AC Charging Current Limit?

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Falcon73

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 28, 2021
Messages
49
Location
Mission Viejo, CA USA
Every other EV I've driven and charged has the option to limit the AC current to 25A or even lower, etc. We limit the current when L2 charging at home to typically 25A to reduce the load on the electrical and 25A is plenty fast at 240V.

I haven't seen this as possible on the Leaf, along with the (non-existent) charge cap. Passive air cooling and not having these options is a head-scratcher.

I mostly charge our Leaf at L1 speeds to get around this issue, but is there a better way?

I'm going to see if the 1.8kW (1.26kWh) battery I bought can actually charge the Leaf, but I'd feel better about trying if I could set the AC charge current to something like 8A on 120V.
 
No Leaf supports limiting the current. If you want to do this you need to limit the current with an EVSE that can be set to a specified current limit.
 
goldbrick said:
No Leaf supports limiting the current. If you want to do this you need to limit the current with an EVSE that can be set to a specified current limit.

That's definitely the least expensive option, but Dala's CANBUS bridge also has that feature (CurrentControl), so that a modified LEAF can set the charge current:

https://dalasevrepair.fi/can-bridges/
 
Simple and easy, just get an EVSE that's adjustable. Almost all my EVSEs are adjustable and I use that feature all the time. They start at less than $200 for one that tops out at 16a @ 120v-240v and expect to pay around $300 and up for one that goes up to the Leafs max of 27.5a @ 120v-240v. Amazon is a good source for cheap adjustable EVSEs.
 
Falcon73 said:
Every other EV I've driven and charged has the option to limit the AC current to 25A or even lower, etc. We limit the current when L2 charging at home to typically 25A to reduce the load on the electrical and 25A is plenty fast at 240V.

I haven't seen this as possible on the Leaf, along with the (non-existent) charge cap. Passive air cooling and not having these options is a head-scratcher.

I mostly charge our Leaf at L1 speeds to get around this issue, but is there a better way?

I'm going to see if the 1.8kW (1.26kWh) battery I bought can actually charge the Leaf, but I'd feel better about trying if I could set the AC charge current to something like 8A on 120V.

Its possible. At least for me it has been for the last 9 years.

Speed of the charge has two controlling factors.

The speed of the EVSE (current rating)
The speed of the on board charger.

The car WILL charge at the lower of the two.

**Hope you didn't spend a lot of money on that battery...
 
Thanks for all the tips.

For L2 we have a ChargePoint EVSE, but I haven't found where to limit the current on it again. I remember doing it when I first installed it, but haven't been able to find it since. It's set for 40A max right now.

For L1, we have an old EVSE that doesn't give any info or have any options at all. Also, our 2018 Leaf didn't come with a charging cable. The prior owners kept it, apparently.

The battery is primarily a backup to have around the house, but yeah even $1,089, (including tax) was still pricey.
 
Falcon73 said:
For L2 we have a ChargePoint EVSE, but I haven't found where to limit the current on it again. I remember doing it when I first installed it, but haven't been able to find it since. It's set for 40A max right now.
The amperage is set when you activate the ChargePoint EVSE. In order to change that you would need to de-activate and re-activate it.

The Leaf only draws 27A max, so 40A is more than enough.
 
Falcon73 said:
Thanks for all the tips.

For L2 we have a ChargePoint EVSE, but I haven't found where to limit the current on it again. I remember doing it when I first installed it, but haven't been able to find it since. It's set for 40A max right now.

For L1, we have an old EVSE that doesn't give any info or have any options at all. Also, our 2018 Leaf didn't come with a charging cable. The prior owners kept it, apparently.

The battery is primarily a backup to have around the house, but yeah even $1,089, (including tax) was still pricey.

"most" EVSEs do not have adjustable charge rates. A couple things about charge rate, "future proofing" and a bunch of other garbage.

Everyone's situation is different of course and if you own your home, you will have many more options but

I have a CC that runs at 24 amps. Last month was its 9th anniversary with me. It is now in its 2nd home. When I purchased this (which was less than free after installation...that is another story) I realized that even if only charging 10 hours a day (the low end of the average availability of at home charging) and drove like a nut averaging 3.5 miles/kwh I am still gaining 185 miles a day. My lifetime average is actually 4.6 miles/kwh and that covers 5 LEAFs and a very wide range of driving needs. That average can only go up due to a recent job change.

But the key takeaway here is that most people will gain well over 200 miles of range daily even when not fully utilizing the 6.6 kw the car is "currently" equipped with so if "future proofing" I would take a very long hard look at the additional cost and portability of your choices.
 
oxothuk said:
Falcon73 said:
For L2 we have a ChargePoint EVSE, but I haven't found where to limit the current on it again. I remember doing it when I first installed it, but haven't been able to find it since. It's set for 40A max right now.
The amperage is set when you activate the ChargePoint EVSE. In order to change that you would need to de-activate and re-activate it.

The Leaf only draws 27A max, so 40A is more than enough.

I'm so glad to read this! I'm a new leaf owner, and for the life of me couldn't confirm in my searches, that my 2015 leaf will draw only 27A. +/-No matter if I have a EVSE that is set to 30 or 40A! I was worried I might damage the onboard charger..
Thanks!
 
oxothuk said:
The amperage is set when you activate the ChargePoint EVSE. In order to change that you would need to de-activate and re-activate it.
Actually, it's dynamic. I alter the charge rate from my phone using lightly modified OpenEVSE WiFi firmware. It sends commands to the ChargePoint hardware (also lightly modified) to change the charge rate on the fly, from 6 to 30A with a resolution of 1A. My ChargePoint was bought second hand, it was a commercial wall-mount unit (CT2003) with card scanner etc.

If 6A is too much to be covered by solar, I can also pause the charge, though that still needs a little tweaking for my MG EV. My 2012 Leaf pauses just fine, as far as I know for any length of time.
 
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