It's just if you like playing it safe. As battery chemistry improves and manufacturers add built-in buffers so you can't access the full battery, you shouldn't have to worry too much about battery degradation in the short term. I've routinely let the battery drain to 10% and often charge to 100%, but generally abide by the 20/80 rule most of the time. A certain amount of battery capacity loss seems unavoidable after several years regardless.
I guarantee your car handles charging & leveling for you, to the point where you never have to worry about over- or undercharging your batteries and damaging them. The 'fuel gage' you're seeing is an abstraction of the amount of usable energy your batteries have, not a direct representation of their charge.
You're probably right. It's not difficult to stay above the 20% level because no one really wants to push the charge too low and risk being stranded, but halting the charge at around 80% does take extra effort. Old habits die hard
Thank you!! This video is literally the only place on the internet (not even in my owners manual) that answered my question! "Can you unplug a electric car that isn't fully charged" 🙄 thank you!!
I've seen this. It's much easier to program with the SL and SV models since they have the bigger center display screen with a different menu system. On my S model it's really tedious going into the dash menu to program that in. Also not sure how it works if you want to plug in earlier for some reason, like if you stop to use a public charger in the middle of the day for instance. But yes, a nifty feature that can help you save money by only using energy during off-peak hours and saving you the hassle of plugging and unplugging at certain times
Yes, it's a really slow charge, but it works well for long, overnight charges. As EV battery capacity and range increase over the next couple years, I suspect 110v trickle charging will be too slow eventually.
@@EVeverything it is for the gen2. from what i can tell, i'm looking for an affordable EV i can charge without having something installed into my house for a ton of money, so something like the 110v charger or that modified charger is ideal, and the gen2 takes 20hours to charge from it's 110v.
@@cageybee7221 sounds like you may want to limit your search to EVs with perhaps no more than a 40kWh battery or below 120 miles of driving range. Lots of used Leaf & BMW i3 models that fall into this category, plus some other options like the Kia Soul EV, VW e-Golf, and even the newer Huyndai IONIQ electric. Probably some others I'm not thinking of at the moment.
@@cageybee7221 I've just bought a second hand 2018 Nissan Leaf. And I charge it from a normal plug at work as I do 12 hour shifts. The idea behind 20 hour charge is if you get home/work with a very low battery. Most often you will not drive 120 miles and thus are able to replenish the battery in less than 20 hours. I know I can get 60% charge in 12 hours and I never really get to be under 40% on my usual commute. It depends how much is your regular daily commute? If it's under 100 miles, you can easily charge it back to 100% in 12 hours.
This video is the gold standard in many areas. You do a great job introducing the term EVSE, and never say “charger.” A couple small issues, 120 to 240 is not twice as fast, as you say “do the math,” it’s all about amps. Your EVSE upgrade is about 3x faster at 16 amps on 240v, compared to your 12 amps on 120v option. You can buy a 24 or 32 amp EVSE to charge much faster on that dryer outlet. Public charge stations are usually 6.6kW where I live (about 30 amps), your EVSE upgrade is only running at 16 amps. If you have an old Leaf, it can only handle 3.3kW, so you never need more than a 16 Amp charge cable.
Thank you for the kind words! And yes, I realize now that a bit of what I said in the video wasn't quite accurate regarding the charging speeds. Was kind of basing it off my experience with the 3.3kW Leaf which, like you said, doesn't really benefit beyond 16amps. But with more modern plugs like a NEMA 14-50 and a 32 or 40-amp charger I imagine charging speeds accelerate quite a bit.
Glad you enjoyed the video! I've heard concerns from people lately about battery degradation and how much it can cost to have it replaced. Generally my response is "don't worry about it". I put over 30K miles on my first Leaf (the one in the video above) and never saw any indication of battery degradation or loss of driving range. I'm in my 2nd Leaf and am experiencing the same thing, so my concerns about any battery issues are basically zero and I expect my Leaf would maintain good battery health for 10 years or more based on my last 4 years of driving electric. And the Leaf doesn't even have a thermally managed battery pack! So cars that do, like the Chevy Volt or BMW i3, are even more likely to maintain long & healthy battery life despite hot/cold climates. If you're still worried, there are often very good warranties from the auto manufacturer that will have you covered for 8 years or so. I was helping a co-worker this week to pick a used EV to buy, and we found a Ford C-Max Energi that had a 10-year/100,000 mile warranty on the battery & hybrid components! So really, as battery tech improves & EVs become even more commonplace, I'd say don't worry about the battery needing replacement on any EV that's been manufactured since 2015.
It may not be entirely essential, as most (if not all) EV models have a built-in buffer that prevents you from actually fully charging or depleting the battery. This built-in padding may be enough to prevent premature battery degradation, but I've always abided by the 80/20 rule just to be extra safe. If you need the max range available from each charge, by all means go for that 100%. Batteries are getting better and better as time goes by, and my 2015 Leaf still shows no signs of degradation after 3 years of driving.
Don't know about Europe. In USA supply voltage to a house for example is 220/240 volts. The load center has two buses so the breakers take power from one bus for 120 volts for most of the circuits. For 240 volts you take power from both buses.
This EVSE does not give you that kind of info, but there are more expensive chargers that do and even have wifi to monitor with your phone. Of course the car itself will show the state of charge, and some EVs have their own phone app as well.
Thanks for the detailed info! I'm considering a Nissan Leaf 2016 with the 30 kV battery, however my commute to work is around 98 miles round trip (and there is no charging available there) do you think I'd be pushing the SV model? especially since I would have to charge it st 100% and there are no charging stations at work.
Looks like you'd be taking the Leaf to its limit on a daily basis. And if part of your commute is at highway speeds, I can tell your battery's charge will deplete a bit faster at 55mph and over. Are there any Nissan dealerships with fast-charge stations along your driving route? Perhaps you could look at the 2017 Chevy Volt as an option, which can go 50 miles on electricity and then switches to a gas generator to the tune of 42mpg. My wife has a new Volt, and we recently did a review: th-cam.com/video/rfXyt1MswNA/w-d-xo.html
+Athar Afzal Figure it's your best option for minimal range anxiety. The only other EV with a gas generator would be the BMW i3 ReX, but it's a little more expensive. If money isn't an issue then just spring for a Tesla!
Pretty nice video.. One thing to add. .I am pretty sure Nissan engineers have capped these car packs at 80% as a standard full charge and will not let them deplete below the nominal for longer life of the packs.. Doing additional degradations seems pointless.. They are self protective out of the box.. You probable can really never charge or discharge them into damage mode.. Bill
I certainly hope that is the case, and from what I know that's exactly what Chevy engineers did with the Volt. I think Leaf owners are still trained to do the 80% thing because it was recommended for earlier models that even had an 80% limit feature to stop charging from reaching full. I've been charging to 100% more frequently now, and still no signs of degradation even after 2 years in the Texas heat
Hey there! Is there any way to lock the charger to the car, for charging in a public lot? In Canada, many lots have an outdoor outlet for block heaters but I would be concerned leaving my charging cable outside without some sort of security feature at my work.
On the Leaf, there is a button that activates a security latch inside the charge port, so it holds the charger chord in place & keeps it from being removed until you deactivate it
I am getting a Ford Focus Electric in the next month. Never owned an Electric vehicle I commute 76 miles a day to and from work. We have chargers here at work I start at 3 pm. What time would you recommend I start charging? Thank you for your advice.
That's great! I've never driven the Focus Electric myself, but I'm excited for you. Assuming these are level 2 chargers you have at work, you probably won't need more than 4-5 hours to get you car charged back up to full. If that's the case, I suppose charge up 4 or 5 hours before leaving work. You plan to charge at home as well?
EVerything Thanks for the advice!! That is one major problem I am living in an apartment complex and they don't have anywhere I can charge it. But I have multiple charging stations around. If I was to charge up to 100 a day and soon as it gets to 100 unplug it, would that be ok?
Jack Goins electric vehicles automatically stop charging when they reach the limit that is set. That would either be 100% or if the vehicle has the ability to lower the charge limit then you may be able to stop at at 80%. On the Chevy bolt this is called Hilltop Reserve, Tesla I know has a much more sophisticated setting that allows arbitrary percentages to be specified. Though you should still move your vehicle promptly after your charge completes so that others can charge.
It was through a company called EVSE Upgrade, and the site is www.evseupgrade.com. There are many options available however, and I'd suggest looking into your local energy provider to see if you can get a deal on a home charger. In my case, it turns out we get a discount on the installation on a 240v charger in our garage on top of a flat rate of $50/mo for the wind energy we use to charge our EVs!
The company is called EVSE Upgrade. It was a bit pricey, and actually I could've gotten a better deal using local rebate programs in my city if I'd just purchased a standard garage charger instead. It is convenient to have a 240v upgraded EVSE that is portable though!
Great video and presentation, Just like to point out that the EVSE in the uk already run from the normal house plug at 240 volts, this is what I used for a few weeks waiting to have my 32 amp charging point installed, Please note your car must be fitted with a 6.6 kw charger to make the full use of the 32 amp home charging point or fit the 16 amp 3.3 kw version charger. One very interesting point....I went for the un-tethered cable type charger, which allows different makes of vehicle to charge at the same point and makes replacement or upgrading the point when you change your car, so future proofing the charging point.
New 19 Bolt owner, been using the supplied "trickle" charge 120v and hitting the 12amps and it take long to charge. I live rural and have a 74 mile hilly round trip so on a full charge I should be fine. But most of the time when I get home, need to do lots of running around with kids events. I worry the "trickle" charger will not top me off fast enough and will have some charge stress. Any recommendations, should I get a level 2? Was looking at the ChargePoint. The closest one to me is about 20 miles away.
If it's in your budget, yes I'd say go for a level 2 charger. Trickle charge was difficult to get by with even with my Leaf's little 24kWh battery, so I can't imagine the hassle of trying to maintain over a 50% charge on something like the Bolt's much larger battery. It certainly is doable, and I've heard Bolt owners who are fine with the level 1 charger that comes with the car. But if you are often in situations where you need range fast for an unplanned trip or event, a level 2 charger comes in very handy even if you only plug it in for an hour or two. Just my advice.
Hi looking a used sl but I hear car wings aka Nissan connect is not reliable for updated charging locations. I will look into the 2 you mentioned. Thank you very much
hello thanks for the videos ! i was looking at the 2015 Nissan leaf S manual, and trickle charging not being recommended cuz it damages the battery? Im confused, my only option is to charge it here in the home i rent. My landlord freaked out asking how much i may need to pay xtra for hydro bill.😭
It says trickle charging can damage the battery? Not sure why that would be the case. It's certainly very slow, but the charge should be the same. I'd recommend 240v if you can afford it, especially as larger batteries arrive in EVs like the Bolt and Tesla 3 that would take an eternity to charge completely off of 120v trickle charging.
Defies logic. Trickle charging is always better for LiIon batteries. I never use more than 50% of capacity so for me charging overnight is no problem. Come home; Charge my phone, charge my car. Super easy.
I agree, most people could function quite easily only using the supplied EVSE charger and a standard wall outlet. Having said that, I certainly wouldn't want to go back after installing a 240v unit earlier this year. Where did you learn that trickle charging is better for EV batteries? I'd be interested if it were true, but I've never heard that before
I spent $130 wiring 240 volts to my garage. Having a electrician brother helped. Spent $313 on on a 16 amp EVSE, a dock, and a cord hook. Spent $8 on a outlet and cover plate. $451 all in. That said I am only charging a Ford C Max Energi with a 7.6 KWH pack. It now takes 2.5 hours instead of seven hours at 120 volts.
How do you like your C-Max? I've always been curious about those and wonder how they compare to something like the Volt. Wish I knew somebody who owned one so I could do a video about it, because the C-Max Energi seems to be an underrated plug-in
EVerything /We love our C Max Energi. It has taken a little getting used to as it only has 20 miles of EV only range and we do 46 to 60 mile round trips to town. We save the EV miles for city driving to get the most out of it. Some of the numbers looked strange until I sorted out how to interpret them. MPG is reported for gasoline only which is disingenuous if your using some electricity. A divisor of 1.23 works for 240 volts to get realistic mpg e figures for the electric drive. Dividing by 32.777 converts KWH into gallons equivilant. The actual MPG's is lower when you factor all this in. The car performs well, and in EV mode with only 47 HP pulls really well. We got a PHEV because we knew we wanted to take trips in it too. The luxury appointments in the car are quite nice also.
Do I actually need a home charging sta.? Or can I just plug into my 240 outlet in my garage? You mentioned an adapter for the 240 I didn't understand what you were referring to. I assumed that if we had the appropriate 4 prong receptacle , and outlet we would be good to go . ???
If you have an existing 240v plug, then you're in a great position to just buy the appropriate charger. So if it's a NEMA 14-50 that's about the fastest charging you can expect, and an ideal setup. Our house had NEMA 6-20 plugs which we used even though they are slower, so if you don't want to spend extra $ then use the plug(s) you have. The newest brand of charger we bought recently was from Morec, if you don't know what brand to go with. Happy to give you more info if you need it!
As UK sockets run on 230 volts, would there be any advantage in investing in a level 2 charger, or would it charge at nearly the same speed in a standard socket?
I've heard this before, so it sounds like there basically is no level 1 in the UK. You should be able to benefit from level 2 charging speeds using any standard socket, which is a great!
How many watts does your dryer outlet provide? I live in Europe and our grid is 230V already and my house has 16AMP fuses. In theory that would be 3680Watts I'm not sure what it would yield in practice and if I can charge an EV with just a "granny charger" I don't have my own driveway so will need about 25ft cable Length
I'm not sure the wattage of my old dryer outlet, but if you're in Europe it is my understanding that most (all?) plugs can provide faster Level 2 charging due to the higher voltage offered in those regions. I get a little lost in all the terminology, but it sounds like to me if you have 230v plug offering 16amps then you should be getting over 10 miles per hour of charging. So it's not the voltage, but rather the amperage that I believe will give you an even faster charge if you can find a 32, 40 or 50amp source.
Thanks man! Great video! Do you have a thought on leaving the cable plugged into the wall when not in use? Does it cost anything significant to have that ready light constantly powered or is that dangerous in any way?
It will be pulling some amount of phantom power, but nothing I would consider significant. Our Tesla charger has even more lights illuminated and even feels warm to the touch when not charging, but unless you want to unplug them every time or have a switcher you can turn on/off to kill power to that circuit, then I wouldn't bother over the few dollars you might be spending to keep the EVSE in ready mode
When going from 110/120v to 220/240v you typically 4x your charge rate rather than double it. This is because you are also typically doubling your amperage as well. Remember amps x volts = watts So 110v x 15amps = 1500ish watts/hr 220v x 30amps = 6000ish watts/hr I “rounded” both down for illustrative purposes but it’s basically 4x. Of course this is typical in us in residential but there are many variations out there - I believe they run 220v x 15amp in the UK, but I’m not sure there… Anyway 4x for typical US setups going from 110 - 220…
@@imohbalu well it’s higher, of course if you use more electricity you pay more. But the increase is more than offset by not having to buy gas at all. When I lived in GA I paid .12$ per kwh averaged about 5mi per kwh and had a 20mi commute. So 4kwh got me one way 8kwh for round trip and 40kwh for the week. X .12 = 4.80$ For the month thats 20$ to drive a very powerful car. That’s pretty good. I used to drive a fuel sipping Honda Insight and spent triple that in gas a month at 2019 gas prices, roughly.
@@michaelsmithers4900 thanks for the feedback Sr, i am interested in EV but a little hesitant because of my country hot weather our normal every day temperatures are 45 to 47 C /. So I am a little worried about EVs
@@imohbalu that’s very hot for sure. I live in the tropics but it’s not nearly that hot where I live. In your case id want to be able to park in the shade or preferably in the basement of a parking structure. I’m not sure how the batteries would do parked out in the sun for long periods like that. Many systems like the teslas have cooling systems that will run to keep the batteries happy but I’m not sure how much this consumes as I don’t ofter park outside. Also whether or not you can be plugged in is a factor. Even a standard wall outlet would cover the consumption of the cooling system if you had to park outside.
