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I have been digging through the Zencar posts and this looks like a great portable EVSE. So I think this looks good. I will reach out to Zencar. Now where to find someone who is selling adapters. I assume I will just go with the 14-50p and will probably go with the 12a, 16a, 24a, 32a configuration and the 8m cable. But now to find adapters for the most common outlets to get the most out of the portable EVSE. Any suggestions? Are you making any to sell JJeff?

Interesting that 40amp Maxx on Amazon auto selects the amperage up to the max of your vehicle. I wonder if it knows to scale back to the 80% of the circuits capability or pushes it as hard as it can?

Update: I just found on evseupgrade.com a slew of the L6-30 adapters so that makes sense to have the Zencar fit with the L6-30 for easy access to plugs and adapters. Still looking to see if I can find similar adapters for the 14-50.
 
MalcolmReynolds said:
Phatcat73 said:
If you have a 20 amp 120V circuit, you can repurpose for an EVSE that charges at 16amps. It's a little faster than the 12amp OEM cord, however a much more elegant solution. Such as the ACS-20. Or if you can repurpose the 20 amp breaker and upgrade it to 25, you can charge at 20 amps with the ACS-25.

https://store.clippercreek.com/level1

Just curious why would you choose a Level 1 EVSE when you can get a Level 2 with Level 1 EVSE abilities so that you have more charging options when on the road? My objective is to get as many charging options as possible on the road in the EV desert landscape we live in today so I was thinking the portable EVSE should be geared to handle both Level 1 and 2 charging if the option presents itself. Thoughts?

I only used the 120 volt EVSE until I was able to install a Level 2 EVSE at home. The factory EVSE stays in the bag, in the back of the car, for emergency use (not yet needed). I also have a Level 2 OpenEVSE with a 14-50 plug that I keep in the back of the car, just in case I decide to get adventurous. I use one of the many Level 2 Chargepoints in the valley to add range if I get too far from home, or take advantage of free charging if I use Valet parking, but most of my charging is done at home. I may try some road trips, after I get my new battery (probably near the end of summer), but I try to keep my trips within the range limits of charging at home.
 
MalcolmReynolds said:
I have been digging through the Zencar posts and this looks like a great portable EVSE. So I think this looks good. I will reach out to Zencar. Now where to find someone who is selling adapters. I assume I will just go with the 14-50p and will probably go with the 12a, 16a, 24a, 32a configuration and the 8m cable. But now to find adapters for the most common outlets to get the most out of the portable EVSE. Any suggestions? Are you making any to sell JJeff?

Interesting that 40amp Maxx on Amazon auto selects the amperage up to the max of your vehicle. I wonder if it knows to scale back to the 80% of the circuits capability or pushes it as hard as it can?

Update: I just found on evseupgrade.com a slew of the L6-30 adapters so that makes sense to have the Zencar fit with the L6-30 for easy access to plugs and adapters. Still looking to see if I can find similar adapters for the 14-50.
evseupgrade.com is a good place to find adapters that go to the L6-30 plug and they aren't unreasonably priced. Another option for adapters, and he would go to the 14-50 plug, would be from Vegasbrad. He's a member here on MNL and even if he doesn't stock an adapter, he can basically custom make anything. Like evseupgrade.com Brad's prices are reasonable, search for his name and I believe his signature has a link to his site or his online catalog.
I personally wouldn't really be interested in making any to sell, time and liability wise, thanks for asking though :)
Oh I'm not sure where your located but if you can tell, Brad is out of Las Vegas, but does ship all over. Amazon does sell a few adapters to go to the 14-50 standard(advertised as being for Tesla's) but like the Telsa I believe they are quite overpriced, guess they think if you can afford a $70k Tesla you can afford to pay more for outlet adapters :)

Again for just going from one 240v plug to another something like a RV outlet adapter would work(and probably be under $20) but not for going from a 120v plug to a 240v plug or going from one plug that lacks a neutral to a plug that has a neutral, in those cases really only an adapter made for EV use would work or be available.

