a 2013 Leaf for the woodgeeks
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The Tesla stations take a half hour to charge, they said. Time enough for a latte at Starbucks at that mall. I don't know about spending time at a Nissan dealership, unless they have nice coffee machines like BMW does. The Volt sounds intriguing to me. I didn't know about the good handling. A plethora a solar panels on the hacienda would also help.
Sure. Can I safely assume that all RV parks will have 240V 50A 4-prong receptacles (NEMA 14-50R)? Or will many of them only have some bogus 3 pin jobber?
What I love is that the 'L2 charger' is really just a relay box that cuts the power to the car connector (a SAE J1772 style) until it is plugged in, and the car has sent the correct signal. IOW, the $500 'charger' just passes 240VAC directly through, basically just a relay, and the car's onboard system turns it into DC. I suppose the major goal is safety...want to go slinging 240V connectors in the dark and in the rain? The connector can also be 'locked' to the car so that another person can't come up and steal your connector during public charging.
The RV plug seems to have no such safety features. Not even 'passive protection' like the simple recess seen in Euro-style 240V plugs. Not really an issue for the cord on your range or clothes dryer of course...but any lore about RVers zotting themselves with these things??
Ok, seems that EV folks going to RV parks is a 'thing'. Experiences vary, as expected.
On reflection the utility seems limited as a source of extra L2 chargers. Not a lot of RV campgrounds along the NE corridor, I-95, or near the different metro areas. If I had to EV drive Philly to Pittsburgh, I suppose they would come in handy.
On reflection the utility seems limited as a source of extra L2 chargers. Not a lot of RV campgrounds along the NE corridor, I-95, or near the different metro areas. If I had to EV drive Philly to Pittsburgh, I suppose they would come in handy.
The standard rv hookup is a 30 amp 120 volt 3prong thing that looks like an oversized wall plug. Only the oddball, extra huge, bus looking motorhome will utilize the 50 amp deal. Some trailers too. Dual rooftop ac units seem to be the need that necessitates the big service.
If I was going to depend on rv hookups, I would much rather use the 30 amp 120 connection if you can make it work.
A limited# of parks have power, of those only a few stalls (if any) will have 50 amps.
If I was going to depend on rv hookups, I would much rather use the 30 amp 120 connection if you can make it work.
A limited# of parks have power, of those only a few stalls (if any) will have 50 amps.
I bet there is a Leaf forum out there where people brag about driving across the country and back. That would be quite a feat, and tedious as well.
Got it HB. 120V/12A is only gonna get me 5 mi/hour. Fine for car camping at a few parks within my one-way range, and being recharged before I leave. The L2 charger needs 240V/27A and gets me more like 20 miles/hour, still not that useful for a roadtrip.
Functional Update: The spouse commuted to work yesterday, and noodled around with the kid errands all afternoon, never thinking about a plug. Had about 50% charge/range left at dinner time when we plugged it in. All recharged at 7AM with the L1 'trickle' charger.
She is v happy with it.
L2 goes in this WE.
She is v happy with it.
L2 goes in this WE.
I know its been done, and might be a fun way to see the country if you had the time/desire to do it 50 mi at time. I would def embark with a portable L2 charger, a slew of adapter cords for RV outlets, and a couple spare tires.
Why the tires? I read the Tesla has a 172 mile range. Of course, it costs 70K. I actually saw one blasting up the Interstate on the way to Montreal a couple of weeks ago. It was from Canada.
The Leaf does not have an onboard spare, donut or otherwise, or a jack. Also, the tires are 'lo-rise' and IMO don't take a lot of hard driving without failure. It comes with a little bottle of goo and a pump, prob ok for a slow leak or pucture to get to a garage, but not anything more dramatic.
Oh yeah, the manual says that towing should be flatbed only!
Out in the 'boonies', I would prob want a couple spare tires, at least one on a spare rim.
Oh yeah, the manual says that towing should be flatbed only!
Out in the 'boonies', I would prob want a couple spare tires, at least one on a spare rim.
Drove a friend's Leaf some time back -- what a blast to drive.
Its a pretty innovative car. How its heats the driver in winter is interesting and apparently more efficient the idea being to heat more the surfaces that touch the driver rather than the air in the car.
Its a pretty innovative car. How its heats the driver in winter is interesting and apparently more efficient the idea being to heat more the surfaces that touch the driver rather than the air in the car.
Where2
Feeling the Heat
Likely depends on where you live. It would require $40 worth of electrical permit where I live. From all the reviews I read online it sounds like it requires a 40A 2-pole circuit breaker with L1, L2 and Ground conductors run from your panel to wherever you decide to mount the charging station. Could be easy or complicated depending on available space in your electrical panel and routing convenience between your panel and where you park the EV.
If you are comfortable running a new circuit from your breaker box, no.
Parts list:
The 'EVSE' (Electrical Vehicle Supply Equipment):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FM7B1AO/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
37' of #8AWG, 2 con + grnd wire: ~$55
40A 240V duplex circuit breaker: ~$8
3 copper lugs for #6 wire: ~$5
a few tapcons, scrap of plywood and wood screws for mounting on concrete wall: $3
total of ~$650 and maybe a 2-hour job. Took me half a day to clean most of the junk out of my garage.
The L3 chargers are 480V DC, ~100A, and start at $15000. Not a lot of them in folks' garages.
Lots of press this week that Nissan wants to double the Leaf's range, and has new battery tech in the pipeline to do it in the next few years. If we assume that the current range is 60 mi worst case (highway, winter), the new vehicle would be 120 miles minimum, 150 typical. They are talking about a $5k upcharge on the vehicle cost. I think that would be a killer app for EVs, esp with lower cost L2 home chargers (they should cost $100-200 tops), and a decent network of chademo chargers for roadtrips.
(broken link removed)
http://www.greencarreports.com/news...kely-to-offer-larger-battery-for-longer-range
lest you think this is pie in the sky....a few other competing, low cost EVs are being launched with ranges 10-25% higher than the current leaf, suggesting that the tech has matured since the 2010 launch.
(broken link removed to http://ecomento.com/2014/03/28/2015-nissan-leaf-to-get-135-mile-range/)
(broken link removed)
http://www.greencarreports.com/news...kely-to-offer-larger-battery-for-longer-range
lest you think this is pie in the sky....a few other competing, low cost EVs are being launched with ranges 10-25% higher than the current leaf, suggesting that the tech has matured since the 2010 launch.
(broken link removed to http://ecomento.com/2014/03/28/2015-nissan-leaf-to-get-135-mile-range/)
I installed my Level 2 charger. Most of the time was spent running the wire to the new location. It took a few hours, but I am very glad I did it.
I have the Clipper Creek LCS-25. Charges at 20 amps, but the Volt only accepts 16, which is about 4 hrs for a full charge. So far no friends with Leafs have visited, but I am ready.
CaptSpiff
Minister of Fire
OK, help me with the math:
My car gets about 22 mpg overall. So at $3.80/gal, that's about 5.8 miles/$.
Your EV gets 3 miles/kwh overall, so at my $0.23/kwh, that's about 13 miles/$.
You folks who only pay $0.12/kwh would be getting 25 miles/$. Wow. That's sweet!
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