Ah, so it's okay to charge to 100% if you're doing long drives? I normally charge my car to 100 but I hit the freeways and that usually drops my car to 70%. I didn't know it mess up the battery life. I'll try and keep it to 90% from now on. Oh, I had a question. Do you think that charger you're using in the video is good for the 2018 leaf or should I look into a different type of home charging? I got my leaf used.
It's a common practice to not always charge to 100% just bc it can put stress on the battery. If you need the max range, then go for a full charge as needed. For your used Leaf, it didn't come with an EVSE? You could use the same one in my video no problem, and really any J1772 compatible EVSE either from another manufacturer or third-party seller.
Great video! But what I don't understand is why people would pay for "at home" Level 2 charging station wall unit and spend all that money on the unit plus install....when they can buy a converted or buy aftermarket eBay portable Level 2 charger??? Is there an advantage to spending that much more for the same type of Level 2 charger? Thanks
Well when you say "at home" charger, doesn't that include an aftermarket level 2 charger you can find on eBay? Any level 2 charger will do, whether converted like mine or buying one on eBay or Amazon. The choice then is whether Level 2 charging at 16-amps is enough for you (it is for me) or if it's worth the additional cost to purchase a 32-amp or even 40-amp charger for accelerated charging
In general, I'd say yes these connections are weather-resistant. We have one of our cars parked in the driveway and plug in regardless of weather conditions.
Hi, i am interested if i can charge a nissan Leaf even slower. I would like to know if it is possible to recharge a EV with a Bluetti AC50 or Goal Zero 400 or similair "Low Power" Inverters. Only as kind of emergency Backup Power. Did you already charged your EV with an electric Power meter to see the actual Power consumption?
No, I never hooked up to a meter or anything to see the exact power consumption. I am not sure you can charge an EV on anything lower than Level 1 speeds which I guess is around 120v 8amp from my experience. I am no electrical engineer, so only basing off my experience and general EV charging guidelines.
Hi there, thx for the video. I've heard a few things about 110 Volt charging - do I need a "dedicated circuit" in order to plug an EV vehicle in (let's say a Chevy Volt). Do you need an electrician to come and make sure that your circuits are ok before you can start charging right out of the box? I've heard you don't, and I've also heard that you need to check your wiring and have a separate breaker etc. Also, I don't have access to the garage - can I consistently use an extension cord in order to charge (if it's a low gauge of course). Again I've heard yes, you can and I've also heard no, you can't. I might get a 220-V charger but want to know how hard it's going to charge right out of the box. Thanks so much!
A dedicated circuit would be ideal, but I've never had one. We were charging both our Leaf & Volt simultaneously for several months and never had problems. However, I'm no electrician and I'm sure we were pushing our circuit to the limit at times. If you're charging one car, just try to do it at night when you're not running as much power in your household. I'm looking into installing a circuit just for charging, so we can get a 240v charger in our garage & get a discounted electric rate from our provider.
The Chevy Volt defaults to 8 amps on the 120V EVSE that comes with the car. I use this setting to charge my car from the garage outlet. Chevy recommends using the 8 amp setting until you get the outlet checked out. Most homes do not have dedicated outlets. You should get the outlet looked at by an electrician to make sure it can handle the other setting that the Volt supports which is 12 amps. I plan on replacing my garage outlet with a heavy duty version. I also plan on going to the panel and figuring out what else is on that circuit so I can turn it off while I charge at night. In my case adding a 240 dedicated outlet would probably cost over $1000 because it's too far from my panel. Every house is different - if you have never worked with electricity (replacing outlets, installing a fixture, etc.), I recommend hiring a professional to just check the outlet where you plan on charging. Shouldn't cost more that $200 and it is worth it to prevent any issues with drawing too much power. Thanks for the video.
Great advice! We just had a 240v charger installed to boost charge times with our two EVs. Installation was not cheap as it runs from a dedicated circuit, but we also are enrolling in a program through our electricity provider where it will be metered separately at a flat-rate, thus bringing our home electricity bill down since we were hitting higher tiers due to the amount of charging. Depending on the savings we get this month, I'm hoping we break even on the expense no more than 2-3 years down the road.
Can you use an extension cord for the 120v charger if you live in an Apartment complex? I stay on the first floor and planned on running it from my patio.
While perhaps not advisable, it's certainly possible. You'd want a thick enough gauge cord to not get overheated, and there could be weather-related issues if the cord connects to the EVSE at a point that is outdoors. And perhaps the final concern might be theft if that same connection point is outdoors and can be unplugged from both the extension cord and your vehicle.
@@EVeverything I just purchased a 2013 Nissan Leaf with 109k miles on it and want to use it for Uber. I realize that it doesn't get as much range as the newer models so I just want to plan accordingly.
@@multicliff11 I'd be curious to know how much range an older LEAF like that gets with over 100K miles on it. Even my 2015 LEAF at its best would only return 80 or so miles, so not sure how much Ubering you plan to do, and a 120v charge will be very slow.
Yes, we still use ours and it has never had an issue in the rain. Same at public charging stations, where no rain cover is provided because it is not really necessary even in during heavy rainfall.
Some degree of warmth on the outlet or even the cable itself is expected, but if it's getting hot then there may be an issue. Are you using a level 1 or level 2 source? In my experience it's the standard 110v plugs that can get overwhelmed by the power being pulled. If you have the option either on your EVSE or in the car's controls, sometimes you can reduce the power being drawn from like 12 amps down to 8 amps instead. Of course you'll get a slower charge, but could fix the overheating issue without having to install new plugs.
Get some sort of timer so it kicks on at 10:01pm so that way you don't have to plug it in after. Should reduce some hassle of going to garage and plugging in.
Yes it does, although I've found it an infuriating experience at least the way it is implemented on the base model of the 1st generation Leaf. Apparently there USED to be an 80% cutoff feature in very early models, but it was eventually removed and you now must set a time to stop charging rather than a state-of-charge limit. So using this method, I set the car to stop charging at a time early in the morning but I found the system actually stops charging a number of hours before, leaving the car with not enough charge. I kept pushing the time later hour by hour, until it finally stops at the time I want it to each morning. Very cumbersome system that I'm sure has been improved in 2018 and newer Leafs, and is certainly easier to do in other EVs we've owned like our Chevy Volt and Tesla Model S.
Oh, cool! I saw a Fiat 500e on a trip to L.A. recently. Wish we had those available nationwide! Yes, an adapter should work with your dryer outlet. Now you must have an EVSE or charging unit that is capable of drawing the full 220 volts, otherwise you're simply just adapting plugs and may even be at risk of electrical shock. So you either need an upgraded version like mine in the above video, or you need to have purchased a professional charging station that operates at 220v @ 30amps.
Thanks for answering my question. I've found a few level 2 charges that still use the nema 10-30 outlet online. Yes, lots of Fiat 500e down here in LA. I live in Long Beach and this car is great for my 47 round trip commute.
I'm looking at a used leaf and you helped tremendously with charging. I'd like to know besides whatTesla drivers do how people can watch the road but get routed to charge stations. Perhaps a vid on charging apps and routing would help. I see a gap in this with the leaf. It's like you need a co pilot to route you but perhaps it bcoz I'm a newbie at this. Thanks again
What trim level is your Leaf? I have the base S model, but anything above that should have a larger center screen with a navigation system designed to route you to chargers as you drive. If you're like me and don't have that luxury, I just use apps on my phone and either plan ahead for my journey or stop and search the area on my phone when I need a charge. A popular app is called Plugshare, which reveals the location of all types of chargers regardless of brand or charging type. Mainly though, I use Chargepoint since that is the company I use to charge. I talk a little more about using the app in my latest video on public charging: th-cam.com/video/IJ5D8RG9dXs/w-d-xo.html Hope it helps!
Update. The Gen 2 Nissan Leaf comes with a dual 120/240 volt EVSE. To charge at home at the faster 240 Volt speeds all that is needed is a NUMA 15-50 outlet, similar to a clothes dryer. An adaptor comes with it. For Gen 1 Leafs there is a company that can upgrade the EVSE to be dual voltage. This is essential to those that use campgrounds as charging stations. Thanks
Yes, I had noticed the dual charger in some 2018 Leaf reviews! Very helpful and the only mainstream car company besides Tesla that I know of who is including such flexibility with their EVSE unit
Sounds like it could be good deal depending on the price. That model year was the first to boost the battery up to 30kwh for over 100 miles of driving range. With those low miles on the car, you shouldn't have to worry about any significant battery degradation. If you can get the car for $10K or less I'd say it's a steal, but probably wouldn't be willing to pay more than $12-15K depending on what trim level it is (S, SV, SL). Happy to take a look if you want to share a link to the car you're looking at.
3:14 Chevy says they install a level2 at my home, but would they on the side of my house if I don't have an enclosed garage? Is it legal to have a 220v plug on the side of the house? anybody know if chevy provides the 220v cable alone?
I wouldn't see any legal issues having a charger on the outside of your home, but even if not you may have to get HOA approval if you neighborhood has one. Does Chevy install for free? I've heard they provide the service, but figured it cost money. And even if the EVSE they provide with the car isn't level 2 compatible, there are affordable options online and all you'd need installed is 220v plug on the side of your house with some kind of cover to protect from rain.
I don't think that would work, as a I don't believe a 5-15 plug is capable of conducting a 240v charge. Any charger with a 5-15 plug is basically just an EVSE that charges at level 1 off of a standard wall outlet. Now if you buy a level 2 charger with a 6-20 plug at the end, that can be adapted to work with whatever RV style plug you're wanting to connect to. You looking at a 14-50 RV outlet to plug into?
So if you buy a basic level 1 charger can you use it in your house with the regular outlets? I just bought a 2013 Volt. Curious to how a charger works compared to a regular outlet?
Well you shouldn't have to buy a level 1 charger, as that should be included with any electric vehicle you buy new or used. But yes, it comes ready to use with any standard wall outlet. The only difference really is the speed of the charge, so level 1 is the slowest while level 2 delivers over twice the charging speed. But Volts have smaller battery packs and should easily charge to full even at level 1 if you plug in at say 7pm and depart around 7am the next morning.
Happy to help! Was worried you got scammed by the owner/dealer. You should be able to plug that cable into a wall outlet, then into your car and have a full charge in under 12 hours. And again, I'd recommend charging overnight to take advantage of off-peak electricity rates to reduce your expenses as much as possible. Should cost you less than $2 to charge to full each time
EVerything, thanks for the video and info. I am an electrician (45 + years and still going, loving every minute) and would re-state your... you should just be able to plug it into a wall outlet... with... it is possible to plug it into a standard 15A or 20A T-slot 120V wall outlet, but the outlet should really be connected to a dedicated circuit and preferably wired and rated for 20A 120V. Plugging into a regular wall outlet, to most people would mean any wall outlet the cord plug can plug into. What happens when you turn it on at 10:30, go to bed and the freezer, which just happens to be on the same circuit, decides to start up as the car charger is in operation? That would definitely be an overload condition and trip the breaker and then in the morning... NOoooooooo.... the battery has not charge!!! What now?? I've been there with clients... I've seen fires start because of shoddy wiring in a residence and the circuits being overloaded... I've seen the burnt house with the burned up electric car. Please, just please everyone, if you want to do it right, pay the money to have it wired properly. I'm not a salesman of any sort but for me safety is first, electric car or not.
I got this through evseupgrade.com, but it has had a "temporarily" down website for quite some time now. I'm afraid I don't know a comparable service that does what they did to upgrade the circuitry of my Leaf evse unit.
I'm not sure how solar factors in, as the energy created will still either be sent out a 110v or 220v outlet (in the U.S. at least). Also, the solar array would have to be pretty large to collect all the energy needed to charge even a smaller 24kwh battery like in my old Nissan LEAF.
My evse cable has stopped working after 6 months, bought 2nd hand from car dealer. The ready light comes on but the charge light doesn’t and the car will not receive a charge. Is this a common fault? My dealer says it is down to misuse but all I do is charge and put back in the bag after carefully rolling the cable. My dealer also says it is not for full time use, just temporary or emergency use, I assume this is incorrect? I use my cable 4 times a week, charging from approx. 45% to 90%. Thanks in advance, any advise welcome.
Is the 2nd-hand evse the same as the official branded charger that came with your EV initially? I've never heard of a temporary replacement charger that wouldn't work 100% of the time. Granted I don't move my evse around from place to place, so it COULD be user error. I would test it on a couple different outlets including one at the dealership, and if the issue persists I'd say it's a faulty unit. Again, I'm mainly curious what brand of charger the dealership would provide other than the official evse from the automaker that originally came with your car.
EVerything Hi, it’s a Nissan Charger, exactly the same as that in the video. It didn’t come with the car, I bought it from the dealer when buying the car. Thanks
@@blublast in that case, I would think the charger would be covered under warranty. May have to go through Nissan directly if the dealer won't help you out.
Really interesting video, thanks for posting. I'd be interested to know if anyone knows of any companies in the UK that can adapt your level 1 charger to take higher currents?
I would think so! There was a previous comment below from Ronnie Spooner that made it sound like the UK already has 240v as the standard voltage. Is that only in some areas? If so, it's a definite advantage for EV drivers in the UK
That's so exciting! The Leaf is a little funky looking, but I've absolutely fallen in love with it over the past year and a half. And with the boosted range you should enjoy it all the more! Congrats on your driving electric, and leaving fossil fuels in the past where they belong
Iam trading my 2009 Prius this weekend for a 2019 leaf. Does the 2019 nissan leaf already comes with the fast charging port? I don't need any fast charging. Also iam thinking I will need a charging station at home to charge it right? However, my car will be park outside on driveway so I do t know how will I charge it, any ideas?
Congrats! That's quite an upgrade. I believe all LEAF models come with fast-charging standard now, which was not the case when I got my first one in 2015. If the car you're getting has two separate charging ports on the front, they you have fast charging. Unfortunately, the Level 3 speed CHAdeMO style plug is slowly starting to phase out especially here in the US so you may be limited in finding that type of fast charge plug as time goes on. But since it sounds like you're going to be charging at home, then you won't need to worry about the fast charge plug. The EVSE cable that comes with your car will provide the ability to charge right away, and if you got the smaller 40kwh battery version of the LEAF then I'd say it's enough to charge your car almost entirely overnight. So I would start with what you have and see how it meets your needs for range and speed of charging before you buy a separate charger to install. If you're parked in the driveway, just run the cable under the door. We do that, and there's no need to worry about outdoor elements like rain or snow.
@@EVeverything thank u very Mich for ur great advice. I been reading that iam not supoused to let battery drop more than 30% or something like that and to charge it up to 80% and not 100%. Also not to use fast charging cause it kills battery?? Any pointers u wanna give me will be aapreciat it. Thank u
@@futbol1972 it's just a general guideline that a lot of EV drivers practice. Basically the battery is likely to be healthier when it doesn't get drained too low or charged completely full all of the time. Especially with a LEAF battery, which the automaker has continued to make air-cooled only rather than thermally managed like most electric cars, I would strongly recommend that 20% to 80% in practice if you can live within those range limitations. If you need to charge to 100% a few times to make it to your destination, that's no problem. Fast-charging itself won't hurt the battery, but doing it a lot can have some effect on degradation. Again, don't avoid using it in a travel situation where you need to recapture range quickly.
I have a 2018 Prius and I always plug mines in at night and just pull the plug out in the morning and I just assume when it was done charging that it stops changing on it's on.
Yes, simple to plug in at night and ready to go in the morning, especially with a smaller battery like on your Prius Prime. Might not even really need Level 2 charging speed at all!
EVerything thanks for getting back to me and I wanted you to no that I was hinting around to saying is it possible my car would be overcharging because I leave the plug in to long and I do have the Prius prime that changes on 110 and 240 so i think my car has more battery than the other Prius.
Most EV batteries have a protective barrier to prevent overcharging, so I wouldn't worry about it. And especially with the low EV range of the Prius Prime, I'd say you want as much charge as possible to maximize the range. Our Volt goes about twice as far as the prime at 50 electric miles, and we still charge it to full every time and leave it overnight even though it's probably sitting there at a full charge for several hours before unplugging it in the morning. If you're truly worried about your battery, I'm sure there are settings on the Prime to set charging times so it stops at the time you like.
Their old website is gone, so not sure what happened to them. There's another site called evseadapters.com but I cannot vouch for them. We really need an easier way to get adapters like all the variations Tesla offers for different wall plugs.
