Immediate Charge Switch

[Lee]

Is the only purpose of the "Immediate Charge" switch to allow charging in a time period outside the limits set on Timer 1 and Timer 2? The owner's manual is not too clear on this point.

If I activate the "Immediate Charge" switch so I can charge outside the time set on my 2 Timers, and I have my Timers set at 80%, is the 80% limit still respected, that is, will charging discontinue when the batteries reach 80% of capacity?

Thanks from a 2-day owner. This is a really cool car!

 

[AmarilloLeaf]

Is the only purpose of the "Immediate Charge" switch to allow charging in a time period outside the limits set on Timer 1 and Timer 2? The owner's manual is not too clear on this point.

If I activate the "Immediate Charge" switch so I can charge outside the time set on my 2 Timers, and I have my Timers set at 80%, is the 80% limit still respected, that is, will charging discontinue when the batteries reach 80% of capacity?

Thanks from a 2-day owner. This is a really cool car!

If you use the Immediate Charge switch, it will charge to 100%, regardless of what the timer is set at.

I have my timers set as active for 24 hours at 80%. I use the Immediate Charge option to force it to 100% if I plan a long trip.

The Leaf grows on you. After a month, I love it even more. This is the first car I can say that about.

 

[LEAFfan]

Is the only purpose of the "Immediate Charge" switch to allow charging in a time period outside the limits set on Timer 1 and Timer 2? The owner's manual is not too clear on this point.
If I activate the "Immediate Charge" switch so I can charge outside the time set on my 2 Timers, and I have my Timers set at 80%, is the 80% limit still respected, that is, will charging discontinue when the batteries reach 80% of capacity?
Thanks from a 2-day owner. This is a really cool car!

If you bypass the timer/s, it will charge to 100%. To charge to 80%, some people just set the timer for a 24 hour period, such as 12 noon to 12 midnight. Then you can charge anytime and it will stop at 80%. Someone else didn't like it restarting/stopping at midnight so they used 9 AM to 8 AM to avoid the text message at midnight.

 

[garygid]

Or, setting the timer to 11am start and 11am stop probably works for "anytime" immediate 80% charging.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Has anybody yet put the button near the charge point?

It's a pain to get out, plug in, and then go back in the car to hit the timer bypass.

 

[ttweed]

Has anybody yet put the button near the charge point?

Not sure what you mean by this, Tony. What button would you "put near the charge point?"

It's a pain to get out, plug in, and then go back in the car to hit the timer bypass.

That's not what I do when I bypass the timers to charge to 100% immediately. When I pull into the garage, I turn the car off, hit the "immediate charge" button and pull the lever to open the lid on the charging port, get out, look for the middle (#2) blue charge indicator light to be lit on the top of the dash, and plug the car in (within 15 minutes) and it starts charging. No need to get back in the car to push any button. This is what the manual says (p. CH-23):

1. Place the power switch in the OFF position.
2. Press the immediate charge switch.
3. Connect the normal or trickle charge cable
when the charging status indicator light
changes to display immediate charge mode.
See “Charging status indicator lights” later
in this section.
NOTE:
. You have 15 minutes to connect a
normal or trickle charge connector to
the vehicle after the immediate charge
switch is pressed. If a charge connector
is not connected to the vehicle within
15 minutes, the vehicle automatically
returns to the previous setting.
. Immediate charge will be available for
15 minutes before returning automatically
to the previous setting.

My biggest problem is remembering to open the lid on the charge port before getting out of the car. I often have to go back in the car and do that when I forget. I'm trying to make that a habit whenever I park the car in the garage.

HTH,
TT

 

[TonyWilliams]

Ok, I should have read the book !!!

 

[LEAFfan]

Or, setting the timer to 11am start and 11am stop probably works for "anytime" immediate 80% charging.

Have you tried that yet Gary? Please let me know if it works. Thanks.

 

[garygid]

I have not used the charging Timers yet, using just immediate 100% charging, L1 and Mod-L1 (240v 12 amp). But I should try it soon.

 

[Lee]

<<I have not used the charging Timers yet, using just immediate 100% charging, L1 and Mod-L1 (240v 12 amp). But I should try it soon.>>

Garygid,

It is my understanding that while 100% charge may be necessary at times for longer trips, it is much better for battery life to use the timers with an 80% charge limit whenever possible. Also, my battery gurus tell me that for battery life, trickle is better than 240V is better than QC.

Lee

 

[ttweed]

Also, my battery gurus tell me that for battery life, trickle is better than 240V is better than QC.

