How many amps for new 240V install?

As far as I can tell my Panasonic made Nissan granny charger is an original 2011.

A normal 40 space panel if only loaded 15 amp breakers would put 300 amps worth of breakers on each line.
If you loaded up that same panel like what's found on a normal house with electric appliances, mostly 20 amp single pole branch circuits, some 30, 40 and 50 2-pole breakers and maybe a sub panel for a detached garage you could easily have well over 400 amps worth of breakers per line and that panel plus service wouldn't be considered "overloaded".
The "dont put more breaker capacity than what your service is rated for rule" went away probably in the 1980s.

Oilpan4 said:

As far as I can tell my Panasonic made Nissan granny charger is an original 2011.

A normal 40 space panel if only loaded 15 amp breakers would put 300 amps worth of breakers on each line.
If you loaded up that same panel like what's found on a normal house with electric appliances, mostly 20 amp single pole branch circuits, some 30, 40 and 50 2-pole breakers and maybe a sub panel for a detached garage you could easily have well over 400 amps worth of breakers per line and that panel plus service wouldn't be considered "overloaded".
The "dont put more breaker capacity than what your service is rated for rule" went away probably in the 1980s.

Click to expand...

The old rule of thumb was 180% of the panel's rating. That's gone away. I live on a farm with electric everything including the well pump. 2800 sq ft all a/c'ed and 100 degree plus summers and 30 degree winters. Even with all the outbuildings, the most power I've ever drawn in an hour was 16.5 KWH or about 70 amps. Most of the time, I'm under 4 KWH per hour. I have a 200 amp service but have never come anywhere close to that. Most people have no clue as to what their peak usage is and wildly over-estimate it. 100 amp service is likely all they ever need. If in doubt, ask your local utility about your max usage, it might even be on your utility bill.

Just set your clamp-on ammeter to the main and turn everything on. Doubt you will hit 50% of the main breaker.

roger1818 said:

Oilpan4 said:

The new 120/240v nissan leaf evse that will charge at full 6.6kw are going for about $250 on ebay. It's new, it says nissan on it, comes with 2018 and up leaf. Can't get much better than that.

I'm going to say the fancy line sharing protocol is a gimic if you're installing less than 3 or 4 level 2 chargers.

Click to expand...

If you are confident that it is genuine, then great! It could be a cheap knock off though. You have to careful with cheap EVSEs sold on eBay and Amazon, as many aren't safety certified. Hardly a bargain if it burns your house down. :shock

Click to expand...

I bought one from this seller https://www.ebay.com/usr/scionseven?_trksid=p2047675.l2559 on eBay. It’s the real OEM deal for about $250 delivered. He sells many Nissan OEM parts.

The holster was extra.

I bought one as a spare to leave at our vacation cabin.

johnlocke said:

Oilpan4 said:

As far as I can tell my Panasonic made Nissan granny charger is an original 2011.

A normal 40 space panel if only loaded 15 amp breakers would put 300 amps worth of breakers on each line.
If you loaded up that same panel like what's found on a normal house with electric appliances, mostly 20 amp single pole branch circuits, some 30, 40 and 50 2-pole breakers and maybe a sub panel for a detached garage you could easily have well over 400 amps worth of breakers per line and that panel plus service wouldn't be considered "overloaded".
The "dont put more breaker capacity than what your service is rated for rule" went away probably in the 1980s.

Click to expand...

The old rule of thumb was 180% of the panel's rating. That's gone away. I live on a farm with electric everything including the well pump. 2800 sq ft all a/c'ed and 100 degree plus summers and 30 degree winters. Even with all the outbuildings, the most power I've ever drawn in an hour was 16.5 KWH or about 70 amps. Most of the time, I'm under 4 KWH per hour. I have a 200 amp service but have never come anywhere close to that. Most people have no clue as to what their peak usage is and wildly over-estimate it. 100 amp service is likely all they ever need. If in doubt, ask your local utility about your max usage, it might even be on your utility bill.

Click to expand...

Yeah that 180% rule was probably before my time.

My peak usage is about 20kw when I crank up my welder to weld on some aluminum and that's if nothing else is going.

Oilpan4 said:

johnlocke said:

Oilpan4 said:

As far as I can tell my Panasonic made Nissan granny charger is an original 2011.

A normal 40 space panel if only loaded 15 amp breakers would put 300 amps worth of breakers on each line.
If you loaded up that same panel like what's found on a normal house with electric appliances, mostly 20 amp single pole branch circuits, some 30, 40 and 50 2-pole breakers and maybe a sub panel for a detached garage you could easily have well over 400 amps worth of breakers per line and that panel plus service wouldn't be considered "overloaded".
The "dont put more breaker capacity than what your service is rated for rule" went away probably in the 1980s.

Click to expand...