0:34 - does the top pice of the cable remove so its a strait cable instead of having a 90 degree turn? - im in australia and it would be different here (not that iv seen the aus version)
Yes, the cable actually arrived as a straight configuration when I got it. For my purposes it was difficult to use that way, so I purchased a right-angle adapter. Matched perfectly!
No, charging will stop just as your phone charger does once it has fully charged your phone. Now some EVs do have thermal cooling systems and in this instance the car may still draw power to thermally manage the battery. The same may occur if you use an app to precondition your car using the AC or heater & the car is still plugged in.
Great question! The short answer is no, not really. The only time I've left my car turned off for extended periods has been during vacation trips, the longest of which lasted 9 days. In that length of time, I returned to find my car had dipped maybe 2 or 3%. Now I can't explain why any of the energy goes away, but it appears to be normal and quite predictable. I'll leave the explanation to someone else who may know the technical cause, but normally my car has the same state of charge each morning as it had when I turned it off the day before. On cold nights I've seen it drop no more than 1% from the night before. To really set you at ease, I can tell you I once left my Leaf on (thinking it was off) while playing a gig with my band. From set-up to tear-down it must have been at least 6 hours before I came back to my car and realized it was on! And how much battery did I lose in that time? Only 20%, but fortunately I didn't leave the AC turned on or that would have been a different story. So no, you don't lose any perceptible charge overnight and you won't lose more than 2% or 3% even if you leave it unused for a week or more in my experience
Yes, it locks the chargeport to prevent someone from unplugging you at a public charger. But there is a button that disables that feature, and if you go to the 00:52 mark in the video you'll see 4 buttons in sequence. The one with a plug & lock symbol can be toggled up & down, but I think if you set it to the middle position it disengages the locking feature altogether.
Well, the 14-50 is the type of wall outlet you could have installed. Anything will work as a source of power and then feed into your car through the J1772 plug that goes into the car. Newer LEAFS starting in 2018 actually offer a 14-50 adapter which keeps the EVSE portable. All EV manufacturers should provide such flexibility really, where the driver has a portable level 1 & level 2 solution in the provided EVSE.
Can you cite sources for the idea of not charging above 80 percent? Or could this be a case of the old rumor of Ni-Cd battery memory just being applied to these Lithium batteries ?
I'll link a recent article below, but in my experience this has become a common practice based on results and not rumors. Our Tesla has clear indicators to limit your charge level unless you are taking a longer trip and need the max range. A cheaper car like the Bolt EV still has the same limit settings bc the manufacturer knows these practices will maximize battery life. It's not going to kill your battery to charge to 100% every now and again (some people even do it once a week to reset the battery cells or something technical I don't understand). I've seen my cell phone battery respond positively to the same practice, where before my phones would lose a lot of capacity after a couple years of charging to 100%. Some EVs have more of a buffer built in (like our Chevy Volt), and so we charged it to full every time with no degradation issues. Again just a best practice most EV drivers seem to abide by to extend the driving life of their vehicle. insideevs.com/news/368097/video-60-percent-ev-charge-limit-benefits/
Another article I came across with more detailed info on EV battery chemistry and good charging practices: cleantechnica.com/2018/08/26/the-secret-life-of-an-ev-battery/?fbclid=IwAR0eavkZ5zKmmQST5r-dgEjND4Z8H6LBr1AqgPpa8IXYazbvkuaPrWQtGVM
Yes, seems likely at this point. The website said they were moving locations for a while, but now there isn't even an active webpage. Too bad, bc I haven't found anyone offering similar services.
Yes, that's the primary reason to do this upgrade. If you're operating off a NEMA 10-30 dryer plug like me, you can expect at least 2x faster charge times, if not 3x and more. Kinda depends on your car too, where some EVs have slower on-board chargers (3.3kw vs 6.6kw for example). What's cool using EVSE Upgrade is that with the adapters you can switch between 120v & 240v as needed, although I've never reverted back to using an ordinary wall plug myself. If you don't plan to use the 120v plug anymore, you may look on Amazon for dedicated 240v chargers that are in the $200-$300 range.
EVerything I have a Nissan leaf and I don't have a dryer port anymore so that's why I was asking, guess I'm going to have to install a dryer port it'll be cheaper then getting those boxes that most people get
Yeah, the installation of the dryer plug can be the most expensive part. In the duplex we lived in when there was already a plug in the garage, so that worked out great! In our new home we had to hire an electrician to install one. What "boxes" are you referring to? The actual chargers, like JuiceBox?
Glad you found it helpful! Are there any other areas of EV ownership you have questions about? I'm always looking for ideas to turn into future episodes
So when u say I need to install level 2 charger, what exactly do you mean? Do I just install a 240v outlet and plug it in there or do I need something else to make it a level 2 charger?
I won't say you "need" to install a level 2 charger, especially if you can get by with just standard level 1 charging which you are equipped for already with the EVSE cable that should come with your car. If you have the smaller 40kwh battery of the LEAF, good for around 150 miles of range, then you might be able to get by with level 1 speeds if you can plug your car in overnight and don't need a 100% full charge each day. For example, if I had your car, I'd plug it in when the range was down to say 50 miles or so. If this is not providing enough range for you or you need it to charge faster, then you can look into level 2 chargers that will need to operate on some type of 240v plug. Some LEAFS actually have an adapter included, so if yours has the adapter then you can just install a NEMA 14-50 plug somewhere and be good to go!
@@EVeverything thank u for ur great advice..sorry iam not electrician. Does the NEMA plug comes with cord too to plug in to leaf charger, or the bema plug is just the head and what cable do I attach it to?
@@futbol1972 so if your charging cable comes with the adapter seen here th-cam.com/video/hxlu4z8TUP0/w-d-xo.html, which allows you to switch between a 120v plug and 220v, then you'll be in a position to just have an electrician install a NEMA 14-50 plug and it will fit no problem. If your cable doesn't look like the one in the video, meaning it just has the standard 120v wall outlet, then to upgrade to level 2 charging will likely require buying another charger entirely. These can range in price and quality, but again as long as you get one that has a NEMA 14-50 plug (or whatever 220v plug you like) then you can get level 2 charging in your garage. There's a bunch of different plug types, so I'd say just stick with the 14-50 to avoid confusion and it's the most standard 220v here in the U.S. at least.
nicely done. . .i did not know that the batteries do not like to be sitting around @ 100% charge. we will be getting a level 2 charger installed at our home, as the Ontario govt currently has a rebate programme for the costs of both the charger itself and the installation
You'll definitely appreciate level 2 charging! There seems to be some uncertainty about the whole charged to 100% thing, but when the Bolt EV and Model 3 have settings for 80% & 90% charging limiters it indicates to me that charging 100% regularly could contribute more to battery degradation. I live in the 20-80% zone just to be safe, unless I need the full 100% to get somewhere
Got a Nissan Leaf as a rental car and the at home charger it came with seemed to work the first night but this morning noticed the cable was beeping and the charging lights on the cars dashboard were just flashing. Seems to do this each time. Any idea?
What model year is it? My guess would be maybe it detected a short in the circuit or some other situation where it was drawing more than your home electricity could safely provide. Does it do the same thing right away if you unplug and reinsert?
@@GaryGoodJob_ sorry, I'm all out of guesses on what the issue could be. When my 2015 LEAF had flashing lights on the dashboard, I read online that it indicated a 12v battery replacement was necessary.
I read somewhere the Volt has a built-in function that charges the batteries full when it is really 80% and it runs out of electricity when ther is really 20% remaining. So we don't have to worry about that when we charge the car. I think your EVSE upgrade is very practical. i want to get that for my Volt too. That will give me the experience to drive on gas for a few days while the charging cable is being modified.
Yes, I've heard the same regarding the safety buffers on both ends of a Volt's battery charge. The EVSE Upgrade is a cool option, but you might be interested to know that you don't actually get your own modified cable back. When you mail yours in they just send you someone else's that has already been modified so that you don't have to wait any longer than necessary, and then yours is modified and sent to someone else eventually.
Hope it's not too late but the EVSE (charger) that comes with the Gen 2 Volt (2016 and up) is already 220V compatible. You don't need to get it modified. evseupgrade will happily charge you around $100 (or if you do it over ebay around $200) but they just will cut the factory 5-15 plug (110V plug) and put in a plug of your choosing. This will unfortunately also remove the existing temperature sensor on the plug. You can easily make an adapter for yourself if you are a bit handy. gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?218442-2016-Volt-120v-EVSE-is-L1-L2-Conversion-Capable
aspartns I have heard that before, but I'd already modified my Leaf EVSE long before we got the Volt. Definitely good info for a new Volt owner though!
Not too late. Last week I finally connected a 10 gauge cable from a 30A, 240v breaker to a new 15A, 120v single outlet, which the existing EVSE of my 2017 Volt fits right in. For the last few days, it fully charged in 5 hrs instead of 12 hrs. Thanks for your advice. It was simple and cheap, $32 for 20ft of #10 cable, and $4 for the outlet. I also learned that with 240v, I don’t have to set it to 12amps before charging. It does it automatically.
I'm afraid a lot of people think they have to install a level 2 charger, but yes a regular wall outlet works just fine & every EV comes equipped with a cable to charge. Now as battery packs are getting larger & offering more driving range, it takes a lot longer to charge that way. But if you have an EV that goes 150 miles or less (Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, MINI Cooper Electric, etc) then it's still possible to get a full charge overnight on a level 1 wall socket.
So after your charger is converted to 240volt, your then plugging in it in to the same port? The 120volt port? That is usually breaking a basic rule of electricity. That's why different voltage outlets are different plug configurations...so you can't mistakenly plug a 120volt device into a 240volt outlet and burn it up. How are they getting around that?
The modification on my EVSE just allows it to operate at either 120v or 220v. I don't know the technical specifics in doing that, but when I used the 120v adapter it does not pull 220v. When I use the 220v adapter, I guess there is something signaling to draw that amount. Same with the Tesla we have now, which has 3 adapters & based on what plug we are using it adjusts to whatever is appropriate based on that.
I'd still recommend it for a portable 240v charger, and prices for the upgrade have dropped a bit since I used the service over 2 years ago. I actually have my EVSE mounted to the wall of our garage now & use my wife's EVSE as the portable cable. And, just in case you own a 2017 Volt, I've read that the included EVSE cable is already 240v equipped and can be used right away with the right adapters. Would be a much cheaper option and you can learn more from this video, but again only for 2016-2017 Volt chargers: th-cam.com/video/lGcSgzVtv4I/w-d-xo.html
Your electric bill will go up, but not by as much as it costs to fuel a gasoline vehicle. It's hard to say how much to expect, but I'd say we saw an increase of about $50/mo when we had two electric vehicles. It's lower now with just our one EV, but you can do the math if you calculate the cost per kWh from your electric bill and multiply by the battery pack of the EV you're considering and can predict how often you'd need to charge it to drive the distances you need it to go on a monthly basis.
@@imohbalu I don't have solar so I'm not sure, but I feel like unless you have battery storage I'm not sure you can control where the energy from your panels goes to. You might just be pulling energy from the grid to charge the car, while your solar panels are essentially just feeding back into the grid. Also EV batteries will likely require more energy than a few solar panels are capable of producing even in the course of an entire day.
A standard wall outlet delivers 110v or 120v, so a 240v outlet delivers roughly twice the voltage. For EV owners, this means you can charge your car much faster (about 20 miles per hour of charging off 240v compared to >10 miles off a wall outlet). Some home appliances run off 240v like cooking ovens and clothes dryers. If you have a dryer in your garage like we did, then an adapter like the one in my video may be the cheapest way to get faster EV charging
EVerything thanks for the explanation :) but still think it's not correct by saying 240 VOLT CURRENT if you are taking the current as measurement of voltage
Sorry, not quite sure what you mean. Perhaps "current" isn't the correct word, but the dryer outlet in this video and the one we've had installed in our new home is a 240v source. I thought you were asking what the difference in voltages was between a standard wall outlet and the larger one.
Current and Voltage are two completely different things. Voltage is the difference in charge between two points, measured in Volts. Current is the rate at which charge is flowing, measured in Amps. The text in the video is incorrect. Technically it should say 120 Volt Voltage, but that's redundant, so you would just say 120 Volts. If you wanted to include current, you would write it as 15 Amp Current, or 20 Amp Current beside the 120 Volt measurement. It would be 30 Amp or 40 Amp current for a basic 240 Volt circuit. It depends on the breaker used and the corresponding gauge of wire.
I'd imagine you can take advantage of your domestic voltage with the cable that's included with your EV. In the U.S. we only get a wall plug connection intended for 110 volts, but it sounds like your standard cable may support 220v at the lowest level. I'm really not certain, but if you're able to plug in your EVSE charger into a wall outlet at 220/230 and get a full charge in 4-5 hours, then you're charging at level 2!
I know longer have this upgraded EVSE, and the company that modified it seems to no longer exist. But from memory, I'd say about 20 feet of cable from the EVSE to the car, and maybe 3 ft from the EVSE to wall plug. Length of cable becomes quite important when you have a car with a rear charge port & you don't want to have to back in to your garage each time to charge.
In the U.S.A., level 1 runs at 110 volts and seems to draw somewhere between 8-12 amps (some can be adjusted in the car or on the EVSE charge unit). Level 2 steps up to 240 volts and amperage tends to range from 16-32 amps (40, 50 & 60 amp achievable if your home allows it). Using level 1 with our Outlander PHEV the EVSE is set to charge at 8 amps (with 12 as an option). Our Tesla is plugged into a NEMA 16-20 plug, so max amperage we get is 16 using level 2. If you want the fastest charge times, you'll want to boost those specs but we're perfectly fine with our setup right now.
Hi, I just moved to a condo association with a parking lot. There are some standard electrical boxes available in the parking lot - though just the boxes, not 2 prong outlets. The association is of course wary of metering cost so the EV user doesnt get a free ride. Question....Is there anything on the market thats cheap to install that allows a user to smartphone app a payment? Any ideas? Thank you,....!
You are asking for a recommendation for an app to pay the condo association for the electricity you pull from their electrical boxes? Can't say I'm experienced with anything beyond PayPal or Venmo, both of which should work if the association has an account to accept payment. I assume your condo does not come with a garage with outlets for you to charge from?
hello this was very useful thank you for the info, I am looking to buy the genuine cable from BMW like the one you have 16 A could you share the part number
Sorry, I have been out of town & away from my charging equipment. This is a Nissan cable, so not sure how the part number will correlate with BMW. There are plenty of 3rd party chargers that will work just as well and likely cost less than a BMW-branded charger.
Yes, very good to point that out! Sometimes people are shocked by how long charging can take, especially at level 1 charging speeds. But assuming you aren't maxing out your driving range every day, and are living in the 20-80% range like a lot of EV drivers, you can expect about 40% less than the rated time to charge from entirely empty to completely full.
I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least water resistant. I've charged my LEAF at public chargers in the rain, but this specific EVSE is intended for home use and probably isn't meant to be entirely exposed to natural elements. But again, I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least water resistant.
There could be a few factors, but let's assume first that the light is green when you plug your charger into a wall outlet. Then you plug in to the car and the orange light on the EVSE illuminates but then disappears? Does it revert back to the green light blinking, or do all lights go off? I would suggest trying a different outlet in the same house/garage, and if the issue persists then try a wall outlet in a different house or building to see where the fault lies. If the charger is the issue, you should have it replaced by whoever you bought the vehicle from. If the charger works at another location, then your existing wall outlet may have a problem or your electrical circuitry may not be able to support the power being drawn by the charging unit. I've never experienced your situation, so this is just my recommendation right now
What is the purpose of the wall charger if all you need is a the dryer style outlet (240) and the right cord? For whatever reason my dryer has a normal plug, so the dryer plug is empty right in my garage. I don't know why my dryer uses a normal plug, but its worked for 15 years and is fine. I am looking at the Honda Clarity PHEV, so really charging its smaller battery with the included normal plug will be fine, but I am curious as to the purpose of the expensive wall chargers.