A link to a post by Brad, with links to his catalog.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=23636
Just outlet adapters.
https://www.bsaelectronics.com/collections/adapters
 
Any adapters for continuous use amperage devices are much safer if they do not use screw on terminals. Welded and over molded connectors are vastly superior as they do not loosen which causes cascading issues like oxidization, arcing and possible melting. Adapters that are constructed with quality screw on connectors are fine for non continuous devices but not so great for devices like EVSE units.
 
So I placed my order with Zencar for the 32a portable EVSE with the 14-50p. I found some affordable(relatively speaking) adapters on emotorwerks.com(home of the Juicebox). Then I had to snag the couple of other adapters at more spendy price tags. Hopefully I will have my basic adapter needs covered with this EVSE.

Adapters ordered:
5-15p (120v 12a) Standard 120v household circuit
5-20p (120v 16a) Heavier cirucuts typically used with smaller air conditioner units
10-30 (220v 24amp) Older dryer plugs
14-30p (220v 24amp) Newer dryper plugs
TT30p (120v 30amp) RV campgrounds
14-50p (220v 50amp) RV campgrounds (EVSE comes with this plug, no adapter needed)

Not sure what other adapters might be handy to have. Of course I would love one of the Tesla adapters, but the price tag makes that just not doable at this time. Thoughts on plugs/adapters you have found useful for charging if you are away from home?
 
MalcolmReynolds said:
So I placed my order with Zencar for the 32a portable EVSE with the 14-50p. I found some affordable(relatively speaking) adapters on emotorwerks.com(home of the Juicebox). Then I had to snag the couple of other adapters at more spendy price tags. Hopefully I will have my basic adapter needs covered with this EVSE.

Adapters ordered:
5-15p (120v 12a) Standard 120v household circuit
5-20p (120v 16a) Heavier cirucuts typically used with smaller air conditioner units
10-30 (220v 24amp) Older dryer plugs
14-30p (220v 24amp) Newer dryper plugs
TT30p (120v 30amp) RV campgrounds
14-50p (220v 50amp) RV campgrounds (EVSE comes with this plug, no adapter needed)

Not sure what other adapters might be handy to have. Of course I would love one of the Tesla adapters, but the price tag makes that just not doable at this time. Thoughts on plugs/adapters you have found useful for charging if you are away from home?
Not sure that you really needed a separate 5-20 adapter as a 5-15 will plug into any 5-20 outlets you may find, you just don't want to only have a 5-20 adapter as it wouldn't plug into a standard 5-15 outlet.
Not sure how the Zencar EVSE 14-50 plug comes but Juicebox EVSE come without the neutral pin on the plug(EVSEs don't use the neutral) and without a neutral plug it will plug into a 14-30 as well as a 14-60 outlet(and possibly a 14-20 but I'm not positive on that one). If your plug does come with a neutral pin I'd personally just remove or cut it off.
Also I used a dremmel to cut off part of my 10-30 plug which allows it to now plug into a 10-50 outlet.
Oh and lastly, you might want an adapter that goes from a 6-15 which will also work with a 6-20 outlet. A 240v outlet commonly used on 240v window mounted air conditioners.
You might also run across a 6-30 or 6-50 240v outlet, commonly used for things like welders or large air compressors, but you might want to hold off on those until you see if you'd ever use it.
 
Thanks JJeff, that will help me fill in some of the gaps. I will put those on the shopping list for later. The big ones I wanted covered for sure were adapters to take advantage of campgrounds. The area where I am planning a move to either later this year or some time next year is a EV desert and I think if I do much adventuring at all I will need to be able to leverage as many plug options as possible. In some ways I think that is the fun part about the EV is that it will force me to go places and do things that I otherwise probably wouldn't and hopefully get to have some fun in the process. Funny how that works! LOL

Oh, BTW Ms Dream over at Zencar is very easy to work with. When you order you get to specify everything. If you want the shake model or the card model with shake. You can specify the modes, plug, and cable length. I mentioned to her that they should start to offer adapters for these and she sounded receptive to the idea.

Initially I asked for 12a,16a,24a,32a modes, but then realized "what if" I am plugging into a 120v circuit that has other things on it? So I thought well I better have a weaker charge mode that might work on a non-dedicated 120v circuit. So I went back and asked for a 6a mode also. She added that for $5 more. So my EVSE will come with 6a,12a,16a,24a,32a modes. That should have most of the scenarios I am likely to run into covered. I hope! :D

Once I get moved I will get the Home EVSE setup going. Right now I am still leaning toward the Juicebox Pro for the home EVSE. I will have the electrician out doing some other work for me at that location in a few weeks so I think I am going to get the 50a circuit and the 15-50r installed at that time so that it is all setup and ready to go.
 