The old rule of thumb was 180% of the panel's rating. That's gone away. I live on a farm with electric everything including the well pump. 2800 sq ft all a/c'ed and 100 degree plus summers and 30 degree winters. Even with all the outbuildings, the most power I've ever drawn in an hour was 16.5 KWH or about 70 amps. Most of the time, I'm under 4 KWH per hour. I have a 200 amp service but have never come anywhere close to that. Most people have no clue as to what their peak usage is and wildly over-estimate it. 100 amp service is likely all they ever need. If in doubt, ask your local utility about your max usage, it might even be on your utility bill.

Click to expand...

Yeah that 180% rule was probably before my time.

My peak usage is about 20kw when I crank up my welder to weld on some aluminum and that's if nothing else is going.

Click to expand...

Most of us don't own an industrial grade welder. I use a oxy/acetylene welder myself.

Oh its not an industrial grade machine, not even close. It's just a little 400lb machine the size of a refrigerator. Actually industrial machines weigh more than double that.
Mine is undersized to build or repair infrastructure, run on a welding production line, build ships, build tanks, build heavy equipment.
But it could repair most of those things, it has the power, just not the endurance to go all day.

Hello,

The owner's manual for my just-acquired 2019 Leaf SV Plus, says on page CH-25 under the "Warning" section:

"The NISSAN Genuine L1 &L2 EVSE
draws 30 amps continuously while
charging the Li-ion battery with AC
220–240 volt outlet. Do not plug in to
any electrical circuit unless it is inspected by a qualified electrician to
confirm that the electrical circuit can
accept a 30 amp draw."

And on the next page (CH-26), it says:

"Only charge using a standard AC 220
- 240 volt, 50A dedicated electrical
outlet (for example, do not use an
electric generator). Failure to do so
may cause charging to fail and could
cause damage to the vehicle or the
EVSE due to power surges"


So I read that to mean the minimum requirement for my Leaf is a circuit that can handle a continuous 30 amp draw with a 50 amp breaker (and the appropriate wiring of course). Am I right?

You need a Nema 14-50 outlet with a 50 amp breaker. Technically you could restrict that outlet with a 40 amp breaker....but I would not do that.

Proper setup...6 gauge wire minimum, 50 amp breaker, 14- 50 outlet

Technically you could restrict that outlet with a 40 amp breaker....but I would not do that.

Click to expand...

There is no harm in using a 40 amp circuit. Some people want to "future proof" the setup to charge EVs at a higher rate in a few years, but the minimum requirement for the Nissan dual voltage EVSE is a 40 amp circuit.

LeftieBiker said:

Technically you could restrict that outlet with a 40 amp breaker....but I would not do that.

Click to expand...

There is no harm in using a 40 amp circuit. Some people want to "future proof" the setup to charge EVs at a higher rate in a few years, but the minimum requirement for the Nissan dual voltage EVSE is a 40 amp circuit.

Click to expand...

yes, that is what I meant. If you are going through the trouble to put in a 50 amp rated outlet...might as well do it right the first time

berferd said:

So I read that to mean the minimum requirement for my Leaf is a circuit that can handle a continuous 30 amp draw with a 50 amp breaker (and the appropriate wiring of course). Am I right?

Click to expand...

That is the minimum to plug in your included EVSE. (40 amp circuit required)

The LEAF vehicle itself can charge slower on a lower rated circuit and properly matched EVSE just fine every day forever.

Learjet said:

yes, that is what I meant. If you are going through the trouble to put in a 50 amp rated outlet...might as well do it right the first time

Click to expand...

There's a difference between choosing to future proof and "doing it right". 40 amp circuits use 50 amp receptacles because there are no 40 amp receptacles. If it bothers you, put a label beneath the receptacle that says "40 amps".

Cheers, Wayne

wwhitney said:

Learjet said:

yes, that is what I meant. If you are going through the trouble to put in a 50 amp rated outlet...might as well do it right the first time

Click to expand...

There's a difference between choosing to future proof and "doing it right". 40 amp circuits use 50 amp receptacles because there are no 40 amp receptacles. If it bothers you, put a label beneath the receptacle that says "40 amps".

Cheers, Wayne

Click to expand...

ok...we are back to semantics :roll:

Learjet said:

ok...we are back to semantics

Click to expand...

My point was that there are some people who feel every 50 amp receptacle should get a 50 amp circuit, and using a 40 amp circuit is "false advertising". I suggest that instead their expectations need adjusting.

If you only need 40 amps and want to run a larger circuit for future proofing, why 50 amps? Why not 60 or 70? Also, running a 6/2 or 4/2 and putting it on a 40 amp breaker creates an NEC violation of 250.122(B) (perhaps a stupid one), as the EGC in the NM cable would be undersized.

So instead, for future proofing, I would suggest: (a) if it's a short run, use conduit (even smurf tube) or (b) if it's a long run, put in a subpanel at the end, and install the bigger wires now.

Cheers, Wayne

I have given up on future proofing. Virtually never comes to fruition of need. Just get it set up correct for what you need now.

In the end I did run a 60 AMP gauge wire but a 50 amp breaker. The electrician was a bit lazy so just terminated it into a box with no receptacle, so I'll have to put one in. In retrospect the idea posted about having them run a sub panel to garage wouldn't have been a bad idea.