Do you mean why don't people just use an adapter from 120v to 240v to upgrade the EVSE that comes included with each EV? If so, my understanding is that most level 1 chargers aren't actually wired to support 240v. Some like the new 2018 Nissan Leaf actually do come with an adapter for both level 1 & level 2 charging, but that's been a rarity so far. The Clarity is similar to my 24kwh Leaf, which I charged off of Level 1 with the included cable for 2 years so you'll be fine as long as you're diligent about plugging in your car all night every couple days. I guess people buy Level 2 chargers so they can have a dedicated 16A, 32A or even 40A charger in their home for very fast charging and can keep their level 1 EVSE with them in the car in case they need an emergency charge
Just to clarify. Whether you're charging your vehicle at 120v or 240v (Level 1 or 2 respectively) the unit you use is an EVSE and not a Charger. It simply speaks a protocol to the car and provides the raw AC voltage. It is only Level 3 (called DC fast charge) that is truly a "charger" as it converts the AC input General a 480 volt 3-phase into DC voltage 300 to 400 volts depending on the current battery level. The second thing to note is that simply converting a level 1 charger to run on 220 will generally only provide 12 amps as that is all the internal circuitry and wire can deal with. The more expensive Chargers that run $400 and up have larger cabling and beefier internal circuitry to allow them to provide 30 to 40 amps. Many newer electric vehicles can make use of this extra power and charge five to six times faster than level 1. I have a Chevy Bolt and though I have tested the charger that came with it at 240 (not recommended), and it was limited to the 12 amps. I've been purchased a alternate charger and was able to charge up to 32 amps at 240 volts.
yogibearstie Very simple answer all Major Manufacturers of Automobiles are building compatible vehicles, but at first did not want a lot of sales. If you knew it would take over 20 hours to charge without paying almost $700 extra for Fast charging capability and up to $1000 for a level 2 charger, at least at the beginning, there is a good chance you would not buy or lease an EV. NOW all manufacturers except Tesla and some other dedicated EV manufacturers have a tiger by the tail.
David Drake I beg to differ. A main thing that limits the current an EVSE can deliver is the wire size to the vehicle. That is costly to replace. I purchased my portable 240v or 120v EVSE on ebay for less than $400 and it is well made and adjustable from 10A to 32A. It's a Zen Car from bansheerider555.
When I first got the Leaf, I noticed a spike of about $40. We do pay a little extra for clean wind energy, so the average consumer might see something closer to $30/mo. When we added the Volt, we were seeing a total increase of close to $60 compared to when we had no electric vehicles at all. What we found though was a program through our utility provider that offers EV owners a flat-rate of $30/mo plus unlimited charging access to public chargers around town, so that's what we are using now. Charging during off-peak hours (usually at night) will result in the lowest impact on your electricity costs
thanks :) how many miles do you guys drive monthly? $30 a month sounds very cheap regardless! i have a rav4 hybrid, and my monthly fuel bill is about $100
I'd estimate about 1,300 miles per month in total between both our cars. My wife has the longer work commute (about 50 miles there and back), but we use my Leaf for errands and weekend driving. Not sure how we compare to the average family, but between my short commute and my wife's longer one I imagine we're about average. I was paying about $70/mo to fuel my gas Nissan Juke before, and my wife's Corolla was probably a little more efficient at maybe $50/mo in gas. So definitely a savings to be had, even while gas is cheap at the moment
Like the gauge of the cable? If you notice it getting too warm or even hot, then there may be an issue. I bought a NEMA 16-20 adapter for my LEAF and it got so hot it began to burn the wall plug.
Price is also the only barrier for me buying an EV at this point. Our second vehicle for running around town was bought used for $4k - tough to beat that price. When one of my two cars finally dies, I'll very likely replace it with an EV (hopefully a reliable used one by that time).
+Andy Berry Totally understand the financial barrier for some. What frustrates me is when people spend upwards of $30,000 on trucks and suburbans with terrible fuel economy, and then tell me my car was expensive. The combination of federal incentives and leasing rather than buying the vehicle makes a big difference from the initial sticker price you see advertised. I'd advise people to lease in most cases anyway, as EV technology is changing rapidly. But a lot of used EVs are coming off-lease and you can now find used Leafs for under $10,000
+EVerything I had not really considered the lease option before, as it historically does not fit my needs. You make a good point about the technology changing rapidly though - maybe the cell phone model works in this case as well, i.e. get a two year contract and then upgrade when it's up :) I do agree with you about not spending $30k on a truck or SUV these days, and I won't be doing that any time soon.
Yes, leasing is generally not the best investment in the long-term. This is the first time I've leased (or driven a brand new vehicle), and it was the best option for getting me into an EV right away for a low monthly cost, and puts me in a position to get a longer-range EV like the Bolt or Tesla Model 3 when my lease is up. I'm curious to know what your primary reason for wanting to own an EV is... the cost savings in electricity over gas, lower maintenance, a quiet ride? For me it's all about being part of the solution when it comes to climate change and just air quality in general.
+EVerything 1) Being part of the solution when it comes to climate change, air quality. 2) Lower maintenance/quiet ride. 3) The tech geek in me thinks it's cool!
+EVerything 1) Being part of the solution when it comes to climate change, air quality. 2) Lower maintenance/quiet ride. 3) The tech geek in me thinks it's cool!
From what I understand, the Volt is already engineered with a built-in protection buffer on both ends of a battery charge. So a 100% charge isn't really using the full kwh capacity of the battery, and depleting the battery isn't really draining every last electron. I've seen this indicated when the battery runs out and the engine switches to gas, the dashboard indicator still shows power being pulled from the battery in a sort of hybrid driving mode.
I don't believe so, but I'm not certain. I've never considered the wiring behind the plug, just plug in. Now a 240v outlet is probably a different story.
@@anthonybush6391 I would trust an electrician I suppose. Seems the energy draw would be low enough at 110v. I know the two 220v plugs in our garage have their own dedicated line(s).
@@EVeverything hello… unlike on the utube videos I’ve seen on here, every electrian, who has come out to give me an estimate, has said that I must have a dedicated line to run the 110/120 v to charge the EV battery in my 2018 Prius prime hybrid premium. I’m assuming this must b some type of legal regulation/regulatory requirement.
kenan1099 no issues at all so far. We've used it on our Leaf, Volt & even a Bolt once during an extended test drive. There are lots of affordable solutions out there now, but EVSE Upgrade was a good option for us
I am hoping u or a reader here can answer a question about this. Can I use the car 12 v to power a 110v inverter and charge the battery from the inverter?
Without knowing the answer myself, I'd say simply reading that makes me think unlikely (or at least not a good idea to try). What would be the purpose exactly?
@@EVeverything thank you for replying. The purpose is to avoid running a drop cord from home to charge the battery. I just purchased the 2022 Hyundai Tucson hybrid. Should b picking it up in a couple of hours. ( 12v out from car socket into inverter (5000watts) From hybrid the cable goes into inverter 110 v outlet. ) This is in the event I used up both gas n battery charge. I'll be doing this after warranty. Into input would be welcome.
Hi, i have leaf 2011(japanees model) it comes with EV that was using in 200volt, but in Georgia where i leave , we have 220v. could you give me any advise,should i plug without worring or get i have to get proper size charger? thx
Perhaps you could use your current EVSE at the 110v charging level, but pushing to 220v or 240v is probably a bad idea. I'd say have your EVSE modified to work with U.S. voltage, or simply purchase another charger if you have a garage or somewhere to install it. I found this brief explanation of the potential dangers online, but this company is also offering their modification services so just ignore that part since they're in New Zealand: electrolease.nz/blog/japanese-nissan-leaf-charger-get-50-off-EV-home-charger.html
I can't use my EVSE at the 110v charging level,becouse it's ment to be used in japan for 200v charging level. i guess i have to get new propper charger.
Yes, that would be my suggestion. Perhaps someone else can chime in with a different solution. Can the Japanese version of the Leaf still receive a 240v 30amp current like we commonly use in the USA?
Please read the manual before powering up a 200V charger at 220V. Should the manual indicate that 200V is the maximum allowable, you may need a transformer to buck the power to 200V. Having said that, it might be wiser ask the local Nissan dealer if there is an easier fix for this. All the best!
Good job on the channel. I've just subscribed and your now on my list of credible, real life, real world experienced EV owners. I'm very careful when people ask me about owning and operating a 100% battery electric car as there are many armchair experts on TH-cam who are just blowing smoke. When it comes to the technical side of first generation battery powered EV,s I refer people to EVTV Motor Verks and Jack Rickard. There you'll find out about credible studies and trials that show for instance charging your battery to 100% each time will only reduce the capacity over time by around 3% over the life of the battery. The 80% charge was cautionary until enough data was available to see how the batteries would hold up. The same applies to the ownership and operating side of things. There are owners such as yourself, Ian Sampson, alloam, The Electric Israeli, to name a few, who are open and honest about their experience. This allows someone to make up their own mind about fully electric vehicles based on reality. Good move on upgrading the trickle charger, I finally got around to doing mine. I did it myself after searching online for the information. It cost about $30.00 in parts and two hours of time to convert and make adapter cables for 110V, 30Amp drier plug, and an RV Park lead. If you can do it SAFELY yourself, or know someone who can help you, it is worth doing. If you can't do it yourself send it away and have it done, it's still worth it. Thanks again for being helpful and real about your EV experience.
+John Livesey Thank you for the kind words, and thank you for subscribing! I'll have to check out the other EV folks you mentioned. Very interested to learn more about the 100% charging data, because I'd love to charge full every night! We are actually about to start shooting our video review of the new 2017 Chevy Volt today, so hoping to have that up later this week.
+EVerything You're welcome. As for the 100% charging data it can be found on the" EVTV Motor Verks website", EVTV friday show archive, September 18 2015 episode. Warning, if your not a tech guy this stuff will be dry listening. Bear with it as there are lots of graphs and charts to help with comprehension. Check out some of Jacks other Friday night shows and you'll find him informative and entertaining when it comes to EV's.
I don't have any experience driving hybrids, but if you mean a plug-in hybrid then the answer varies. Our Volt holds about 9 gallons, which is smaller than usual to make up for the space taken by the large battery. Something like the BMW i3 has a very small tank of only like 2 gallons! So just depends if you want gas as a backup only, or if you really rely on gas to get you the necessary distance. For us, the Volt's 9 gallon tank gets us over 300 miles which is more than enough, and we only fill it for longer trips every 2 or 3 months.
Not a dumb question, and don't feel bad for asking. The answer unfortunately is not uniform, as some EVs (perhaps most) do allow you to control the % of charge & others do not. Our 2015 Nissan Leaf only had a timer, where you had to calculate how much time you wanted the car to charge and had to do the math to figure out when this would get you to 80%. Our 2017 Volt was set up to where you set the time you wanted it to stop charging based on departure time, so that still took some calculation to set it a couple hours later than we actually planned to depart each day. Tesla makes this very simple, as you can set the charge limit easily. The Bolt EV also has some similar limitation settings, so it really depends on the car. So if for some reason your car doesn't have this feature, there are some brand of chargers that that can do this for you. Otherwise, I would just calculate how long it takes to get you to 100% charge and work you way back and just plug in whenever the appropriate time is to meet your departure time the next day.
@@bkf3857 I like the look of the Bolt more and of course the increased range. If you're comparing to a 2018 or newer LEAF, then the gap narrows quite a bit. The biggest issue with the Bolt when I did a test drive was cheap interior quality (hard plastics, even on door arm rests) and thin/narrow seats that were uncomfortable. Even my older LEAF had a more premium interior I felt, and seats were far more comfortable. Price on Bolts is very good though, with a lot of discounted pricing even on new 2020 models.
I would need more context about the issue, but I guess my first question would be what happens when you plug in? Any indicator lights blinking or any beeping sound to signal a connection? What are the lights on your charger showing (green, red orange)? I have never encountered an issue where my LEAF simply doesn't charge at all, but if that's the case then you will need someone more knowledgeable than me to diagnose and find a solution.
Technically yes, but there could be safety concerns depending on the quality of the extension cord. You'll want to consider specifications of the cord to handle the constant energy being drawn (assuming this is intended for Level 1 charging only). You can always test it by seeing if the cord is warm to the touch on the outside, or if the plug prongs themselves are hot after a charge. So while not necessarily recommended, it should work if you need the extra length to reach your vehicle. I should note that there are J1772 extension cables available online for purchase, which are made for this very purpose but are quite expensive in comparison.
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A most useful video. Don't let battery drop below 20% or charge above 80% is good to know. Thanks.
It's just if you like playing it safe. As battery chemistry improves and manufacturers add built-in buffers so you can't access the full battery, you shouldn't have to worry too much about battery degradation in the short term. I've routinely let the battery drain to 10% and often charge to 100%, but generally abide by the 20/80 rule most of the time. A certain amount of battery capacity loss seems unavoidable after several years regardless.
I guarantee your car handles charging & leveling for you, to the point where you never have to worry about over- or undercharging your batteries and damaging them. The 'fuel gage' you're seeing is an abstraction of the amount of usable energy your batteries have, not a direct representation of their charge.
You're probably right. It's not difficult to stay above the 20% level because no one really wants to push the charge too low and risk being stranded, but halting the charge at around 80% does take extra effort. Old habits die hard
Does the Leaf have a setting in its system to only allow the car to charge up to 80%?
@@bryancarter4554 not on the 2015.
Thank you!! This video is literally the only place on the internet (not even in my owners manual) that answered my question!
"Can you unplug a electric car that isn't fully charged" 🙄 thank you!!
Happy to help! Feel free to ask if you have any other questions about your EV
You can program a Leaf to start charging at a certain time so you can plug in when you get home and it won't start charging until the off-peak hours.
I've seen this. It's much easier to program with the SL and SV models since they have the bigger center display screen with a different menu system. On my S model it's really tedious going into the dash menu to program that in. Also not sure how it works if you want to plug in earlier for some reason, like if you stop to use a public charger in the middle of the day for instance. But yes, a nifty feature that can help you save money by only using energy during off-peak hours and saving you the hassle of plugging and unplugging at certain times
@@brickonator I use one of those on a 220V outlet to charge my Twizy at night. Works fine.
thank you ! first person to show that it recharges on regular 110
Yes, it's a really slow charge, but it works well for long, overnight charges. As EV battery capacity and range increase over the next couple years, I suspect 110v trickle charging will be too slow eventually.
@@EVeverything it is for the gen2. from what i can tell, i'm looking for an affordable EV i can charge without having something installed into my house for a ton of money, so something like the 110v charger or that modified charger is ideal, and the gen2 takes 20hours to charge from it's 110v.
@@cageybee7221 sounds like you may want to limit your search to EVs with perhaps no more than a 40kWh battery or below 120 miles of driving range. Lots of used Leaf & BMW i3 models that fall into this category, plus some other options like the Kia Soul EV, VW e-Golf, and even the newer Huyndai IONIQ electric. Probably some others I'm not thinking of at the moment.
@@cageybee7221 I've just bought a second hand 2018 Nissan Leaf. And I charge it from a normal plug at work as I do 12 hour shifts. The idea behind 20 hour charge is if you get home/work with a very low battery. Most often you will not drive 120 miles and thus are able to replenish the battery in less than 20 hours. I know I can get 60% charge in 12 hours and I never really get to be under 40% on my usual commute. It depends how much is your regular daily commute? If it's under 100 miles, you can easily charge it back to 100% in 12 hours.
This video is the gold standard in many areas. You do a great job introducing the term EVSE, and never say “charger.”
A couple small issues, 120 to 240 is not twice as fast, as you say “do the math,” it’s all about amps. Your EVSE upgrade is about 3x faster at 16 amps on 240v, compared to your 12 amps on 120v option. You can buy a 24 or 32 amp EVSE to charge much faster on that dryer outlet.
Public charge stations are usually 6.6kW where I live (about 30 amps), your EVSE upgrade is only running at 16 amps. If you have an old Leaf, it can only handle 3.3kW, so you never need more than a 16 Amp charge cable.
Thank you for the kind words! And yes, I realize now that a bit of what I said in the video wasn't quite accurate regarding the charging speeds. Was kind of basing it off my experience with the 3.3kW Leaf which, like you said, doesn't really benefit beyond 16amps. But with more modern plugs like a NEMA 14-50 and a 32 or 40-amp charger I imagine charging speeds accelerate quite a bit.
Very nicely explained. Thanks. I wonder how long do EV batteries last and how often do they require replacement?