It's up to you of course, but I use my Zencar EVSE for both home charging and portable charging too. The plastic box where all the electronics are housed has eye hole mounts top and bottom so I've just got a couple of the right sized screws vertically inline on a stud. Quickly pops on and off the wall as needed.
 
MalcolmReynolds said:
Thanks JJeff, that will help me fill in some of the gaps. I will put those on the shopping list for later. The big ones I wanted covered for sure were adapters to take advantage of campgrounds. The area where I am planning a move to either later this year or some time next year is a EV desert and I think if I do much adventuring at all I will need to be able to leverage as many plug options as possible. In some ways I think that is the fun part about the EV is that it will force me to go places and do things that I otherwise probably wouldn't and hopefully get to have some fun in the process. Funny how that works! LOL

Oh, BTW Ms Dream over at Zencar is very easy to work with. When you order you get to specify everything. If you want the shake model or the card model with shake. You can specify the modes, plug, and cable length. I mentioned to her that they should start to offer adapters for these and she sounded receptive to the idea.

Initially I asked for 12a,16a,24a,32a modes, but then realized "what if" I am plugging into a 120v circuit that has other things on it? So I thought well I better have a weaker charge mode that might work on a non-dedicated 120v circuit. So I went back and asked for a 6a mode also. She added that for $5 more. So my EVSE will come with 6a,12a,16a,24a,32a modes. That should have most of the scenarios I am likely to run into covered. I hope! :D

Once I get moved I will get the Home EVSE setup going. Right now I am still leaning toward the Juicebox Pro for the home EVSE. I will have the electrician out doing some other work for me at that location in a few weeks so I think I am going to get the 50a circuit and the 15-50r installed at that time so that it is all setup and ready to go.
I'm jelous :oops: I only got 3 amp settings, Alozzy got 4, and now you get 5 :p I wish I'd have known it would cost so little to add more settings. Like you said, you can never have too many settings. 6a.....that must be the absolute lowest you can go, I seem to remember when setting my Juicebox if I went any lower, the car stopped charging all together. You will get lower charging if thats what your car requests, but I believe the EVSE must advertise at least 6a to even initiate charging. 6a @ 120v! wow that would take something like 40hrs to fully charge a Leaf :shock: but I guess better than nothing, but at that rate you'd only gain ~2-3%/hr and would be quite inefficient.
You must have went with a 14-50 plug? I remember with my L6-30 plug they'd only give me a 30a max setting, as the L6-30 plug technically maxes out at 30a. Note all settings are for either 120v(L1) or 240v(L2) although you'd probably never run across a 120v outlet good for more than 24a(TT-30 RV outlet).
The Juicebox Pro is a very nice EVSE, it gives you 1a adjustments for output, anywhere from 6a to the max, but you do need a internet connection to change it, no internet it just defaults to the last setting you used, not as nice for traveling.
Oh lastly, to adjust the amperage, plug the EVSE into the wall(and not the car) then violently shake it, each shake will increment to the next highest setting, when you get to the highest the next shake starts at the bottom. After the first minute or once you've plugged into the car you can shake the EVSE all you want but the current will stick. Changing the current is a bit hokey but I suppose they didn't want to have external buttons for a chance of water getting in, you can use the EVSE outside in the rain so it has to be waterproof as possible.
 
jjeff said:
MalcolmReynolds said:
Thanks JJeff, that will help me fill in some of the gaps. I will put those on the shopping list for later. The big ones I wanted covered for sure were adapters to take advantage of campgrounds. The area where I am planning a move to either later this year or some time next year is a EV desert and I think if I do much adventuring at all I will need to be able to leverage as many plug options as possible. In some ways I think that is the fun part about the EV is that it will force me to go places and do things that I otherwise probably wouldn't and hopefully get to have some fun in the process. Funny how that works! LOL

Oh, BTW Ms Dream over at Zencar is very easy to work with. When you order you get to specify everything. If you want the shake model or the card model with shake. You can specify the modes, plug, and cable length. I mentioned to her that they should start to offer adapters for these and she sounded receptive to the idea.

