Friends are ditching their gasser for an EV (Leaf? Volt?) Update: Bolt!

[ldjessee00]

I can get 30amp circuit by ditching line out to the mini-barn/shed in the back yard. I never go in there during the dark nor use power tools there, so kind of a waste for me (the previous owner did more things in there), but to get a 50 amp circuit would take a lot.

Probably will settle for a 30 amp plug, as it will be much cheaper for my situation.

[redpoint5]

Well just converting a 120v circuit to 240v doubles the charging speed without need of upgrading the wiring. Swap a breaker out and you're good to go. That's what I did when converting a 240v circuit to 120v for a high amp AC.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

So I now know 3 people who have bought Bolts

I just found out yesterday that one of them doesn't even have a level 2 (240v) charger at their place. They've been charging it on the standard 120V garage plug since they got it.

You would be forgiven for thinking that it might be easy to get away with a wall plug if you don't drive very much. But they've put 66,000 km (41k mi) on the car in just over 2 years. That's more driving than the average car.

One of the benefits of a big battery -- lots of buffer if you don't replace 100% of the previous trip kilometers before your next trip..

I was fully planning on buying a Bolt and doing just that until the DMV raised first year title + registration to $665 making my Insight a much better value.
(And they are talking about doubling that again)

By my math because I can charge at home and at work my 250 miles of weekend travels are easily possible in a Bolt on L1
so long as my 12 miles daily is taken into account and doesn’t vary excessively.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by ldjessee00

We only charge at home in a 110 socket in our garage for our Leaf... We do have to make sure no one uses the microwave while it is plugged in because they put the microwave and the garage on the same circuit. (facepalm)

That's funny! But again, it would probably work for a lot of people.


Kind of drives me nuts when you read uninformed people saying "there isn't enough charging infrastructure for people to have EV's!"

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Wow, I estimate that's an average of 14 kWh per day. Do you know if they are using the stock EVSE? I think it has a max output of 12A, so that/s 1.4 kW, or 10 hours of charging per day.

They're stock. 10 hours isn't that bad - overnight, basically.

[MetroMPG]

Remember my friends who bought this Leaf, back in post #60?

They've had it exactly 2 years as of this week. Zero problems in 50,000 km (30k mi.), but on the weekend it wouldn't "start". Wouldn't charge either.

I guessed it was a dead 12v battery, so went over with my voltmeter and jumper cables.

Fixed!



Sure enough, the 12v was sitting at 4.x

We connected it to a good 12v battery, and the car immediately started taking a charge from the big wall charger, plus the 12v voltage shot up to 14.x

He left it several hours on the charger, and then checked it the next day: back down to 12.4 volts. I told him the batt was probably toast, and the question was whether he left some 12v accessory on, or if the battery is defective. He's got a call in to the Nissan dealer to get it looked at at.



I wonder if the car's computer will have stored info about what happened.

[ldjessee00]

"As a Leaf owner, I have to remember that the 12volt battery is there and can cause issues."

I keep telling myself this when I see other EVs run into issues that was caused by the 12v battery.

[MetroMPG]

I had a weak 12v battery go dead in my 2004 Prius several times, so I learned that would prevent the high voltage stuff from "starting" (required to fire up the ICE & drive the car).



That experience made me pretty sure my friend's Leaf was suffering from a similar problem.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by ldjessee00

We only charge at home in a 110 socket in our garage for our Leaf... We do have to make sure no one uses the microwave while it is plugged in because they put the microwave and the garage on the same circuit. (facepalm)

Never assume buying the model home for a division is going to mean it is built better than all the others... even one from the late 60s.

I have considered putting in a NEMA 14/50 in the garage, but that would require some major electrical work in my house. It would not quite involve rewiring the whole house... but most of it.

I charged my Spark EV on 110V for the 3 years we leased it. I had previously run a separate circuit for just my air compressor so I just plugged the EVSE into that dedicated plug. It took about 10 hours to top off the battery.

(This was on days I didn't charge for free at work)

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I told him the batt was probably toast, and the question was whether he left some 12v accessory on, or if the battery is defective. He's got a call in to the Nissan dealer to get it looked at at.

I'm not aware of any vehicle that logs which circuits are active, especially when "off". How old was the battery? Even ones maintained well have a limited lifespan, and I expect the majority of the damage to occur on dealer lots as people open doors and leave them open without driving the vehicle long enough to top up the battery.

I certainly wouldn't take a car to a dealership over a 12v battery issue. Plenty of battery shops will load test it for free (I bought a load tester on sale for like $15), and will offer better pricing for a replacement.

Good work going straight to the problem!

[MetroMPG]

That's the thing: the car's only 2 years old.


He thinks it'll be a warranty item, otherwise I would have sent him to the local parts store and we could have changed it in the driveway.



Will keep you posted.