Glad you enjoyed the video! I've heard concerns from people lately about battery degradation and how much it can cost to have it replaced. Generally my response is "don't worry about it". I put over 30K miles on my first Leaf (the one in the video above) and never saw any indication of battery degradation or loss of driving range. I'm in my 2nd Leaf and am experiencing the same thing, so my concerns about any battery issues are basically zero and I expect my Leaf would maintain good battery health for 10 years or more based on my last 4 years of driving electric. And the Leaf doesn't even have a thermally managed battery pack! So cars that do, like the Chevy Volt or BMW i3, are even more likely to maintain long & healthy battery life despite hot/cold climates. If you're still worried, there are often very good warranties from the auto manufacturer that will have you covered for 8 years or so. I was helping a co-worker this week to pick a used EV to buy, and we found a Ford C-Max Energi that had a 10-year/100,000 mile warranty on the battery & hybrid components! So really, as battery tech improves & EVs become even more commonplace, I'd say don't worry about the battery needing replacement on any EV that's been manufactured since 2015.
Thank you!
This video has been *VERY helpful!*
I’ll see about having a 240v outlet installed into my garage.
😃🚘🏡
I didn't know that about not fully charging a EV battery! This isn't discussed on many forms. Good to know!
It may not be entirely essential, as most (if not all) EV models have a built-in buffer that prevents you from actually fully charging or depleting the battery. This built-in padding may be enough to prevent premature battery degradation, but I've always abided by the 80/20 rule just to be extra safe. If you need the max range available from each charge, by all means go for that 100%. Batteries are getting better and better as time goes by, and my 2015 Leaf still shows no signs of degradation after 3 years of driving.
Don't know about Europe. In USA supply voltage to a house for example is 220/240 volts. The load center has two buses so the breakers take power from one bus for 120 volts for most of the circuits. For 240 volts you take power from both buses.
In sweden whe usaly hav a three phase system with 220-240 between phase and ground or 400v between phases
Same here in that the two 120 volt legs are different phases. We had 480 volt circuits where I worked but you don't usually see it in residential.
Very useful video. Thank you. How do you know at what % of charge it's at?
This EVSE does not give you that kind of info, but there are more expensive chargers that do and even have wifi to monitor with your phone. Of course the car itself will show the state of charge, and some EVs have their own phone app as well.
Thanks for the detailed info! I'm considering a Nissan Leaf 2016 with the 30 kV battery, however my commute to work is around 98 miles round trip (and there is no charging available there) do you think I'd be pushing the SV model? especially since I would have to charge it st 100% and there are no charging stations at work.
Looks like you'd be taking the Leaf to its limit on a daily basis. And if part of your commute is at highway speeds, I can tell your battery's charge will deplete a bit faster at 55mph and over. Are there any Nissan dealerships with fast-charge stations along your driving route? Perhaps you could look at the 2017 Chevy Volt as an option, which can go 50 miles on electricity and then switches to a gas generator to the tune of 42mpg. My wife has a new Volt, and we recently did a review: th-cam.com/video/rfXyt1MswNA/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much, yes I'll be sure yo check that review out
+Athar Afzal Figure it's your best option for minimal range anxiety. The only other EV with a gas generator would be the BMW i3 ReX, but it's a little more expensive. If money isn't an issue then just spring for a Tesla!
Thank you, i just jump in getting a plug in hybrid...your video is clear and great. Very helpful
Happy to help! What plug-in hybrid did you get?
Pretty nice video.. One thing to add. .I am pretty sure Nissan engineers have capped these car packs at 80% as a standard full charge and will not let them deplete below the nominal for longer life of the packs..
Doing additional degradations seems pointless..
They are self protective out of the box.. You probable can really never charge or discharge them into damage mode..
Bill
I certainly hope that is the case, and from what I know that's exactly what Chevy engineers did with the Volt. I think Leaf owners are still trained to do the 80% thing because it was recommended for earlier models that even had an 80% limit feature to stop charging from reaching full. I've been charging to 100% more frequently now, and still no signs of degradation even after 2 years in the Texas heat
Hey there! Is there any way to lock the charger to the car, for charging in a public lot? In Canada, many lots have an outdoor outlet for block heaters but I would be concerned leaving my charging cable outside without some sort of security feature at my work.
On the Leaf, there is a button that activates a security latch inside the charge port, so it holds the charger chord in place & keeps it from being removed until you deactivate it
I am getting a Ford Focus Electric in the next month. Never owned an Electric vehicle I commute 76 miles a day to and from work. We have chargers here at work I start at 3 pm. What time would you recommend I start charging? Thank you for your advice.
That's great! I've never driven the Focus Electric myself, but I'm excited for you. Assuming these are level 2 chargers you have at work, you probably won't need more than 4-5 hours to get you car charged back up to full. If that's the case, I suppose charge up 4 or 5 hours before leaving work. You plan to charge at home as well?
EVerything Thanks for the advice!! That is one major problem I am living in an apartment complex and they don't have anywhere I can charge it. But I have multiple charging stations around. If I was to charge up to 100 a day and soon as it gets to 100 unplug it, would that be ok?
Jack Goins electric vehicles automatically stop charging when they reach the limit that is set. That would either be 100% or if the vehicle has the ability to lower the charge limit then you may be able to stop at at 80%. On the Chevy bolt this is called Hilltop Reserve, Tesla I know has a much more sophisticated setting that allows arbitrary percentages to be specified. Though you should still move your vehicle promptly after your charge completes so that others can charge.
Where can I get that adapter you are referring to? thanks. Great video by the way.
It was through a company called EVSE Upgrade, and the site is www.evseupgrade.com. There are many options available however, and I'd suggest looking into your local energy provider to see if you can get a deal on a home charger. In my case, it turns out we get a discount on the installation on a 240v charger in our garage on top of a flat rate of $50/mo for the wind energy we use to charge our EVs!
The company is called EVSE Upgrade. It was a bit pricey, and actually I could've gotten a better deal using local rebate programs in my city if I'd just purchased a standard garage charger instead. It is convenient to have a 240v upgraded EVSE that is portable though!
Great video and presentation, Just like to point out that the EVSE in the uk already run from the normal house plug at 240 volts, this is what I used for a few weeks waiting to have my 32 amp charging point installed,
Please note your car must be fitted with a 6.6 kw charger to make the full use of the 32 amp home charging point or fit the 16 amp 3.3 kw version charger.
One very interesting point....I went for the un-tethered cable type charger, which allows different makes of vehicle to charge at the same point and makes replacement or upgrading the point when you change your car, so future proofing the charging point.
New 19 Bolt owner, been using the supplied "trickle" charge 120v and hitting the 12amps and it take long to charge. I live rural and have a 74 mile hilly round trip so on a full charge I should be fine. But most of the time when I get home, need to do lots of running around with kids events. I worry the "trickle" charger will not top me off fast enough and will have some charge stress. Any recommendations, should I get a level 2? Was looking at the ChargePoint. The closest one to me is about 20 miles away.
If it's in your budget, yes I'd say go for a level 2 charger. Trickle charge was difficult to get by with even with my Leaf's little 24kWh battery, so I can't imagine the hassle of trying to maintain over a 50% charge on something like the Bolt's much larger battery. It certainly is doable, and I've heard Bolt owners who are fine with the level 1 charger that comes with the car. But if you are often in situations where you need range fast for an unplanned trip or event, a level 2 charger comes in very handy even if you only plug it in for an hour or two. Just my advice.
Hi looking a used sl but I hear car wings aka Nissan connect is not reliable for updated charging locations. I will look into the 2 you mentioned. Thank you very much
hello
thanks for the videos ! i was looking at the 2015 Nissan leaf S manual, and trickle charging not being recommended cuz it damages the battery? Im confused, my only option is to charge it here in the home i rent. My landlord freaked out asking how much i may need to pay xtra for hydro bill.😭
It says trickle charging can damage the battery? Not sure why that would be the case. It's certainly very slow, but the charge should be the same. I'd recommend 240v if you can afford it, especially as larger batteries arrive in EVs like the Bolt and Tesla 3 that would take an eternity to charge completely off of 120v trickle charging.
Defies logic. Trickle charging is always better for LiIon batteries. I never use more than 50% of capacity so for me charging overnight is no problem. Come home; Charge my phone, charge my car. Super easy.
I agree, most people could function quite easily only using the supplied EVSE charger and a standard wall outlet. Having said that, I certainly wouldn't want to go back after installing a 240v unit earlier this year. Where did you learn that trickle charging is better for EV batteries? I'd be interested if it were true, but I've never heard that before
I spent $130 wiring 240 volts to my garage. Having a electrician brother helped. Spent $313 on on a 16 amp EVSE, a dock, and a cord hook. Spent $8 on a outlet and cover plate. $451 all in. That said I am only charging a Ford C Max Energi with a 7.6 KWH pack. It now takes 2.5 hours instead of seven hours at 120 volts.
How do you like your C-Max? I've always been curious about those and wonder how they compare to something like the Volt. Wish I knew somebody who owned one so I could do a video about it, because the C-Max Energi seems to be an underrated plug-in
EVerything /We love our C Max Energi. It has taken a little getting used to as it only has 20 miles of EV only range and we do 46 to 60 mile round trips to town.
We save the EV miles for city driving to get the most out of it. Some of the numbers looked strange until I sorted out how to interpret them. MPG is reported for gasoline only which is disingenuous if your using some electricity. A divisor of 1.23 works for 240 volts to get realistic mpg e figures for the electric drive.
Dividing by 32.777 converts KWH into gallons equivilant. The actual MPG's is lower when you factor all this in.
The car performs well, and in EV mode with only 47 HP pulls really well. We got a PHEV because we knew we wanted to take trips in it too. The luxury appointments in the car are quite nice also.
Do I actually need a home charging sta.? Or can I just plug into my 240 outlet in my garage? You mentioned an adapter for the 240 I didn't understand what you were referring to. I assumed that if we had the appropriate 4 prong receptacle , and outlet we would be good to go . ???
Please inform!
If you have an existing 240v plug, then you're in a great position to just buy the appropriate charger. So if it's a NEMA 14-50 that's about the fastest charging you can expect, and an ideal setup. Our house had NEMA 6-20 plugs which we used even though they are slower, so if you don't want to spend extra $ then use the plug(s) you have. The newest brand of charger we bought recently was from Morec, if you don't know what brand to go with. Happy to give you more info if you need it!
As UK sockets run on 230 volts, would there be any advantage in investing in a level 2 charger, or would it charge at nearly the same speed in a standard socket?
I've heard this before, so it sounds like there basically is no level 1 in the UK. You should be able to benefit from level 2 charging speeds using any standard socket, which is a great!
I have a 2014 ford hybrid do i need to charge it everyday? Can I just focus on gas instead?
While your question appears to be in jest, I can only respond that if your car has a plug, use it & use it often.
How many watts does your dryer outlet provide?
I live in Europe and our grid is 230V already and my house has 16AMP fuses.
In theory that would be 3680Watts
I'm not sure what it would yield in practice and if I can charge an EV with just a "granny charger"
I don't have my own driveway so will need about 25ft cable Length
I'm not sure the wattage of my old dryer outlet, but if you're in Europe it is my understanding that most (all?) plugs can provide faster Level 2 charging due to the higher voltage offered in those regions. I get a little lost in all the terminology, but it sounds like to me if you have 230v plug offering 16amps then you should be getting over 10 miles per hour of charging. So it's not the voltage, but rather the amperage that I believe will give you an even faster charge if you can find a 32, 40 or 50amp source.
Thanks man! Great video! Do you have a thought on leaving the cable plugged into the wall when not in use? Does it cost anything significant to have that ready light constantly powered or is that dangerous in any way?
It will be pulling some amount of phantom power, but nothing I would consider significant. Our Tesla charger has even more lights illuminated and even feels warm to the touch when not charging, but unless you want to unplug them every time or have a switcher you can turn on/off to kill power to that circuit, then I wouldn't bother over the few dollars you might be spending to keep the EVSE in ready mode
When going from 110/120v to 220/240v you typically 4x your charge rate rather than double it. This is because you are also typically doubling your amperage as well.
Remember amps x volts = watts
So 110v x 15amps = 1500ish watts/hr
220v x 30amps = 6000ish watts/hr
I “rounded” both down for illustrative purposes but it’s basically 4x. Of course this is typical in us in residential but there are many variations out there - I believe they run 220v x 15amp in the UK, but I’m not sure there…
Anyway 4x for typical US setups going from 110 - 220…
how is your house electric bill .... is it a lot higher or little higher then before ?
@@imohbalu well it’s higher, of course if you use more electricity you pay more. But the increase is more than offset by not having to buy gas at all.
When I lived in GA I paid .12$ per kwh averaged about 5mi per kwh and had a 20mi commute. So 4kwh got me one way 8kwh for round trip and 40kwh for the week. X .12 = 4.80$ For the month thats 20$ to drive a very powerful car. That’s pretty good. I used to drive a fuel sipping Honda Insight and spent triple that in gas a month at 2019 gas prices, roughly.
@@michaelsmithers4900 thanks for the feedback Sr, i am interested in EV but a little hesitant because of my country hot weather our normal every day temperatures are 45 to 47 C /. So I am a little worried about EVs
@@imohbalu that’s very hot for sure. I live in the tropics but it’s not nearly that hot where I live. In your case id want to be able to park in the shade or preferably in the basement of a parking structure. I’m not sure how the batteries would do parked out in the sun for long periods like that. Many systems like the teslas have cooling systems that will run to keep the batteries happy but I’m not sure how much this consumes as I don’t ofter park outside. Also whether or not you can be plugged in is a factor. Even a standard wall outlet would cover the consumption of the cooling system if you had to park outside.
Ah, so it's okay to charge to 100% if you're doing long drives? I normally charge my car to 100 but I hit the freeways and that usually drops my car to 70%. I didn't know it mess up the battery life. I'll try and keep it to 90% from now on. Oh, I had a question. Do you think that charger you're using in the video is good for the 2018 leaf or should I look into a different type of home charging? I got my leaf used.
It's a common practice to not always charge to 100% just bc it can put stress on the battery. If you need the max range, then go for a full charge as needed. For your used Leaf, it didn't come with an EVSE? You could use the same one in my video no problem, and really any J1772 compatible EVSE either from another manufacturer or third-party seller.
This one of the video I have been looking for
Great video! But what I don't understand is why people would pay for "at home" Level 2 charging station wall unit and spend all that money on the unit plus install....when they can buy a converted or buy aftermarket eBay portable Level 2 charger??? Is there an advantage to spending that much more for the same type of Level 2 charger? Thanks
Well when you say "at home" charger, doesn't that include an aftermarket level 2 charger you can find on eBay? Any level 2 charger will do, whether converted like mine or buying one on eBay or Amazon. The choice then is whether Level 2 charging at 16-amps is enough for you (it is for me) or if it's worth the additional cost to purchase a 32-amp or even 40-amp charger for accelerated charging
Thanks for the info . 16amps vs 30-32amp level 2 charger. Now I know and can make a much clearer decision on what's right for my needs at home.
I dont have a garage so would have to run an extension chord to the driveway...can it be charged in the rain?
In general, I'd say yes these connections are weather-resistant. We have one of our cars parked in the driveway and plug in regardless of weather conditions.
Hi, i am interested if i can charge a nissan Leaf even slower. I would like to know if it is possible to recharge a EV with a Bluetti AC50 or Goal Zero 400 or similair "Low Power" Inverters. Only as kind of emergency Backup Power. Did you already charged your EV with an electric Power meter to see the actual Power consumption?
No, I never hooked up to a meter or anything to see the exact power consumption. I am not sure you can charge an EV on anything lower than Level 1 speeds which I guess is around 120v 8amp from my experience. I am no electrical engineer, so only basing off my experience and general EV charging guidelines.
Hi there, thx for the video. I've heard a few things about 110 Volt charging - do I need a "dedicated circuit" in order to plug an EV vehicle in (let's say a Chevy Volt). Do you need an electrician to come and make sure that your circuits are ok before you can start charging right out of the box? I've heard you don't, and I've also heard that you need to check your wiring and have a separate breaker etc. Also, I don't have access to the garage - can I consistently use an extension cord in order to charge (if it's a low gauge of course). Again I've heard yes, you can and I've also heard no, you can't. I might get a 220-V charger but want to know how hard it's going to charge right out of the box. Thanks so much!
most any plug will work so long as you don't use the microwave and car charger at the same time on the same circuit.
if using a long extention cord, make sure it's a big one. 8 to 4 gauge or better.
