An aftermarket kit to improve charging to 6.6kW

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jpokoraw1

Active member
Joined
Jul 15, 2012
Messages
36
What needs to be added or replaced to increase charging from 3.3k to 6.6k level 2? I would pay for this upgrade
 
jpokoraw1 said:
What needs to be added or replaced to increase charging from 3.3k to 6.6k level 2? I would pay for this upgrade
The charger, which is located inside the Leaf. At one point, Nissan hinted that they might be able to upgrade current Leafs, but now they say it can't be done. Forget it, not gonna happen.
 
Now that makes me really feel like a 1st gen real EV car guinea pig. I'm holding out hope that Nissan will be kind to us 2011, 2012-ers and actually do something about it and offer an expensive but possible fix. Let's face it, the car is a one trick pony.

Honda where are you? Prelude EV please!
 
Nissan will never offer a retrofit; too complex/too expensive. You'd really need to wait for a small 3rd party to do it. And it will never be "cheap." I personally have no interest in paying for an upgrade, simply because I rarely use public L2 charging... and when I do, making it a little less than twice as fast doesn't help my use scenarios much. Quick/Fast Charging, however, I've found far more useful.

Prelude EV? Oh come on... ;)
 
I would rather have something that can use the L3 port on mine (that has never been used). Maybe an L2 to L3 external adaptor?
 
Stoaty said:
jpokoraw1 said:
What needs to be added or replaced to increase charging from 3.3k to 6.6k level 2? I would pay for this upgrade
The charger, which is located inside the Leaf. At one point, Nissan hinted that they might be able to upgrade current Leafs, but now they say it can't be done. Forget it, not gonna happen.
More specifically, the charger is located in the hump behind the back seat. A higher capacity charger will almost certainly be physically larger. Can it be configured to fit inside that hump? Maybe, maybe not. Rumor has it that Nissan isn't even going to try, and will relocate the larger charger to the front of the car. Can you imagine trying to reconfigure the "engine" compartment of an existing car to accommodate an additional component like that?

Not to mention that the charger is water cooled and uses some very hefty electric cables. The larger charger will need more cooling. Is the existing system adequate for that? Probably, but who knows. It will definitely need larger cables running back to it from the charge port at the very front of the car. Not only are these expensive, but will there be room in the existing channels for the larger diameter wires?

Of course it's doable, at a price. How many thousands of dollars are you willing to spend, and how many others can you find willing to spend those amounts so that there is a viable business plan for the product?

Ray
 
JimSouCal said:
I would rather have something that can use the L3 port on mine (that has never been used). Maybe an L2 to L3 external adaptor?
That wouldn't be an "adapter", but an external charger. The Quick Charge port doesn't connect to the charger. It bypasses that and connects directly to the battery. Since you have never used QC you may not have seen the refrigerator-size charger boxes that hum away off to the side of the user-interface charging unit. Of course that is the size you need for 50 kW charging; the 6.6 kW charge rate you are thinking of could be done with a much smaller charger box, but it would still be heavy and bulky. Are you imagining carrying it around with you all the time in the back of the car? Wild guess: By the time you include self-contained cooling, it might fill most of the recessed part of the hatch storage space, and weigh up to 100 pounds.

Ray
 
planet4ever said:
JimSouCal said:
I would rather have something that can use the L3 port on mine (that has never been used). Maybe an L2 to L3 external adaptor?
It's actually a really innovative idea, I'm not saying it would work, but it's out of the box thinking. Ray's probably right, but who knows, you may have just sparked a great idea.
 
Best that I would hope for is a "trade-in" program from Nissan. For example, extra $2k discount if you trade in a 2011 or 2012 for a 2013. Also, perhaps a lease extension program for those that leased. For example, if you have 20 mos left on a 2011 or 2012, you sign up for 39 mos on a 2013 and pay $X.

It is the classic "early adopter" penalty. Different manufacturers handle the situation differently. Apple, TiVo, etc.
 
To do this properly one needs a high quality charger with some specific features, this upgrade can be done in a LEAF but the cost of the charger alone is very expensive $4k for a proper BRUSA. It will work but it is costly and using a cheap charger will not work, a PFC is not going to work in this implementation.
 
I would change a few things about this design (no slow 120v input, for example), but the AV Home Charging Appliance linked below can provide a way to store cheap energy for those on TOU rates and then feed it to the car during peak times. If they could integrate some sort of Chademo connector and a faster charge rate, I think they'd have a lot of interest from Gen1 LEAF owners...It's evidently not a real product just yet...

http://evsolutions.avinc.com/uploads/products/1_AV_HCA_061010.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
There are quite a few 6.6kW units on the market, Tesla has a 10kW and Zoe has a 43kW.. all presumably mass produced. All taking AC and producing about 400VDC, it would not be too hard to modify one of these as a home Chademo low power charger if someone was willing to get it UL listed.
 
Herm said:
There are quite a few 6.6kW units on the market, Tesla has a 10kW and Zoe has a 43kW.. all presumably mass produced. All taking AC and producing about 400VDC, it would not be too hard to modify one of these as a home Chademo low power charger if someone was willing to get it UL listed.

That defeats the point. The point is to have the charger onboard as the benefit is to charge fast when away form home not at home.
 
EVDRIVER said:
Herm said:
There are quite a few 6.6kW units on the market, Tesla has a 10kW and Zoe has a 43kW.. all presumably mass produced. All taking AC and producing about 400VDC, it would not be too hard to modify one of these as a home Chademo low power charger if someone was willing to get it UL listed.

That defeats the point. The point is to have the charger onboard as the benefit is to charge fast when away form home not at home.


I would say that the point is not to have too buy a fast charger for your home or your BEV, where they will be required infrequently.

The point is to have fast chargers in public locations along highways, where the high cost of both the charger itself, and the infrastructure to bring the high kW on-site, can be amortized over many BEV owners.

The Zoe charger is not on the market yet, as the Zoe itself has been delayed until sometime in 2013, last I heard.

If anyone has the details of exactly how the Zoe has beaten the cost barrier, that all other BEV manufactures have not, I'd sure like to hear the details, and whether or not the same technology will soon be applicable to other BEVs.
 
EVDRIVER said:
That defeats the point. The point is to have the charger onboard as the benefit is to charge fast when away form home not at home.

I would prefer if it was portable, able to use both 120V and 240V, so that it could be used at an RV campground, capable of 10kW or less. Maybe 20lbs not including the weight of the cables. Onboard would be ok also, bypassing the chademo port.
 
edatoakrun said:
EVDRIVER said:
Herm said:
There are quite a few 6.6kW units on the market, Tesla has a 10kW and Zoe has a 43kW.. all presumably mass produced. All taking AC and producing about 400VDC, it would not be too hard to modify one of these as a home Chademo low power charger if someone was willing to get it UL listed.

That defeats the point. The point is to have the charger onboard as the benefit is to charge fast when away form home not at home.


I would say that the point is not to have too buy a fast charger for your home or your BEV, where they will be required infrequently.

The point is to have fast chargers in public locations along highways, where the high cost of both the charger itself, and the infrastructure to bring the high kW on-site, can be amortized over many BEV owners.

The Zoe charger is not on the market yet, as the Zoe itself has been delayed until sometime in 2013, last I heard.

If anyone has the details of exactly how the Zoe has beaten the cost barrier, that all other BEV manufactures have not, I'd sure like to hear the details, and whether or not the same technology will soon be applicable to other BEVs.


What happens when you goto charge at a friends house? I rarely use stations on long trips.
 
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