Nissan LEAF - General

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#1570826 13-Jun-2016 08:57

Linuxluver:

("Do not drag people off at the lights. Do not drag people off at the lights Do not drag people off at the lights...")

Funny you should say this - I was driving through Otahuhu and stopped at the lights next to a Leaf (driven by a dealer) and thought I could easily beat it off the lights, but jeez they are FAST! And my car isn't slow - 3.2L V6 Golf R32. The instant acceleration on electric cars is very impressive, must be amazing to use Insane mode on the Tesla's!

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Linuxluver

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#1570827 13-Jun-2016 08:57

lchiu7:

I'm dead keen on getting a leaf if I can persuade my wife to ignore range angst. We have two cars anyway so if we go on long drives, we can use the gas guzzling BMW -:(

Plus I am on Flick so I would be charging the car at night rates all the time which could result even greater savings than they suggest (For 14k $450 electricity versus $2000 petrol)

In Wellington we have this range

All have had the Japanese stereos replaced with local unit to avoid having to use frequency shifters and reading Japanese car audio displays.

These look like decent deals? I am sure the dealer is amenable to some bargaining.

They appear to be cheaper in Auckland. This one is a 2015 model has fewer kms and costs less than the ones on your link. They (Autolink) will deliver cars. When I was there, they were arranging to have one delivered to Wellington.

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Linuxluver

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#1570837 13-Jun-2016 09:15

Scott3:

What plug did the Sparky put on? Is it a AS/NZS 3112, Or a PDL 56 series. A lot of people have had heat issues with the first, and the second is rare in non-industrial or non-commercial settings.

I see. Thanks for clarifying. He installed a PDL plug. I had a look. It's explicitly rated as 16amps / 240 volts.

The concern I was taking about relates to a component in the EVSE (box in the charging cord). I think the Japanese one has a 200V transformer in it that would need to be swapped out. Autolink moves a lot of Nissan Leaf's so I would hope the are aware of this up on this. I'm pretty sure they would have had to have a sparky change the plug, disable the plug temperature sensor, and rerate the unit for NZ voltage.

What voltage is written on the bottom of the EVSE box?

The box says 200v / 15amps. I assume this would match the requirements of the vehicle as they are designed for each other.

Worksafe has this to say:

Certain designs for products not permitted to be sold in New Zealand

Any electrical and electronic product intended to be used in domestic and similar situations, cannot be sold unless the product is rated and marked for use at the standard New Zealand mains supply 230 V (or 400 V multi-phase) 50 Hz.

My understanding is that our ratings are maximums. I should not exceed 16amp and 240 volts. If the vehicle and it's associated gear only draw (max) 200v / 15amps, then this is lower than the rating for the power point itself...and therefore OK. The problem would arise if it was a higher draw than the outlet can support. Right? I have loads of electrical stuff I plug in that draws less than the maximum and that's OK.

I've checked it for heating. The unit 200v / 15amp isn't warm to the touch even after several hours of charging.

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Linuxluver

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#1570838 13-Jun-2016 09:17

RUKI:

I knew someone got the silver Leaf in the neighbourhood (Greenlane). It was you then.. Congrats!

Thanks. :)

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Beccara

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#1570847 13-Jun-2016 09:43

Yeah the 200v unit isn't meant to run in NZ, it doesn't look to have caused issues so far with anyone but it's not designed for 230v. Whilst a device may draw less amp's it'll never draw less volts :)

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#1570856 13-Jun-2016 10:03

lchiu7:

Plus I am on Flick so I would be charging the car at night rates all the time which could result even greater savings than they suggest (For 14k $450 electricity versus $2000 petrol)

In Wellington we have this range

Wellington electricity have an extended night rate from 9PM to 7AM for owners of electric cars with > 12KWh batteries. If you get one, you can have cheaper power for the whole house for longer (not just a dedicated socket).

Other distribution companies may have similar deals.

Linuxluver

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#1570875 13-Jun-2016 10:41

Beccara:

Yeah the 200v unit isn't meant to run in NZ, it doesn't look to have caused issues so far with anyone but it's not designed for 230v. Whilst a device may draw less amp's it'll never draw less volts :)

Oh! OK. I'll keep an eye on it for heating. It seems to be OK so far.

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Linuxluver

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#1570879 13-Jun-2016 10:48

timbosan:

Linuxluver:

("Do not drag people off at the lights. Do not drag people off at the lights Do not drag people off at the lights...")

Funny you should say this - I was driving through Otahuhu and stopped at the lights next to a Leaf (driven by a dealer) and thought I could easily beat it off the lights, but jeez they are FAST! And my car isn't slow - 3.2L V6 Golf R32. The instant acceleration on electric cars is very impressive, must be amazing to use Insane mode on the Tesla's!