A dedicated circuit would be ideal, but I've never had one. We were charging both our Leaf & Volt simultaneously for several months and never had problems. However, I'm no electrician and I'm sure we were pushing our circuit to the limit at times. If you're charging one car, just try to do it at night when you're not running as much power in your household. I'm looking into installing a circuit just for charging, so we can get a 240v charger in our garage & get a discounted electric rate from our provider.
The Chevy Volt defaults to 8 amps on the 120V EVSE that comes with the car. I use this setting to charge my car from the garage outlet. Chevy recommends using the 8 amp setting until you get the outlet checked out. Most homes do not have dedicated outlets. You should get the outlet looked at by an electrician to make sure it can handle the other setting that the Volt supports which is 12 amps. I plan on replacing my garage outlet with a heavy duty version. I also plan on going to the panel and figuring out what else is on that circuit so I can turn it off while I charge at night. In my case adding a 240 dedicated outlet would probably cost over $1000 because it's too far from my panel. Every house is different - if you have never worked with electricity (replacing outlets, installing a fixture, etc.), I recommend hiring a professional to just check the outlet where you plan on charging. Shouldn't cost more that $200 and it is worth it to prevent any issues with drawing too much power. Thanks for the video.
Great advice! We just had a 240v charger installed to boost charge times with our two EVs. Installation was not cheap as it runs from a dedicated circuit, but we also are enrolling in a program through our electricity provider where it will be metered separately at a flat-rate, thus bringing our home electricity bill down since we were hitting higher tiers due to the amount of charging. Depending on the savings we get this month, I'm hoping we break even on the expense no more than 2-3 years down the road.
Can you use an extension cord for the 120v charger if you live in an Apartment complex? I stay on the first floor and planned on running it from my patio.
While perhaps not advisable, it's certainly possible. You'd want a thick enough gauge cord to not get overheated, and there could be weather-related issues if the cord connects to the EVSE at a point that is outdoors. And perhaps the final concern might be theft if that same connection point is outdoors and can be unplugged from both the extension cord and your vehicle.
@@EVeverything Thank you so much for your response! I'll definitely take this into consideration.
@@EVeverything I just purchased a 2013 Nissan Leaf with 109k miles on it and want to use it for Uber. I realize that it doesn't get as much range as the newer models so I just want to plan accordingly.
@@multicliff11 I'd be curious to know how much range an older LEAF like that gets with over 100K miles on it. Even my 2015 LEAF at its best would only return 80 or so miles, so not sure how much Ubering you plan to do, and a 120v charge will be very slow.
@@EVeverything I'll definitely keep you updated! I'm going to pick it up this week, so I'll be able to give more insight in the coming weeks.
Can you use the standard manufacturer's charging cable outside. Is it weatherproof?
Yes, we still use ours and it has never had an issue in the rain. Same at public charging stations, where no rain cover is provided because it is not really necessary even in during heavy rainfall.
I just got a plug in hybrid and plugged it in garage outlet for 1st time. is it normal for the wall outlet to get warm/hot while charging?
Some degree of warmth on the outlet or even the cable itself is expected, but if it's getting hot then there may be an issue. Are you using a level 1 or level 2 source? In my experience it's the standard 110v plugs that can get overwhelmed by the power being pulled. If you have the option either on your EVSE or in the car's controls, sometimes you can reduce the power being drawn from like 12 amps down to 8 amps instead. Of course you'll get a slower charge, but could fix the overheating issue without having to install new plugs.
Get some sort of timer so it kicks on at 10:01pm so that way you don't have to plug it in after. Should reduce some hassle of going to garage and plugging in.
The cars have a timer, so you don't need to come out of the house to plug in. You plug in when you get home. The timer does the rest....
Does the leaf have a setting to automatically stop charging when the battery is at 80% or do you have to watch it and fisically unplug it yourself?
Yes it does, although I've found it an infuriating experience at least the way it is implemented on the base model of the 1st generation Leaf. Apparently there USED to be an 80% cutoff feature in very early models, but it was eventually removed and you now must set a time to stop charging rather than a state-of-charge limit. So using this method, I set the car to stop charging at a time early in the morning but I found the system actually stops charging a number of hours before, leaving the car with not enough charge. I kept pushing the time later hour by hour, until it finally stops at the time I want it to each morning. Very cumbersome system that I'm sure has been improved in 2018 and newer Leafs, and is certainly easier to do in other EVs we've owned like our Chevy Volt and Tesla Model S.
I have a nema 10-30 220 volt dryer outlet. Can I use an adapter on this outlet so it will be compatible with a level 2 charger? I own a Fiat 500e.
Oh, cool! I saw a Fiat 500e on a trip to L.A. recently. Wish we had those available nationwide! Yes, an adapter should work with your dryer outlet. Now you must have an EVSE or charging unit that is capable of drawing the full 220 volts, otherwise you're simply just adapting plugs and may even be at risk of electrical shock. So you either need an upgraded version like mine in the above video, or you need to have purchased a professional charging station that operates at 220v @ 30amps.
Thanks for answering my question. I've found a few level 2 charges that still use the nema 10-30 outlet online. Yes, lots of Fiat 500e down here in LA. I live in Long Beach and this car is great for my 47 round trip commute.
I'm looking at a used leaf and you helped tremendously with charging. I'd like to know besides whatTesla drivers do how people can watch the road but get routed to charge stations. Perhaps a vid on charging apps and routing would help. I see a gap in this with the leaf. It's like you need a co pilot to route you but perhaps it bcoz I'm a newbie at this. Thanks again
What trim level is your Leaf? I have the base S model, but anything above that should have a larger center screen with a navigation system designed to route you to chargers as you drive. If you're like me and don't have that luxury, I just use apps on my phone and either plan ahead for my journey or stop and search the area on my phone when I need a charge. A popular app is called Plugshare, which reveals the location of all types of chargers regardless of brand or charging type. Mainly though, I use Chargepoint since that is the company I use to charge. I talk a little more about using the app in my latest video on public charging: th-cam.com/video/IJ5D8RG9dXs/w-d-xo.html
Hope it helps!
Update. The Gen 2 Nissan Leaf comes with a dual 120/240 volt EVSE. To charge at home at the faster 240 Volt speeds all that is needed is a NUMA 15-50 outlet, similar to a clothes dryer. An adaptor comes with it. For Gen 1 Leafs there is a company that can upgrade the EVSE to be dual voltage. This is essential to those that use campgrounds as charging stations. Thanks
Yes, I had noticed the dual charger in some 2018 Leaf reviews! Very helpful and the only mainstream car company besides Tesla that I know of who is including such flexibility with their EVSE unit
What do you think about buying a used leaf 2016 10k miles
Sounds like it could be good deal depending on the price. That model year was the first to boost the battery up to 30kwh for over 100 miles of driving range. With those low miles on the car, you shouldn't have to worry about any significant battery degradation. If you can get the car for $10K or less I'd say it's a steal, but probably wouldn't be willing to pay more than $12-15K depending on what trim level it is (S, SV, SL). Happy to take a look if you want to share a link to the car you're looking at.
3:14 Chevy says they install a level2 at my home, but would they on the side of my house if I don't have an enclosed garage? Is it legal to have a 220v plug on the side of the house? anybody know if chevy provides the 220v cable alone?
I wouldn't see any legal issues having a charger on the outside of your home, but even if not you may have to get HOA approval if you neighborhood has one. Does Chevy install for free? I've heard they provide the service, but figured it cost money. And even if the EVSE they provide with the car isn't level 2 compatible, there are affordable options online and all you'd need installed is 220v plug on the side of your house with some kind of cover to protect from rain.
If I buy a level 2 charger with a NEMA 5-15 plug, can I use a simple adapter to plug it into my RV outlet in the garage?
I don't think that would work, as a I don't believe a 5-15 plug is capable of conducting a 240v charge. Any charger with a 5-15 plug is basically just an EVSE that charges at level 1 off of a standard wall outlet. Now if you buy a level 2 charger with a 6-20 plug at the end, that can be adapted to work with whatever RV style plug you're wanting to connect to. You looking at a 14-50 RV outlet to plug into?
So if you buy a basic level 1 charger can you use it in your house with the regular outlets? I just bought a 2013 Volt. Curious to how a charger works compared to a regular outlet?
Well you shouldn't have to buy a level 1 charger, as that should be included with any electric vehicle you buy new or used. But yes, it comes ready to use with any standard wall outlet. The only difference really is the speed of the charge, so level 1 is the slowest while level 2 delivers over twice the charging speed. But Volts have smaller battery packs and should easily charge to full even at level 1 if you plug in at say 7pm and depart around 7am the next morning.
EVerything thank you so much!!! I found it in the trunk... wasn't told it was there.. 💯
Happy to help! Was worried you got scammed by the owner/dealer. You should be able to plug that cable into a wall outlet, then into your car and have a full charge in under 12 hours. And again, I'd recommend charging overnight to take advantage of off-peak electricity rates to reduce your expenses as much as possible. Should cost you less than $2 to charge to full each time
EVerything, thanks for the video and info. I am an electrician (45 + years and still going, loving every minute) and would re-state your... you should just be able to plug it into a wall outlet... with... it is possible to plug it into a standard 15A or 20A T-slot 120V wall outlet, but the outlet should really be connected to a dedicated circuit and preferably wired and rated for 20A 120V. Plugging into a regular wall outlet, to most people would mean any wall outlet the cord plug can plug into. What happens when you turn it on at 10:30, go to bed and the freezer, which just happens to be on the same circuit, decides to start up as the car charger is in operation? That would definitely be an overload condition and trip the breaker and then in the morning... NOoooooooo.... the battery has not charge!!! What now??
I've been there with clients... I've seen fires start because of shoddy wiring in a residence and the circuits being overloaded... I've seen the burnt house with the burned up electric car. Please, just please everyone, if you want to do it right, pay the money to have it wired properly. I'm not a salesman of any sort but for me safety is first, electric car or not.
Can you please include a link to where you purchased the adapter?
Thanks
I got this through evseupgrade.com, but it has had a "temporarily" down website for quite some time now. I'm afraid I don't know a comparable service that does what they did to upgrade the circuitry of my Leaf evse unit.
If I had a solar power house will it run on 240 v to charge the car in 4 hours? Instead of 8 hours on standard 120v....
I'm not sure how solar factors in, as the energy created will still either be sent out a 110v or 220v outlet (in the U.S. at least). Also, the solar array would have to be pretty large to collect all the energy needed to charge even a smaller 24kwh battery like in my old Nissan LEAF.
My evse cable has stopped working after 6 months, bought 2nd hand from car dealer. The ready light comes on but the charge light doesn’t and the car will not receive a charge. Is this a common fault? My dealer says it is down to misuse but all I do is charge and put back in the bag after carefully rolling the cable. My dealer also says it is not for full time use, just temporary or emergency use, I assume this is incorrect? I use my cable 4 times a week, charging from approx. 45% to 90%. Thanks in advance, any advise welcome.
Is the 2nd-hand evse the same as the official branded charger that came with your EV initially? I've never heard of a temporary replacement charger that wouldn't work 100% of the time. Granted I don't move my evse around from place to place, so it COULD be user error. I would test it on a couple different outlets including one at the dealership, and if the issue persists I'd say it's a faulty unit. Again, I'm mainly curious what brand of charger the dealership would provide other than the official evse from the automaker that originally came with your car.
EVerything Hi, it’s a Nissan Charger, exactly the same as that in the video. It didn’t come with the car, I bought it from the dealer when buying the car. Thanks
@@blublast in that case, I would think the charger would be covered under warranty. May have to go through Nissan directly if the dealer won't help you out.
Really interesting video, thanks for posting. I'd be interested to know if anyone knows of any companies in the UK that can adapt your level 1 charger to take higher currents?
I would think so! There was a previous comment below from Ronnie Spooner that made it sound like the UK already has 240v as the standard voltage. Is that only in some areas? If so, it's a definite advantage for EV drivers in the UK
EVerything Okay, yes 240v is standard here, didn't think about that! Thanks
I'm charging my Leaf with the standard 120v cable, while my wife uses the 240v to charge her Volt in our garage. What do you drive?
EVerything I'm getting a 30kWh Leaf next week, it's my first EV. Can't wait!!!
That's so exciting! The Leaf is a little funky looking, but I've absolutely fallen in love with it over the past year and a half. And with the boosted range you should enjoy it all the more! Congrats on your driving electric, and leaving fossil fuels in the past where they belong
Iam trading my 2009 Prius this weekend for a 2019 leaf. Does the 2019 nissan leaf already comes with the fast charging port? I don't need any fast charging. Also iam thinking I will need a charging station at home to charge it right? However, my car will be park outside on driveway so I do t know how will I charge it, any ideas?
Congrats! That's quite an upgrade. I believe all LEAF models come with fast-charging standard now, which was not the case when I got my first one in 2015. If the car you're getting has two separate charging ports on the front, they you have fast charging. Unfortunately, the Level 3 speed CHAdeMO style plug is slowly starting to phase out especially here in the US so you may be limited in finding that type of fast charge plug as time goes on. But since it sounds like you're going to be charging at home, then you won't need to worry about the fast charge plug. The EVSE cable that comes with your car will provide the ability to charge right away, and if you got the smaller 40kwh battery version of the LEAF then I'd say it's enough to charge your car almost entirely overnight. So I would start with what you have and see how it meets your needs for range and speed of charging before you buy a separate charger to install. If you're parked in the driveway, just run the cable under the door. We do that, and there's no need to worry about outdoor elements like rain or snow.
@@EVeverything thank u very Mich for ur great advice. I been reading that iam not supoused to let battery drop more than 30% or something like that and to charge it up to 80% and not 100%. Also not to use fast charging cause it kills battery?? Any pointers u wanna give me will be aapreciat it. Thank u
@@futbol1972 it's just a general guideline that a lot of EV drivers practice. Basically the battery is likely to be healthier when it doesn't get drained too low or charged completely full all of the time. Especially with a LEAF battery, which the automaker has continued to make air-cooled only rather than thermally managed like most electric cars, I would strongly recommend that 20% to 80% in practice if you can live within those range limitations. If you need to charge to 100% a few times to make it to your destination, that's no problem. Fast-charging itself won't hurt the battery, but doing it a lot can have some effect on degradation. Again, don't avoid using it in a travel situation where you need to recapture range quickly.
I have a 2018 Prius and I always plug mines in at night and just pull the plug out in the morning and I just assume when it was done charging that it stops changing on it's on.
Yes, simple to plug in at night and ready to go in the morning, especially with a smaller battery like on your Prius Prime. Might not even really need Level 2 charging speed at all!
EVerything thanks for getting back to me and I wanted you to no that I was hinting around to saying is it possible my car would be overcharging because I leave the plug in to long and I do have the Prius prime that changes on 110 and 240 so i think my car has more battery than the other Prius.
Most EV batteries have a protective barrier to prevent overcharging, so I wouldn't worry about it. And especially with the low EV range of the Prius Prime, I'd say you want as much charge as possible to maximize the range. Our Volt goes about twice as far as the prime at 50 electric miles, and we still charge it to full every time and leave it overnight even though it's probably sitting there at a full charge for several hours before unplugging it in the morning. If you're truly worried about your battery, I'm sure there are settings on the Prime to set charging times so it stops at the time you like.
If I drive 20
You should be able to generate that range in 8 hours, no problem
...and would you recharge ~ or wait till battery goes down to 20%?
Maybe just recharge when you hit 50% or so. That way you're staying in the 80% range of full when you start each day
Can you post the link for the 220v cord maker, thanks
Their old website is gone, so not sure what happened to them. There's another site called evseadapters.com but I cannot vouch for them. We really need an easier way to get adapters like all the variations Tesla offers for different wall plugs.
