[Farty Penguin]

Hi all,

I've long wanted to join the EV revolution and finally managed to justify to myself getting a Leaf this week and it is due to arrive Monday. I will admit to an unhealthy level of excitement about this!

It seemed logical to add the 6.6kWh upgrade due to the extra flexibility and I was initially quite pleased with this decisions but... I've since learned that the upgrade means I won't get a charging cable I can use at home with the car. :-(

In *theory* British Gas will maybe, at some point, come and fit a charging station in my house but their email was worded very much in a "it will be a while, if ever" kind of way.

My old car went bang today so I can't wait for BG to catch up. I rang the Nissan dealership selling it to me and they quoted me £486 if I want a 3 pin cable by Monday.

I can't see how I can cope without one but that just seems so much money. A quick ferret about the net has yielded no obvious cheaper options - certainly not ones that can get to me in time - so I thought I would ask a community of experts. Any other options that I can try? If I want it by Monday the indication is I need to move "now" :-/

Many thanks for any advice you are able to give,

Mike (FP)

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

If you have the skills and confidence with electrical stuff you could make your own EVSE... Mainpine resellers sell a DIY kit but I don't have the details right now. I will have later though so I will post later if I get a chance or someone else might chip in

You will need an EVSE or home charging unit that is certain if you want to charge at home. The cable Nissan supply with a car with 6.6kW charging is a type1/type2 cable for charging on public stations or on your home unit if you get one with a type 2 socket.

Great news you are getting a Leaf.

 

[Jason Wallace]

Hi there Mike

Welcome to SpeakEV and to LEAF ownership. You'll love it!

It does sound to me that you've done the right thing but you will have a challenge for a wee while. The 6.6 upgrade is very sensible and makes the thing a LOT more useable but in reality is a £1300 upgrade due to needing an EVSE.

£486 is a lot to pay for the EVSE but if you want to avoid that expense then I'd follow Paul's advice or go for something like http://nuworldenergy.co.uk/shop/product/portable-mode-2-evse-charger which is a £360 item and (due to switchable 6AMP) slightly better than the Nissan unit.

Last option - EBay where EVSEs do appear from time to time and sell in the £180 region.

Sounds like at least in the short term you'll be doing public charging - do you have RFIDs for the local points?

 

[Phil]

I told my dealer that British gas were stalling and draggiong their feet. He told me to ring them up and they will install a lot quicker. I did this and he was correct waited a few days all done now

 

[Farty Penguin]

Great stuff, thanks all!

That NuWorld cable is actually £300 at the moment so seems like a very good bet. I need the Type 2 variant then?

Will ring British Gas later, that makes a lot of sense actually!

 

[fenlander]

That NuWorld cable is actually £300 at the moment so seems like a very good bet. I need the Type 2 variant then?

You'll need a Type 1 for the Leaf.

 

[Jason Wallace]

Great stuff, thanks all!

That NuWorld cable is actually £300 at the moment

£300 + VAT at 20% = £360

No, the Type 1 is the one under the Orange flap on your LEAF. The cable you have is a Type 2 at the other end (so a T2 - T1 cable).

Some cars such as The Zoe have a Type 2 socket in them and take a T2 - T2 cable.

Now, since Renault & Nissan share so much do not ask why they decided to adopt different standards - I assume that Type 1 is a "Japanese" standard and Type 2 a "European" one

 

[PaulMorris]

As another alternative, can the Ampera owners confirm if the Vauxhall 'brick' works ok. If I recall I've seen people on here quoting it as much cheaper than the Nissan alternative and functionally similar. Hopefully someone will be along soon.

 

[PaulMorris]

Btw.. I was in the same situation, still no home charger after just over 3 weeks with no alternative car. My supplying dealer was straight enough to talk me out of buying an EVSE from them, instead extolling the virtues of the Nissan flatbed recovery services.

He had a good point, I probably would never want to use it, and public charging is fairly good in my area. However no home charger was a PITA. Luckily 2 days in, parts arrived and I built a DIY EVSE. If I'm right, the Vauxhall part works out cheaper as a finished unit. I wanted a DIY one anyway for other reasons.

 

[Jason Wallace]

If the Vauxhall item is cheaper then it will be functionally identical to the Nissan unit.

I like this NuWorld item however in that it is switchable down to 6A - that's 1.3kW which will mean that you would be able to (slowly) take a lot more from a solar array

I am sat here looking at my EnergyHive dashboard reading 1.4 kWh being exported and knowing that I have to wait until that value rises quite considerably before my 10A charging kicks in an Evie starts to charge

 

[Farty Penguin]

Yeah, I spotted the VAT as I hit the Pay button. Never mind, still over £100 cheaper!

I did get a message on Paypal asking me to ring them but it seems to go through to a mobile (EE) voicemail. Hopefully that's not a bad sign!

 

[Lee Howard]

The 6.6 upgrade is very sensible and makes the thing a LOT more useable but in reality is a £1300 upgrade due to needing an EVSE.

£486 is a lot to pay for the EVSE but if you want to avoid that expense then I'd follow Paul's advice or go for something like http://nuworldenergy.co.uk/shop/product/portable-mode-2-evse-charger which is a £360 item and (due to switchable 6AMP) slightly better than the Nissan unit.

I recognize that many times charging at home equates to charging overnight, but sometimes you do some driving in the morning, come home, charge, and then do some more driving in the evening... or something like that. It's easy to consume 60 miles running errands on a Saturday morning and then want to drive to a party or dinner on Saturday evening. You may only have 4 or 5 hours to charge in that interlude. A 10A charging feed is not going to get the Leaf battery to full in that time, and that's a shame considering the investment into a 6.6kW charger in the EV which would permit charging at nearly 3X that rate.

Sure, the upgraded in-car charger will come in handy at public charging locations where 32A is available, but why not install a 32A EVSE at home to match it?

 

[Paul]

I just plugged in on my home 6.6 kW charger for an hour... very useful top up. Happens infrequently but I'm glad I've got it when it does.

It's purely a convenience thing though.

 

[Jason Wallace]

I did get a message on Paypal asking me to ring them but it seems to go through to a mobile (EE) voicemail. Hopefully that's not a bad sign!

Just a sign that they're busy in Brighton at an eco bash

 

[Jason Wallace]

Sure, the upgraded in-car charger will come in handy at public charging locations where 32A is available, but why not install a 32A EVSE at home to match it?

Hi is - just that British Gas are being, well, British Gas and taking forever

I have already and it's great. That said, as it was sunny today the car was sat charging from solar-PV. What it didn't get it's now taking on 32A

 

[Farty Penguin]

Yep, they just rang me. Order already on the way and ringing me about fitting a 32amp point for £90 tomorrow. They think they can do early next week!

Good times.