Initially I asked for 12a,16a,24a,32a modes, but then realized "what if" I am plugging into a 120v circuit that has other things on it? So I thought well I better have a weaker charge mode that might work on a non-dedicated 120v circuit. So I went back and asked for a 6a mode also. She added that for $5 more. So my EVSE will come with 6a,12a,16a,24a,32a modes. That should have most of the scenarios I am likely to run into covered. I hope! :D

Once I get moved I will get the Home EVSE setup going. Right now I am still leaning toward the Juicebox Pro for the home EVSE. I will have the electrician out doing some other work for me at that location in a few weeks so I think I am going to get the 50a circuit and the 15-50r installed at that time so that it is all setup and ready to go.
I'm jelous :oops: I only got 3 amp settings, Alozzy got 4, and now you get 5 :p I wish I'd have known it would cost so little to add more settings. Like you said, you can never have too many settings. 6a.....that must be the absolute lowest you can go, I seem to remember when setting my Juicebox if I went any lower, the car stopped charging all together. You will get lower charging if thats what your car requests, but I believe the EVSE must advertise at least 6a to even initiate charging. 6a @ 120v! wow that would take something like 40hrs to fully charge a Leaf :shock: but I guess better than nothing, but at that rate you'd only gain ~2-3%/hr and would be quite inefficient.
You must have went with a 14-50 plug? I remember with my L6-30 plug they'd only give me a 30a max setting, as the L6-30 plug technically maxes out at 30a. Note all settings are for either 120v(L1) or 240v(L2) although you'd probably never run across a 120v outlet good for more than 24a(TT-30 RV outlet).
The Juicebox Pro is a very nice EVSE, it gives you 1a adjustments for output, anywhere from 6a to the max, but you do need a internet connection to change it, no internet it just defaults to the last setting you used, not as nice for traveling.
Oh lastly, to adjust the amperage, plug the EVSE into the wall(and not the car) then violently shake it, each shake will increment to the next highest setting, when you get to the highest the next shake starts at the bottom. After the first minute or once you've plugged into the car you can shake the EVSE all you want but the current will stick. Changing the current is a bit hokey but I suppose they didn't want to have external buttons for a chance of water getting in, you can use the EVSE outside in the rain so it has to be waterproof as possible.
What size are the conductors and quantity from the evse to the j1772 and also the size of conductors from the evse to the supply plug?
I am also interested, but the didn't specify via e-mail to me.
Would also like to know the type of jacket on the cords(picture of the designations would do) Please and thanks.
 
ElectricEddy said:
What size are the conductors and quantity from the evse to the j1772 and also the size of conductors from the evse to the supply plug?
I am also interested, but the didn't specify via e-mail to me.
Would also like to know the type of jacket on the cords(picture of the designations would do) Please and thanks.
The cord from the wall outlet to EVSE is 10 gauge and a stiffer vinal, which does get quite stiff in cold temps. Luckly it's only a couple feet, so it's not that big of a deal. The wire from the EVSE to J1772 is a very nice rubbery cord, it's metric but when I converted it, it came out to be a tad thicker than 10 gauge, very nice as mine is 8m long. The only drawback of the rubbery cord is it gets dusty if ran across a dusty/dirty garage floor, but it's easily wiped clean with a damp cloth. Even though it's ~10 gauge, it coils up quite nicely, at least the J1772 cable :)
 
jjeff said:
ElectricEddy said:
What size are the conductors and quantity from the evse to the j1772 and also the size of conductors from the evse to the supply plug?
I am also interested, but the didn't specify via e-mail to me.
Would also like to know the type of jacket on the cords(picture of the designations would do) Please and thanks.
The cord from the wall outlet to EVSE is 10 gauge and a stiffer vinal, which does get quite stiff in cold temps. Luckly it's only a couple feet, so it's not that big of a deal. The wire from the EVSE to J1772 is a very nice rubbery cord, it's metric but when I converted it, it came out to be a tad thicker than 10 gauge, very nice as mine is 8m long. The only drawback of the rubbery cord is it gets dusty if ran across a dusty/dirty garage floor, but it's easily wiped clean with a damp cloth. Even though it's ~10 gauge, it coils up quite nicely, at least the J1772 cable :)
Thanks for the quick response .
10 gauge is good for 7200W so thats ok.
The rubber EVSE to J1772 cord is it type sj or sow? ( If you can picture with designations would be nice.)
I guess the other major concern to me and you might have to to the cord cap off to find out is if they crimped or soldered the 14-50 supply plug
( hopefully its not just stripped wire under a screw, again picture would be nice.)
None of this info was supplied to me from them and that is why I havn't purchased one yet.
 