0:34 - does the top pice of the cable remove so its a strait cable instead of having a 90 degree turn? - im in australia and it would be different here (not that iv seen the aus version)
Yes, the cable actually arrived as a straight configuration when I got it. For my purposes it was difficult to use that way, so I purchased a right-angle adapter. Matched perfectly!
ahh that would make sense - it does look a bit weird with the 90 degree bend tho
wow, my Nissan Leaf's trickle charge plug came with the 90° angle bend and i needed it straight, so i use a short 1 foot extension cable for it. :P
Does it consume electricity after it's fully charged with the cable is plugged for more time than the charge needed.?
No, charging will stop just as your phone charger does once it has fully charged your phone. Now some EVs do have thermal cooling systems and in this instance the car may still draw power to thermally manage the battery. The same may occur if you use an app to precondition your car using the AC or heater & the car is still plugged in.
does the battery still decrease even if not in use? like if you stopped using the car at 65%, when you get back to it will it be less?
Great question! The short answer is no, not really. The only time I've left my car turned off for extended periods has been during vacation trips, the longest of which lasted 9 days. In that length of time, I returned to find my car had dipped maybe 2 or 3%. Now I can't explain why any of the energy goes away, but it appears to be normal and quite predictable. I'll leave the explanation to someone else who may know the technical cause, but normally my car has the same state of charge each morning as it had when I turned it off the day before. On cold nights I've seen it drop no more than 1% from the night before. To really set you at ease, I can tell you I once left my Leaf on (thinking it was off) while playing a gig with my band. From set-up to tear-down it must have been at least 6 hours before I came back to my car and realized it was on! And how much battery did I lose in that time? Only 20%, but fortunately I didn't leave the AC turned on or that would have been a different story. So no, you don't lose any perceptible charge overnight and you won't lose more than 2% or 3% even if you leave it unused for a week or more in my experience
I was hoping you would explain the release your plug problems. I can't get my plug out when the battery is not fully charged.
Yes, it locks the chargeport to prevent someone from unplugging you at a public charger. But there is a button that disables that feature, and if you go to the 00:52 mark in the video you'll see 4 buttons in sequence. The one with a plug & lock symbol can be toggled up & down, but I think if you set it to the middle position it disengages the locking feature altogether.
I wonder if a Tesla Nema 14-50 adapter would fit in a Nissan Leaf (2023) EVSE.
Well, the 14-50 is the type of wall outlet you could have installed. Anything will work as a source of power and then feed into your car through the J1772 plug that goes into the car. Newer LEAFS starting in 2018 actually offer a 14-50 adapter which keeps the EVSE portable. All EV manufacturers should provide such flexibility really, where the driver has a portable level 1 & level 2 solution in the provided EVSE.
Can you cite sources for the idea of not charging above 80 percent? Or could this be a case of the old rumor of Ni-Cd battery memory just being applied to these Lithium batteries ?
I'll link a recent article below, but in my experience this has become a common practice based on results and not rumors. Our Tesla has clear indicators to limit your charge level unless you are taking a longer trip and need the max range. A cheaper car like the Bolt EV still has the same limit settings bc the manufacturer knows these practices will maximize battery life. It's not going to kill your battery to charge to 100% every now and again (some people even do it once a week to reset the battery cells or something technical I don't understand). I've seen my cell phone battery respond positively to the same practice, where before my phones would lose a lot of capacity after a couple years of charging to 100%. Some EVs have more of a buffer built in (like our Chevy Volt), and so we charged it to full every time with no degradation issues. Again just a best practice most EV drivers seem to abide by to extend the driving life of their vehicle. insideevs.com/news/368097/video-60-percent-ev-charge-limit-benefits/
Another article I came across with more detailed info on EV battery chemistry and good charging practices: cleantechnica.com/2018/08/26/the-secret-life-of-an-ev-battery/?fbclid=IwAR0eavkZ5zKmmQST5r-dgEjND4Z8H6LBr1AqgPpa8IXYazbvkuaPrWQtGVM
Is Evse Upgrade no longer in business? I cant find them online.
Yes, seems likely at this point. The website said they were moving locations for a while, but now there isn't even an active webpage. Too bad, bc I haven't found anyone offering similar services.
I have one question...if I get this mod with the house adapter...would it be able to charge faster than the 120? I want to know before I order one
Yes, that's the primary reason to do this upgrade. If you're operating off a NEMA 10-30 dryer plug like me, you can expect at least 2x faster charge times, if not 3x and more. Kinda depends on your car too, where some EVs have slower on-board chargers (3.3kw vs 6.6kw for example). What's cool using EVSE Upgrade is that with the adapters you can switch between 120v & 240v as needed, although I've never reverted back to using an ordinary wall plug myself. If you don't plan to use the 120v plug anymore, you may look on Amazon for dedicated 240v chargers that are in the $200-$300 range.
EVerything I have a Nissan leaf and I don't have a dryer port anymore so that's why I was asking, guess I'm going to have to install a dryer port it'll be cheaper then getting those boxes that most people get
Yeah, the installation of the dryer plug can be the most expensive part. In the duplex we lived in when there was already a plug in the garage, so that worked out great! In our new home we had to hire an electrician to install one. What "boxes" are you referring to? The actual chargers, like JuiceBox?
Very helpful as one navigates the EV road.
Glad you found it helpful! Are there any other areas of EV ownership you have questions about? I'm always looking for ideas to turn into future episodes
So when u say I need to install level 2 charger, what exactly do you mean? Do I just install a 240v outlet and plug it in there or do I need something else to make it a level 2 charger?
I won't say you "need" to install a level 2 charger, especially if you can get by with just standard level 1 charging which you are equipped for already with the EVSE cable that should come with your car. If you have the smaller 40kwh battery of the LEAF, good for around 150 miles of range, then you might be able to get by with level 1 speeds if you can plug your car in overnight and don't need a 100% full charge each day. For example, if I had your car, I'd plug it in when the range was down to say 50 miles or so. If this is not providing enough range for you or you need it to charge faster, then you can look into level 2 chargers that will need to operate on some type of 240v plug. Some LEAFS actually have an adapter included, so if yours has the adapter then you can just install a NEMA 14-50 plug somewhere and be good to go!
@@EVeverything thank u for ur great advice..sorry iam not electrician. Does the NEMA plug comes with cord too to plug in to leaf charger, or the bema plug is just the head and what cable do I attach it to?
@@EVeverything have another questions on the 2019 leafs do I just charge battery up to 80% and don't let it drop more than 30%??
@@futbol1972 so if your charging cable comes with the adapter seen here th-cam.com/video/hxlu4z8TUP0/w-d-xo.html, which allows you to switch between a 120v plug and 220v, then you'll be in a position to just have an electrician install a NEMA 14-50 plug and it will fit no problem. If your cable doesn't look like the one in the video, meaning it just has the standard 120v wall outlet, then to upgrade to level 2 charging will likely require buying another charger entirely. These can range in price and quality, but again as long as you get one that has a NEMA 14-50 plug (or whatever 220v plug you like) then you can get level 2 charging in your garage. There's a bunch of different plug types, so I'd say just stick with the 14-50 to avoid confusion and it's the most standard 220v here in the U.S. at least.
nicely done. . .i did not know that the batteries do not like to be sitting around @ 100% charge. we will be getting a level 2 charger installed at our home, as the Ontario govt currently has a rebate programme for the costs of both the charger itself and the installation
You'll definitely appreciate level 2 charging! There seems to be some uncertainty about the whole charged to 100% thing, but when the Bolt EV and Model 3 have settings for 80% & 90% charging limiters it indicates to me that charging 100% regularly could contribute more to battery degradation. I live in the 20-80% zone just to be safe, unless I need the full 100% to get somewhere
Got a Nissan Leaf as a rental car and the at home charger it came with seemed to work the first night but this morning noticed the cable was beeping and the charging lights on the cars dashboard were just flashing. Seems to do this each time. Any idea?
What model year is it? My guess would be maybe it detected a short in the circuit or some other situation where it was drawing more than your home electricity could safely provide. Does it do the same thing right away if you unplug and reinsert?
@@EVeverything it’s a 2021 Leaf. Yeah I unplug and back into the car it tends to start ok for a second and then does it again.
@@GaryGoodJob_ sorry, I'm all out of guesses on what the issue could be. When my 2015 LEAF had flashing lights on the dashboard, I read online that it indicated a 12v battery replacement was necessary.
@@EVeverything might just be my outlet I can see if I can find another to try out
So countries with 220-240V voltage power as standard (most of europe) will get an "ugraded" charger as standard? If so sweet :)
Yes, I suppose so! I've heard that 220-240v is standard in many European countries, so definitely a benefit for EV drivers
I read somewhere the Volt has a built-in function that charges the batteries full when it is really 80% and it runs out of electricity when ther is really 20% remaining. So we don't have to worry about that when we charge the car.
I think your EVSE upgrade is very practical. i want to get that for my Volt too. That will give me the experience to drive on gas for a few days while the charging cable is being modified.
Yes, I've heard the same regarding the safety buffers on both ends of a Volt's battery charge. The EVSE Upgrade is a cool option, but you might be interested to know that you don't actually get your own modified cable back. When you mail yours in they just send you someone else's that has already been modified so that you don't have to wait any longer than necessary, and then yours is modified and sent to someone else eventually.
Hope it's not too late but the EVSE (charger) that comes with the Gen 2 Volt (2016 and up) is already 220V compatible. You don't need to get it modified. evseupgrade will happily charge you around $100 (or if you do it over ebay around $200) but they just will cut the factory 5-15 plug (110V plug) and put in a plug of your choosing. This will unfortunately also remove the existing temperature sensor on the plug. You can easily make an adapter for yourself if you are a bit handy. gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?218442-2016-Volt-120v-EVSE-is-L1-L2-Conversion-Capable
aspartns I have heard that before, but I'd already modified my Leaf EVSE long before we got the Volt. Definitely good info for a new Volt owner though!
Not too late. Last week I finally connected a 10 gauge cable from a 30A, 240v breaker to a new 15A, 120v single outlet, which the existing EVSE of my 2017 Volt fits right in. For the last few days, it fully charged in 5 hrs instead of 12 hrs. Thanks for your advice. It was simple and cheap, $32 for 20ft of #10 cable, and $4 for the outlet. I also learned that with 240v, I don’t have to set it to 12amps before charging. It does it automatically.
Good video didnt know I could charge at homeeith regular outlet
I'm afraid a lot of people think they have to install a level 2 charger, but yes a regular wall outlet works just fine & every EV comes equipped with a cable to charge. Now as battery packs are getting larger & offering more driving range, it takes a lot longer to charge that way. But if you have an EV that goes 150 miles or less (Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, MINI Cooper Electric, etc) then it's still possible to get a full charge overnight on a level 1 wall socket.
So after your charger is converted to 240volt, your then plugging in it in to the same port? The 120volt port? That is usually breaking a basic rule of electricity. That's why different voltage outlets are different plug configurations...so you can't mistakenly plug a 120volt device into a 240volt outlet and burn it up. How are they getting around that?
The modification on my EVSE just allows it to operate at either 120v or 220v. I don't know the technical specifics in doing that, but when I used the 120v adapter it does not pull 220v. When I use the 220v adapter, I guess there is something signaling to draw that amount. Same with the Tesla we have now, which has 3 adapters & based on what plug we are using it adjusts to whatever is appropriate based on that.
Thank you for information, I will go buy the adapter. Great thanks
I'd still recommend it for a portable 240v charger, and prices for the upgrade have dropped a bit since I used the service over 2 years ago. I actually have my EVSE mounted to the wall of our garage now & use my wife's EVSE as the portable cable. And, just in case you own a 2017 Volt, I've read that the included EVSE cable is already 240v equipped and can be used right away with the right adapters. Would be a much cheaper option and you can learn more from this video, but again only for 2016-2017 Volt chargers: th-cam.com/video/lGcSgzVtv4I/w-d-xo.html
how's is your house electric bill .... is it a lot higher or little higher then before ?
Your electric bill will go up, but not by as much as it costs to fuel a gasoline vehicle. It's hard to say how much to expect, but I'd say we saw an increase of about $50/mo when we had two electric vehicles. It's lower now with just our one EV, but you can do the math if you calculate the cost per kWh from your electric bill and multiply by the battery pack of the EV you're considering and can predict how often you'd need to charge it to drive the distances you need it to go on a monthly basis.
@@EVeverything hi if you make solar powered panels on the house roof top.. Would it work for charging the car battery?
@@imohbalu I don't have solar so I'm not sure, but I feel like unless you have battery storage I'm not sure you can control where the energy from your panels goes to. You might just be pulling energy from the grid to charge the car, while your solar panels are essentially just feeding back into the grid. Also EV batteries will likely require more energy than a few solar panels are capable of producing even in the course of an entire day.
can i know what does 240 VOLT CURRENT mean?
A standard wall outlet delivers 110v or 120v, so a 240v outlet delivers roughly twice the voltage. For EV owners, this means you can charge your car much faster (about 20 miles per hour of charging off 240v compared to >10 miles off a wall outlet). Some home appliances run off 240v like cooking ovens and clothes dryers. If you have a dryer in your garage like we did, then an adapter like the one in my video may be the cheapest way to get faster EV charging
EVerything thanks for the explanation :) but still think it's not correct by saying 240 VOLT CURRENT if you are taking the current as measurement of voltage
Sorry, not quite sure what you mean. Perhaps "current" isn't the correct word, but the dryer outlet in this video and the one we've had installed in our new home is a 240v source. I thought you were asking what the difference in voltages was between a standard wall outlet and the larger one.
EVerything /A 240 Volt circuit is simply two 120 powered lines delivering power to a device at the same time.
Current and Voltage are two completely different things. Voltage is the difference in charge between two points, measured in Volts. Current is the rate at which charge is flowing, measured in Amps.
The text in the video is incorrect. Technically it should say 120 Volt Voltage, but that's redundant, so you would just say 120 Volts. If you wanted to include current, you would write it as 15 Amp Current, or 20 Amp Current beside the 120 Volt measurement. It would be 30 Amp or 40 Amp current for a basic 240 Volt circuit. It depends on the breaker used and the corresponding gauge of wire.
Our domestic voltage is 220/ 230V.
Is there any way to charge directly without buying level 2 charger?
I'd imagine you can take advantage of your domestic voltage with the cable that's included with your EV. In the U.S. we only get a wall plug connection intended for 110 volts, but it sounds like your standard cable may support 220v at the lowest level. I'm really not certain, but if you're able to plug in your EVSE charger into a wall outlet at 220/230 and get a full charge in 4-5 hours, then you're charging at level 2!
how many feet total is everything? cord to car and to wall outlet?
I know longer have this upgraded EVSE, and the company that modified it seems to no longer exist. But from memory, I'd say about 20 feet of cable from the EVSE to the car, and maybe 3 ft from the EVSE to wall plug. Length of cable becomes quite important when you have a car with a rear charge port & you don't want to have to back in to your garage each time to charge.
How much current draw for level 1 and level 2 charging???
In the U.S.A., level 1 runs at 110 volts and seems to draw somewhere between 8-12 amps (some can be adjusted in the car or on the EVSE charge unit). Level 2 steps up to 240 volts and amperage tends to range from 16-32 amps (40, 50 & 60 amp achievable if your home allows it). Using level 1 with our Outlander PHEV the EVSE is set to charge at 8 amps (with 12 as an option). Our Tesla is plugged into a NEMA 16-20 plug, so max amperage we get is 16 using level 2. If you want the fastest charge times, you'll want to boost those specs but we're perfectly fine with our setup right now.
The easier ev driving becomes the more people will adopt it. We need the "easy" button take care
Hi, I just moved to a condo association with a parking lot. There are some standard electrical boxes available in the parking lot - though just the boxes, not 2 prong outlets. The association is of course wary of metering cost so the EV user doesnt get a free ride. Question....Is there anything on the market thats cheap to install that allows a user to smartphone app a payment? Any ideas? Thank you,....!
You are asking for a recommendation for an app to pay the condo association for the electricity you pull from their electrical boxes? Can't say I'm experienced with anything beyond PayPal or Venmo, both of which should work if the association has an account to accept payment. I assume your condo does not come with a garage with outlets for you to charge from?
hello this was very useful thank you for the info, I am looking to buy the genuine cable from BMW like the one you have 16 A could you share the part number
Sorry, I have been out of town & away from my charging equipment. This is a Nissan cable, so not sure how the part number will correlate with BMW. There are plenty of 3rd party chargers that will work just as well and likely cost less than a BMW-branded charger.
