Schneider EVSE

[LEAFer]

Very nicely done.

+1.

How did you do it ?

[1932highboy]

Killed power, removed cover from the Schnieder. Cleaned the cover. Taped off the holes on cover. Painted it with enamel paint for plastic. Bought flame decal (stick on) from www.drtorch.com. It was item #103R, ($10.00+shipping), had to trim for width. I think it turned out good for about less then $20 bucks.

[danmeljeff]

I bought and installed the Schnieder EVSE about a month ago, but couldn't use until recently because I needed a new garage door. Now that the new garage door is installed, the LEAF is sipping happily on the EVSE. I've been quite impressed too. For the past week, I have recharged from 1 SOC bar to full in 5h 15m each time.

There aren't a lot of bells and whistles with this EVSE, but so far, seems to work just as I hoped it would.

[JasonT]

For those considering this unit their customer service is... pretty amazing at this point.

I'm having a problem where my car sometimes doesn't charge (talked about here. Even though I still haven't figured out if the problem is the EVSE or the car itself, I decided to contact Schneider (just using their web form) to let them know my problem. Well, this morning a guy called me, conferenced in two other guys and they worked with me to get more details so they can try and fix this.

These guys clearly knew their stuff (I don't know their position, probably engineers) - asking very precise questions and didn't "talk down" to me like some regular customer support feels like they do.

I know it seems weird to say "yeah, I'm having a problem, get this unit" but I honestly do not regret buying this unit.

[ml194152]

I had my Schneider unit installed in my garage on May 27 by a local electrician ($475, and he did a great job). I paid $810 for the EVSE, plus tax from my local Schneider distributor (who said the Houston warehouse has 20 of these in stock). This is a great unit, its been working fine, no problems at all. Our Leaf is set for starting charging at midnight and the Schneider has never failed to start right on schedule at midnight.

What is especially nice about the Schneider is that it has 6.6KW capability already built-in. True, the 2011 Leaf will only draw 3.3 KW, but I am set for the future (Nissan has announced a 6.6 KW charger for the 2012 model, and there will be an upgrade path). Compare that to Aeronvironment and Leviton 160 which only have 3.3 KW (and are more expensive!). I don't think you will find another 6.6 KW charger at this price anywhere right now (and especially one that is not vaporware).

[Ingineer]

FYI: The AV unit is rated for 30A, exactly the same as the Schneider unit.

This equates to 7.2kva of output. You cannot accurately quote kW unless the power factor is known.

Also, Due to the complexity of a on-board charger upgrade on the LEAF, unfortunately I don't see your "upgrade path" ever happening for existing cars. I'd bet on it! I have never seen Nissan officially go on record offering such a possibility either.

-Phil

[Boomer23]

FYI: The AV unit is rated for 30A, exactly the same as the Schneider unit.

This equates to 7.2kva of output. You cannot accurately quote kW unless the power factor is known.

Also, Due to the complexity of a on-board charger upgrade on the LEAF, unfortunately I don't see your "upgrade path" ever happening for existing cars. I'd bet on it! I have never seen Nissan officially go on record offering such a possibility either.

-Phil

AND... The recently released specs for the 2012 LEAF do not include an uprated on-board charger.

[mckemie]

CED/Consolidated Electrical Distributors Inc. in Corona, CA will sell it to you for $750 plus tax. Just ordered one today. Talk to Paul (951) 734-5360

I called Paul and ordered one. It took about two weeks but we got it yesterday. Since CED is in California and I'm in Texas, I expected to avoid Texas sales tax. Apparently, I failed. Though I haven't yet seen an invoice. the amount charged to my credit card was $836. Paul did quote me $750 also and the shipping should have been well under $50. Sales tax, if charged, would have been just under $50. If anyone has avoided sales tax, I would like to hear about it.

Hooked it up and it worked just fine, though.

I did contact a place in Tucson and they quoted me $850 with shipping out of Athens Texas.

[mckemie]

Hooked it up and it worked just fine, though.

Perhaps I spoke too soon. It doesn't start charging when plugged in. Some combination of pushing buttons on the EVSE and plugging and un-plugging the J1772 thingy eventually gets it going. Haven't yet figured out the exact string of operations needed. The instructions seem to indicate that it should be just plugged in for immediate charging.

Anyone?

[1932highboy]

I use the immediate charge button and just plug it in and it starts up fine. i haven't used the timer yet.