l6sman said:
Well, I'm not using a dryer plug per se, I have a dedicated 30 amp circuit breaker and I installed a new dryer plug off of that. The only thing running on that circuit will be my charger. However, I only have 30 amps total going to my garage. When I set I tested the lights and garage door i was checking to see if they plus the Nissan charger were drawing more than 30 amps because I would assume that would trip my breaker but it didn't. That's why I was wondering if the Nissan charger has some intelligence in it so that it doesn't draw more than is available. The manual says it draws a continuous 30 amps. If that was the case then I would've thought that turning on lights or opening my garage door would've trip the circuit. The new SplitVolt charger only draws 24 amps so it should be fine. I am just wondering about the Nissan charger.
If the circuit to your garage is only sized for 30 amperes total, then there could be enough voltage drop to cause the Nissan EVSE to fail--this would explain why it worked once if the system voltage was a little higher. The Nissan EVSE will allow the car to pull up to 30 amperes continuous so it needs a 40 or 50 ampere circuit. Also, the Nissan unit will shut down with error lights if it determines the voltage is too low. The Nissan EVSE that came with my 2019 will charge the car fine at my house on nominal 240V, but will not charge the car at my workshop on nominal 208V (typically 212 or 213 volts). It appears to be ready to charge with the EVSE plugged in to the 14-50 receptacle and will appear to start charging when the J1772 connector is plugged in to the car, but will shut down as soon as the car starts drawing current (probably because the voltage drops below its allowable threshold). If you have a 30-ampere circuit, then the "SplitVolt" unit which is rated at 24 amperes should be OK to use.
OK, thanks for the info. By the way the Nissan charger did not quit working, that's what I assumed it must have some built-in intelligence and be charging at less than 30 amps. The Splitvolt one malfunctioned but it may have been bad from the factory. I have a new Splitvolt one that I am trying out now
Other posts in this thread imply that the maximum current the car will draw is 27.5 amperes, but that is not correct. My 2015 would draw 30 amperes when charging from a nominal 208V circuit (typically 212 or 213 volts). The current draw from a nominal 240V circuit would vary with voltage (lower current at higher voltage), but I never saw it above 27.5 because the voltage at my house never got low enough to have the current increase above that level. As an example, the last charge before trading in was 26.6 amperes at 243.3 volts. My 2019 draws a little more current than the 2015: 27.6 amperes at 244.2 volts, 27.0 amperes at 246.1 volts, 26.8 amperes at 250.1 volts, or 28.6 amperes at 236.3 volts. The 2019 will draw a little over 30 amperes when charging from a 208V nominal circuit if the EVSE pilot signal will allow. My Clipper Creek EVSE at my workshop garage allows 40 amperes and I saw 30.4 amperes at 214.3 volts the first time I charged there.