What if my wall socket provides 240,will it affect the charger?
As long as the charger is 240v capable, you'll just be getting a faster level 2 charge vs the slower level 1 using a standard wall socket
It'll only take that long to charge assuming it's relatively low before being plugged in, correct?
Yes, very good to point that out! Sometimes people are shocked by how long charging can take, especially at level 1 charging speeds. But assuming you aren't maxing out your driving range every day, and are living in the 20-80% range like a lot of EV drivers, you can expect about 40% less than the rated time to charge from entirely empty to completely full.
Excellent, thanks for the clarity :)
Is that box thingy on the cable water proof if it was in the rain
I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least water resistant. I've charged my LEAF at public chargers in the rain, but this specific EVSE is intended for home use and probably isn't meant to be entirely exposed to natural elements. But again, I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least water resistant.
I heard one man said he has been charging his car in the rain since he brought it and its not a problem
this was an awesome video, very informative. thank you!
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm working on an updated version to show the charging setup in our new home. Stay tuned!
2011 Leaf just bought but can not charge due orange light turn on and off right away. Please explain anyone
There could be a few factors, but let's assume first that the light is green when you plug your charger into a wall outlet. Then you plug in to the car and the orange light on the EVSE illuminates but then disappears? Does it revert back to the green light blinking, or do all lights go off? I would suggest trying a different outlet in the same house/garage, and if the issue persists then try a wall outlet in a different house or building to see where the fault lies. If the charger is the issue, you should have it replaced by whoever you bought the vehicle from. If the charger works at another location, then your existing wall outlet may have a problem or your electrical circuitry may not be able to support the power being drawn by the charging unit. I've never experienced your situation, so this is just my recommendation right now
Thank you OMGOSH 😍😍 I have 2016 Chevy spark EV⚡️
Nice! Those Spark EVs always seem to be great deal in the used EV market
What is the purpose of the wall charger if all you need is a the dryer style outlet (240) and the right cord? For whatever reason my dryer has a normal plug, so the dryer plug is empty right in my garage. I don't know why my dryer uses a normal plug, but its worked for 15 years and is fine. I am looking at the Honda Clarity PHEV, so really charging its smaller battery with the included normal plug will be fine, but I am curious as to the purpose of the expensive wall chargers.
Do you mean why don't people just use an adapter from 120v to 240v to upgrade the EVSE that comes included with each EV? If so, my understanding is that most level 1 chargers aren't actually wired to support 240v. Some like the new 2018 Nissan Leaf actually do come with an adapter for both level 1 & level 2 charging, but that's been a rarity so far. The Clarity is similar to my 24kwh Leaf, which I charged off of Level 1 with the included cable for 2 years so you'll be fine as long as you're diligent about plugging in your car all night every couple days. I guess people buy Level 2 chargers so they can have a dedicated 16A, 32A or even 40A charger in their home for very fast charging and can keep their level 1 EVSE with them in the car in case they need an emergency charge
Just to clarify. Whether you're charging your vehicle at 120v or 240v (Level 1 or 2 respectively) the unit you use is an EVSE and not a Charger. It simply speaks a protocol to the car and provides the raw AC voltage. It is only Level 3 (called DC fast charge) that is truly a "charger" as it converts the AC input General a 480 volt 3-phase into DC voltage 300 to 400 volts depending on the current battery level. The second thing to note is that simply converting a level 1 charger to run on 220 will generally only provide 12 amps as that is all the internal circuitry and wire can deal with. The more expensive Chargers that run $400 and up have larger cabling and beefier internal circuitry to allow them to provide 30 to 40 amps. Many newer electric vehicles can make use of this extra power and charge five to six times faster than level 1. I have a Chevy Bolt and though I have tested the charger that came with it at 240 (not recommended), and it was limited to the 12 amps. I've been purchased a alternate charger and was able to charge up to 32 amps at 240 volts.
yogibearstie Very simple answer all Major Manufacturers of Automobiles are building compatible vehicles, but at first did not want a lot of sales. If you knew it would take over 20 hours to charge without paying almost $700 extra for Fast charging capability and up to $1000 for a level 2 charger, at least at the beginning, there is a good chance you would not buy or lease an EV. NOW all manufacturers except Tesla and some other dedicated EV manufacturers have a tiger by the tail.
Ron B You can change/modify the EVSE to handle more current. Go to 240forless@gmail.com
David Drake I beg to differ. A main thing that limits the current an EVSE can deliver is the wire size to the vehicle. That is costly to replace. I purchased my portable 240v or 120v EVSE on ebay for less than $400 and it is well made and adjustable from 10A to 32A. It's a Zen Car from bansheerider555.
what is the increase in your monthly electricity bill? thanks.
When I first got the Leaf, I noticed a spike of about $40. We do pay a little extra for clean wind energy, so the average consumer might see something closer to $30/mo. When we added the Volt, we were seeing a total increase of close to $60 compared to when we had no electric vehicles at all. What we found though was a program through our utility provider that offers EV owners a flat-rate of $30/mo plus unlimited charging access to public chargers around town, so that's what we are using now. Charging during off-peak hours (usually at night) will result in the lowest impact on your electricity costs
thanks :)
how many miles do you guys drive monthly? $30 a month sounds very cheap regardless! i have a rav4 hybrid, and my monthly fuel bill is about $100
I'd estimate about 1,300 miles per month in total between both our cars. My wife has the longer work commute (about 50 miles there and back), but we use my Leaf for errands and weekend driving. Not sure how we compare to the average family, but between my short commute and my wife's longer one I imagine we're about average. I was paying about $70/mo to fuel my gas Nissan Juke before, and my wife's Corolla was probably a little more efficient at maybe $50/mo in gas. So definitely a savings to be had, even while gas is cheap at the moment
EVerything wow, fuel is so cheap in the States! Haha
Thanks!
Does the size of the cable matters from the main switch
Like the gauge of the cable? If you notice it getting too warm or even hot, then there may be an issue. I bought a NEMA 16-20 adapter for my LEAF and it got so hot it began to burn the wall plug.
Price is also the only barrier for me buying an EV at this point. Our second vehicle for running around town was bought used for $4k - tough to beat that price. When one of my two cars finally dies, I'll very likely replace it with an EV (hopefully a reliable used one by that time).
+Andy Berry Totally understand the financial barrier for some. What frustrates me is when people spend upwards of $30,000 on trucks and suburbans with terrible fuel economy, and then tell me my car was expensive. The combination of federal incentives and leasing rather than buying the vehicle makes a big difference from the initial sticker price you see advertised. I'd advise people to lease in most cases anyway, as EV technology is changing rapidly. But a lot of used EVs are coming off-lease and you can now find used Leafs for under $10,000
+EVerything I had not really considered the lease option before, as it historically does not fit my needs. You make a good point about the technology changing rapidly though - maybe the cell phone model works in this case as well, i.e. get a two year contract and then upgrade when it's up :) I do agree with you about not spending $30k on a truck or SUV these days, and I won't be doing that any time soon.
Yes, leasing is generally not the best investment in the long-term. This is the first time I've leased (or driven a brand new vehicle), and it was the best option for getting me into an EV right away for a low monthly cost, and puts me in a position to get a longer-range EV like the Bolt or Tesla Model 3 when my lease is up. I'm curious to know what your primary reason for wanting to own an EV is... the cost savings in electricity over gas, lower maintenance, a quiet ride? For me it's all about being part of the solution when it comes to climate change and just air quality in general.
+EVerything 1) Being part of the solution when it comes to climate change, air quality. 2) Lower maintenance/quiet ride. 3) The tech geek in me thinks it's cool!
+EVerything 1) Being part of the solution when it comes to climate change, air quality. 2) Lower maintenance/quiet ride. 3) The tech geek in me thinks it's cool!
how do you set up the 2017 volt to only charge to 80%?
From what I understand, the Volt is already engineered with a built-in protection buffer on both ends of a battery charge. So a 100% charge isn't really using the full kwh capacity of the battery, and depleting the battery isn't really draining every last electron. I've seen this indicated when the battery runs out and the engine switches to gas, the dashboard indicator still shows power being pulled from the battery in a sort of hybrid driving mode.
Does the 110/ 120 v outlet have to b on its own dedicated line?
I don't believe so, but I'm not certain. I've never considered the wiring behind the plug, just plug in. Now a 240v outlet is probably a different story.
Every Angi electrician I’ve spoken to about the same issues says that I must have a dedicated line for the EV battery
But most of the guys on u tube who do the videos never mention that
@@anthonybush6391 I would trust an electrician I suppose. Seems the energy draw would be low enough at 110v. I know the two 220v plugs in our garage have their own dedicated line(s).
@@EVeverything hello… unlike on the utube videos I’ve seen on here, every electrian, who has come out to give me an estimate, has said that I must have a dedicated line to run the 110/120 v to charge the EV battery in my 2018 Prius prime hybrid premium. I’m assuming this must b some type of legal regulation/regulatory requirement.
But is the ev se upgrade safe ? Have there been any issues ?
kenan1099 no issues at all so far. We've used it on our Leaf, Volt & even a Bolt once during an extended test drive. There are lots of affordable solutions out there now, but EVSE Upgrade was a good option for us
EVerything
Thanks for the reply !
I am hoping u or a reader here can answer a question about this. Can I use the car 12 v to power a 110v inverter and charge the battery from the inverter?
Without knowing the answer myself, I'd say simply reading that makes me think unlikely (or at least not a good idea to try). What would be the purpose exactly?
@@EVeverything thank you for replying. The purpose is to avoid running a drop cord from home to charge the battery. I just purchased the 2022 Hyundai Tucson hybrid. Should b picking it up in a couple of hours. ( 12v out from car socket into inverter (5000watts) From hybrid the cable goes into inverter 110 v outlet. ) This is in the event I used up both gas n battery charge. I'll be doing this after warranty. Into input would be welcome.
@@dustyrusty2572 I'm afraid my electrical knowledge doesn't extend that far. I didn't think the Tucson plug-in was out yet
Hi, i have leaf 2011(japanees model) it comes with EV that was using in 200volt, but in Georgia where i leave , we have 220v. could you give me any advise,should i plug without worring or get i have to get proper size charger? thx
Perhaps you could use your current EVSE at the 110v charging level, but pushing to 220v or 240v is probably a bad idea. I'd say have your EVSE modified to work with U.S. voltage, or simply purchase another charger if you have a garage or somewhere to install it. I found this brief explanation of the potential dangers online, but this company is also offering their modification services so just ignore that part since they're in New Zealand: electrolease.nz/blog/japanese-nissan-leaf-charger-get-50-off-EV-home-charger.html
I can't use my EVSE at the 110v charging level,becouse it's ment to be used in japan for 200v charging level.
i guess i have to get new propper charger.
Yes, that would be my suggestion. Perhaps someone else can chime in with a different solution. Can the Japanese version of the Leaf still receive a 240v 30amp current like we commonly use in the USA?
Please read the manual before powering up a 200V charger at 220V. Should the manual indicate that 200V is the maximum allowable, you may need a transformer to buck the power to 200V. Having said that, it might be wiser ask the local Nissan dealer if there is an easier fix for this. All the best!
In England the voltage is 244 v.... likely to be 100 amp fuse cut-out. E.V. takes a lot of charge!
That's a great benefit that should encourage more EV adoption! Are electricity prices more affordable than petrol?
Good job on the channel. I've just subscribed and your now on my list of credible, real life, real world experienced EV owners. I'm very careful when people ask me about owning and operating a 100% battery electric car as there are many armchair experts on TH-cam who are just blowing smoke. When it comes to the technical side of first generation battery powered EV,s I refer people to EVTV Motor Verks and Jack Rickard. There you'll find out about credible studies and trials that show for instance charging your battery to 100% each time will only reduce the capacity over time by around 3% over the life of the battery. The 80% charge was cautionary until enough data was available to see how the batteries would hold up. The same applies to the ownership and operating side of things. There are owners such as yourself, Ian Sampson, alloam, The Electric Israeli, to name a few, who are open and honest about their experience. This allows someone to make up their own mind about fully electric vehicles based on reality.
Good move on upgrading the trickle charger, I finally got around to doing mine. I did it myself after searching online for the information. It cost about $30.00 in parts and two hours of time to convert and make adapter cables for 110V, 30Amp drier plug, and an RV Park lead. If you can do it SAFELY yourself, or know someone who can help you,
it is worth doing. If you can't do it yourself send it away and have it done, it's still worth it.
Thanks again for being helpful and real about your EV experience.
+John Livesey Thank you for the kind words, and thank you for subscribing! I'll have to check out the other EV folks you mentioned. Very interested to learn more about the 100% charging data, because I'd love to charge full every night! We are actually about to start shooting our video review of the new 2017 Chevy Volt today, so hoping to have that up later this week.
+EVerything You're welcome. As for the 100% charging data it can be found on the" EVTV Motor Verks website", EVTV friday show archive, September 18 2015 episode. Warning, if your not a tech guy this stuff will be dry listening. Bear with it as there are lots of graphs and charts to help with comprehension. Check out some of Jacks other Friday night shows and you'll find him informative and entertaining when it comes to EV's.
How much gas does a hybrid usually take wjen u fill up
I don't have any experience driving hybrids, but if you mean a plug-in hybrid then the answer varies. Our Volt holds about 9 gallons, which is smaller than usual to make up for the space taken by the large battery. Something like the BMW i3 has a very small tank of only like 2 gallons! So just depends if you want gas as a backup only, or if you really rely on gas to get you the necessary distance. For us, the Volt's 9 gallon tank gets us over 300 miles which is more than enough, and we only fill it for longer trips every 2 or 3 months.
Off peak hrs cost in Colorado 6xcheaper...great video
Wow, that's incredible! Colorado seems to be very EV-friendly with all the state incentives I've read about
I know this is probably a dumb question.. Can you program a charger or car to stop charging after 80%?
Not a dumb question, and don't feel bad for asking. The answer unfortunately is not uniform, as some EVs (perhaps most) do allow you to control the % of charge & others do not. Our 2015 Nissan Leaf only had a timer, where you had to calculate how much time you wanted the car to charge and had to do the math to figure out when this would get you to 80%. Our 2017 Volt was set up to where you set the time you wanted it to stop charging based on departure time, so that still took some calculation to set it a couple hours later than we actually planned to depart each day. Tesla makes this very simple, as you can set the charge limit easily. The Bolt EV also has some similar limitation settings, so it really depends on the car. So if for some reason your car doesn't have this feature, there are some brand of chargers that that can do this for you. Otherwise, I would just calculate how long it takes to get you to 100% charge and work you way back and just plug in whenever the appropriate time is to meet your departure time the next day.
@@EVeverything thanks for your advice! I am buying an EV after my lease is up in 2021. Do you like Bolt more than Leaf?
@@bkf3857 I like the look of the Bolt more and of course the increased range. If you're comparing to a 2018 or newer LEAF, then the gap narrows quite a bit. The biggest issue with the Bolt when I did a test drive was cheap interior quality (hard plastics, even on door arm rests) and thin/narrow seats that were uncomfortable. Even my older LEAF had a more premium interior I felt, and seats were far more comfortable. Price on Bolts is very good though, with a lot of discounted pricing even on new 2020 models.
@@EVeverything Thanks again for your time and information. I think a 2018 or newer Leaf S with 40kw battery may just be my ticket.
Hey I have a 2018 nissan leaf nismo and it is not charging plz help
I would need more context about the issue, but I guess my first question would be what happens when you plug in? Any indicator lights blinking or any beeping sound to signal a connection? What are the lights on your charger showing (green, red orange)? I have never encountered an issue where my LEAF simply doesn't charge at all, but if that's the case then you will need someone more knowledgeable than me to diagnose and find a solution.
Can I use an extension cord for charging my car 🚗
Technically yes, but there could be safety concerns depending on the quality of the extension cord. You'll want to consider specifications of the cord to handle the constant energy being drawn (assuming this is intended for Level 1 charging only). You can always test it by seeing if the cord is warm to the touch on the outside, or if the plug prongs themselves are hot after a charge. So while not necessarily recommended, it should work if you need the extra length to reach your vehicle. I should note that there are J1772 extension cables available online for purchase, which are made for this very purpose but are quite expensive in comparison.