Here's a pic of my plug

https://1drv.ms/i/s!AjONM_UrXWS8-AojwtWnO1ZSHdGj

It's stripped wire that's been soldered on the end and then clamped via the plug screws
 
JJeff, Thanks for the feedback on the 6a and on the Juicebox Pro. I am not crazy about having "internet" only access to this. I wish they would build a simple wifi web interface on these things so that you can connect and manage it locally. Are there other options that people recommend? I was looking at the Chargepoint EVSE also, but I was hoping to future proof this just a little if I can with the 40amp option on the Juicebox pro or something similar. I like the option to be able to monitor, track, and manage charges, monitor the power consumption, charging, and historical data as I feel those are very useful tools. If there are other options out there that fit that description let me know. I am still looking at my options.

I didn't think about the 6a being too low, I hope it will still work for those times when you need a charge and don't have other options. It is the crisis mode charging level for when there aren't any other options. Something is better than nothing idea. :)
 
I'm not aware of any EVSEs that are as sophisticated as the Juicebox Pro, the Zencar EVSE gives you a instantaneous and total Kwh reading, but unfortunately clear once unplugged.
I believe I read Juicebox is working on a way to directly connect to the EVSE with WiFi but as of now it's internet only and somehow through their servers. When someone asked what happened if their servers went down, their response was they had a very redundant system, of course no internet connection, no way to change the output current as of now. Again you can use the EVSE, you just can't change the output current from it's last setting.

I think you'll be OK with 6a, EVSEupgrade goes down to a 6a setting and I've never heard of anyone having a problem with it. I believe 6a is the lowest current allowed with the J1772 standard EVSEs use.
 
alozzy said:
Here's a pic of my plug

https://1drv.ms/i/s!AjONM_UrXWS8-AojwtWnO1ZSHdGj

It's stripped wire that's been soldered on the end and then clamped via the plug screws
Thanks for the photo.
I guess that type of termination would be ok if you keep your eye on it (use a infrared thermometer to monitor)
I might add some better form of restraint
I also see the type of cord jacket is VW-1 which a 105 c and 600V rating. Confirm or correct me if not the case.
 
The EVSE cost really depends on your cost. I find that I can build the whole thing for $350. I I purchased resistors at Orvac the cost would be much higher China parts are cheap but 6 week si a killer. you really have to stock the parts
 
A little over a week ago I got a new portable EVSE. It’s an EVI Deluxe Dual Voltage EV Portable Smart Charger Plus, $319 from Amazon. I’ve only used it a half-dozen times, but I’m very happy with it.

You can use it on 120V or 240V, and set the current to 8, 12, or 16 amps. It comes with a L6-20 (240V, 20A) plug and two adapter cables, one to a 5-15 plug (120V, 15A, the one I use the most) the other to a 14-50 plug (50A).

At home I have a 120V 15A outlet and at work a 120V 20A outlet, which allows me to charge about 33% faster (16A vs 12A).

I really like the display. It shows the voltage at the outlet, so you can see how much it drops when you start charging (then if the size of the drop makes your uncomfortable, you can switch to a lower current). It also shows the current being drawn (so you may catch when you’re near the end of the charge and the current drops significantly). It also shows the total kilowatt-hours for the charging session and the duration of the session. Lastly, it shows the internal temperature and the charging current you selected.

So for a bit over $300 I now have a back-up EVSE that I leave in the car, while the original one stays mounted on the wall of my garage.

FYI. Judging from the display and adapter cables, I think this is electrically the same as some Khone, Evolution, and MUSTART EVSEs, and very similar to some from Zencar or Jekayla.

Ron
 
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