Some of the battery gurus here (AndyH for one) have pointed out that the 240V L2 charging rate with the Leaf's BMS is no worse for battery life than the 120V trickle charger. 480V L3 DC charging is a different matter of course, but I have no qualms about using the 240V Blink charger every day as necessary. The operator's manual for the Leaf actually recommends L2 over L1, and it is certainly much faster and convenient. If you have only a 5 hour window of charging time on your TOU rates as I do, you may not even be able to fully charge at super-off-peak rates with the L1 EVSE.

TT

 

[ttweed]

Or, setting the timer to 11am start and 11am stop probably works for "anytime" immediate 80% charging.

Have you tried that yet Gary? Please let me know if it works. Thanks.

I have used that timer strategy for over a month to "immediate charge" to 80% reliably, however, I used 12:00AM for start and end times, not 11:00AM. Now that my Blink unit is installed, I changed the timer to be 12:00AM start to 5:00AM end times in order to take advantage of the $.07/kWh super-off-peak rate from my utility. "Filling up" the Leaf will now cost me less than half of what it did for the first month on my old residential rate.

TT

 

[gbarry42]

Has anybody yet put the button near the charge point?

It's a pain to get out, plug in, and then go back in the car to hit the timer bypass.

I didn't "install" a button, but I discovered that I can use my smartphone to do this. I haven't even begun to figure all this out, but on (one of?) the Nissan site (the "owners" one) there's a big friendly button that says, "start charging". I've used this twice so far, and it charges to 100% just like the switch. Since it's a web page, I assume I can do this from anywhere. And from any computer (mine's an Android phone).

 

[cdub]

<<I have not used the charging Timers yet, using just immediate 100% charging, L1 and Mod-L1 (240v 12 amp). But I should try it soon.>>

Garygid,

It is my understanding that while 100% charge may be necessary at times for longer trips, it is much better for battery life to use the timers with an 80% charge limit whenever possible. Also, my battery gurus tell me that for battery life, trickle is better than 240V is better than QC.

Lee

Hmmm at the drive tour the nissan said that 220 was better than 110 for battery life.

 

[DarkStar]

Hmmm at the drive tour the nissan said that 220 was better than 110 for battery life.

That's because the temp's they hired read the same manual we did.

 

[marccbr]

Or, setting the timer to 11am start and 11am stop probably works for "anytime" immediate 80% charging.

Have you tried that yet Gary? Please let me know if it works. Thanks.

I have used that timer strategy for over a month to "immediate charge" to 80% reliably, however, I used 12:00AM for start and end times, not 11:00AM. Now that my Blink unit is installed, I changed the timer to be 12:00AM start to 5:00AM end times in order to take advantage of the $.07/kWh super-off-peak rate from my utility. "Filling up" the Leaf will now cost me less than half of what it did for the first month on my old residential rate.

TT

TT, how are you getting .07 rate on Super Off Peak. Are you with SDGE? Their rates for super off peak are showing about .14 on the website. Is there something that I haven't heard about?

 

[DaveEV]

TT, how are you getting .07 rate on Super Off Peak. Are you with SDGE? Their rates for super off peak are showing about .14 on the website. Is there something that I haven't heard about?

Here is one thread: SDG&E introduces EV rate pilot
Use the Search function (tip: plug SDG&E into the Google Search box) and you'll have days of reading ahead.

Here's a couple more:

Official California SDG&E Thread
SDG&E "Experimental Rates" TOU Plans

 

[ttweed]

TT, how are you getting .07 rate on Super Off Peak. Are you with SDGE? Their rates for super off peak are showing about .14 on the website. Is there something that I haven't heard about?

Ya, I am on SDG&E service and enrolled in the EV Project. Read the threads that drees linked above--there are 3 experimental rate schedules for the EVP that are hard to find on the SDG&E site, but they are there. I was randomly assigned to the "Z" rate, formerly known as "H" for "High ratio." This means I have the lowest super-off-peak rate (actually $.06723/kWh in summer and $.07043 in Winter) but also the highest on-peak rate ($.38390 Summer and $.34019 Winter).

After 2 years, the EVP ends and who knows what our rates will be?

TT

 

[marccbr]

Oh I see, its the hidden menu like at a In and Out. Read that a lot of people don't like it. I can't see why, since I would only be charging at the Super off peak rate any way at home. Maybe a few hours here and there at the higher rates.
Do these rates effect when you charge at a public station and it gets build to your SDGE account? That would effect me since I am planning on charging at work as well, on a public station (sooner or later).

 

[DarkStar]

Do these rates effect when you charge at a public station and it gets build to your SDGE account?

The utility can't tell where you're plugged in at, so whoever owns the outlet will be charged what they are signed up to pay for.