I wasn't sure how much better it might be. I'm the guy who drives (manual) 1.3L cars (max). Compared to them, the LEAF is pretty exciting. As for Telsa....the risk there is that the big automakers steal his best ideas (and people) and crush him. That's been the standard mode of operation since the 1940s. He'll be aware of that....and seems to be doing a lot of the right things to establish his brand and now to also cover off the lower price entry that would eat his lunch down the road with a 'good enough' model from another company. Like the LEAF from Nissan.

I'll be looking hard at the Tesla 3 in 2-3 years time. Meanwhile......"do not drag people off at the lights......much". :-)

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afe66

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#1571014 13-Jun-2016 13:54

Last month the visiting electric car tour was in Dunedin and I got trip in basic leaf up Ratray street which me focus struggles with some times, leaf driver put his foot down and the accelerations was impressive and just kept going and going.

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gzt

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#1571032 13-Jun-2016 14:07

Any idea how many kms you might get from an hour's charge at half way?

Beccara

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#1571052 13-Jun-2016 14:31

About 24 km with a 16a socket, Around 45ish km with a 32a socket if your car and support it

Linuxluver

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#1571067 13-Jun-2016 14:57

Scott3:

The concern I was taking about relates to a component in the EVSE (box in the charging cord). I think the Japanese one has a 200V transformer in it that would need to be swapped out. Autolink moves a lot of Nissan Leaf's so I would hope the are aware of this up on this. I'm pretty sure they would have had to have a sparky change the plug, disable the plug temperature sensor, and rerate the unit for NZ voltage.

What voltage is written on the bottom of the EVSE box?

I checked the EVSE with the electrician who does the EV power installs for Autolink. He assured me they had changed the transformer to an NZ-compatible one. They learned this early on, apparently, as the unmodified EVSE's would die after about a week.

This vendor has been selling Nissan LEAF cars for a while now and they seem to have their bases covered. It's one of the reasons I bought my car from them. They have as much or more experience selling them as anyone in NZ.

Also...the sparky came back today and fitted an appropriate, outdoor "normal" (3112?) power outlet into the other half of the unit. It's rated at 240v / 16Amps, so I guess I could, in theory, use either one......though that leaves me wondering why there is an EVSE on the one...and apparently not necessary on the other.

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Linuxluver

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#1571077 13-Jun-2016 15:09

gzt: Any idea how many kms you might get from an hour's charge at half way?

I did time my charging yesterday. In an hour it went from about 53% to 66%. So 15% of the potential range would be something like 25km (2014/5 24KW models, older ones, not so much). But if you charge up on the left socket (the larger "CHAdeMO" high-speed one) it would probably get to 80% full in maximum 30 minutes. But Nissan say charging this way as the primary method reduces the life of the battery pack over it's expected 10 year life by about 10%.

So there is a quick option for fast charging if you can find a station. I see that "Z" has some fast chargers, but they charge 25 cents / KWh + 25 cents / minute. So 20 mins of charging (from - say - 50% to 80%) would cost something like $2 (8 KWh *$0.25) plus $5 (20 mins at $0.25/minute) = $7. I'm guessing, but it should be close. That's more than at home.....but there if you need it.

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gzt

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#1571087 13-Jun-2016 15:23

That's useful. Is there any safe option to gain some charge from a standard 10A socket?

Linuxluver

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#1571091 13-Jun-2016 15:33

New thought.

I'm looking at plugshare.com and there are some big gaps on SH1 between Taupo and Paraparaumu for charging an EV....and that's if you include a normal power point in Waiouru that might take as much as 12 hours to fully charge the car.

But if you stopped at a motel and plugged in via running an extension into your room...and left 12 hours later (day or night), then it would definitely be do-able.....but would take about 3 days to drive from Auckland to Wellington (drive about 90 minutes - 120-140kms - then plug in for 12 hours (3112 residential outlet at 10amps). There are easier ways to travel. :-)

More like 4 days if you wanted to sleep at night instead of while charging: drive for about 120km and then stop for the day (and night) to charge and enjoy whatever is going on in that place. So basically 120km / day - unless you strike a fast charger and can compress two days into one.

Not fast....but do-able and maybe even desirable if you're thinking of a relaxing journey down the island (or up it) with a holiday built in.

Ideally, there would be a CHAdeMO high-speed charger open and available (you don't have to wait for it) every 100km. If that were the case the trip would take (642kms) about 7 hours of driving plus 6 x 20 mins of charging - so another 2 hours. About 9 hours all up. That's about the same as petrol car because I normally stop for 15-20 minutes every hour or so anyway to rest and eat and do whatever else needs doing.

So if the charging stations are there, an EV can make the trip - without rushing - in about the same time a petrol car would.

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