand...

.
They chat. That is a large part of what an EVSE is all about.

Click to expand...

So does one have to be plugged in to set the timer?

webeleafowners said:

SageBrush said:

webeleafowners said:

How does the car know the EVSE capability/output.

Click to expand...

.
They chat. That is a large part of what an EVSE is all about.

Click to expand...

So does one have to be plugged in to set the timer?

Click to expand...

.
Not that I am aware.

So does one have to be plugged in to set the timer?

Click to expand...

No. I think it bases its calculations on the amperage of the last EVSE plugged in. The latest Leaf (possibly excepting the S) also knows when you are home.

LeftieBiker said:

So does one have to be plugged in to set the timer?

Click to expand...

No. I think it bases its calculations on the amperage of the last EVSE plugged in. The latest Leaf (possibly excepting the S) also knows when you are home.

Click to expand...

Kinda cool. Thanks.

@Nubo
I use level 3 charger when I am in a rush to charge, otherwise would use my level 2 charger at home.