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Old 06-07-16, 11:24 AM   #1
AC_Hacker
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Default AC_Hacker and the Nissan Leaf

About a year ago, I bought a two-year used Leaf, that had been a leased car, and I thought that a review of my experiences would be appropriate.

The car came with a 120v charger, that Nissan calls a 'trickle charger'. It works fine off of 120v but the charging time is slow. Even with that, my daily driving was such that charging overnight gave me a fully charged car when I wanted it next day.

More research revealed that the Leaf has its charger built in, and the "trickle charger" is really a charge adapter. The way it works is that there is some 'intelligence' built into the charger. When the charger is plugged into the car, its tiny brain communicates with the car's tiny brain, and the voltage is tested and if it qualifies, the charge connection is made and charging begins. So you can't just plug the car into raw AC Power, there must be a qualifying dialog before charging starts.

I learned that there are three levels of charge that the car can accept,

L1 - 120 VAC ('trickle charge')
L2 - 240 VAC
L3 - 400 VDC (AKA: "Fast Charge")

My experience with the L1 that came with the car is positive, but there were instances when I would use the car more if I could charge more quickly.

Enough instances that I began to investigate the best solution...

(* to be continued *)



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