An even more exciting photo of the J1772 connector with the protective door closed. It's funny, pulling back the tab on the left causes the door to swing open, but it does so in a beautifully damped way, it doesn't just spring open. I don't know if this should be classified as remarkable attention to detail, or just overkill. - victoriasports.ca

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The first one in Victoria, B.C.
Delivered 28 Oct 2011

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110V "EVSE" (electric vehicle supply equipment) supplied by Nissan. This box is close to the outlet (the plug is just outside the frame, to the right). The SAE J1772 plug is about 8 metres to the left. Current draw is limited to 12 amps, so any 15 amp circuit will do, as long as you don't have anything else on the circuit. Charging is slow at 110V, but generally speaking there's still more than enough time to charge back up to 80% overnight. 80% is recommended for longest battery life.

(Why "EVSE" rather than charger? The "charger" is in the car, all the EVSE does is protect against faults and signal to the car how much current it is allowed to draw. It is a glorified extension cord, but one which works in all weather and is supposedly crushproof... shall we say, crush-resistant.)

The first Nissan Leaf in Victoria, B.C.

The three lights on the dash indicate charging is complete. This time I charged to 100%, as I'm about to test the "ultimate" range. Short version of test results: with climate control off, you can make it to Duncan and back. But I don't think I'd want to try it in the dark and rain, without being able to plug in while in Duncan. Going up and over the Malahat probably cuts into range, but nevertheless the car still averaged 7.3 km/kWh over the 118.6 km round trip. That, by the way, equates to $1.10 worth of electricity (at the "step 1" residential rate). Maybe a bit more, due to inefficiency in charging. Call it $1.20.

(Economics are not a primary consideration for me; smoothness, quietness, lack of pollution and avoiding burning a non-renewable resource are the main features for me. But being 1/10 the cost to operate is a nice bonus.)

Closeup of J1772 plug. The cutout on the left is for a CHAdeMO DC quick charge connector. The quick charge plug and connector are much bigger, allowing for up to 62.5 kW, charging the car to 80% in half an hour. (By comparison, 12 amps at 110V = 1.32 kW. The car can handle 3.3kW through the J1772 plug, which is possible if connected to 220V AC)

I got a car without the quick charge connector, because I would have had to wait to get one with the connector. Currently (no pun intended) there is only one quick charge station in all of B.C.

An exciting photo of the J1772 connector.

An even more exciting photo of the J1772 connector with the protective door closed. It's funny, pulling back the tab on the left causes the door to swing open, but it does so in a beautifully damped way, it doesn't just spring open. I don't know if this should be classified as remarkable attention to detail, or just overkill.

The charging port door in the closed position. Oooo, shiny. The door opens by pulling on a release on the driver's side which is where the hood release on most cars would be. The Leaf's hood release is right beside the charging door release. The main reason you'd ever look under the hood would be to add windshield washer fluid.

The J1772 plug. It can't be plugged in any way other than the right way. Power is turned off unless it's plugged in and the car turns on charging (or is running the climate control). The "EVSE" indicates to the car the maximum current that can be drawn, which in this case is 12 amps, as 80% of the circuit breaker rating is allowed for continuous draw. Household 110V circuits are generally either 15 amps or 20 amps.

The dash indicates that the estimated range is 191 km. This is probably overly optimistic; it is of course based on the way I have driven the car recently, which in this case was a deliberate test of how efficient the car could be. I drove about 20 km on a relatively flat road at a nearly constant 50 km/h. Result: 7.5 km/kWh. With a 24 kWh battery pack, that translates to a range of 180 km. (But is the full 24 kWh available? I'm not sure).

In other early experimentation, I found that driving at night with climate control on (outside temperature 8 degrees C) along the highway to the ferry terminal at 90 km/h (the speed limit) resulted in 6.2 km/kWh, or a range of 149 km. Range depends a lot on what you're doing!

Electricity in British Columbia is 90% hydroelectric. Really, the car is powered by rain. (Which is indirect solar power; the sun causes the evaporation which results in lifting the water up to higher altitude).

The residential "step 1" rate with BC Hydro is 6.67 cents per kWh. So, to make things nice and easy, suppose we average 6.67 km/kWh, then that's 6.67 km for 6.67 cents, or 1 cent per km. The residential step 2 rate is 9.62 cents per kWh, which is about 44% more. Combine with, say, relatively lousy efficiency of 5 km/kWh and the cost goes up to nearly 2 cents per km.

An even more exciting photo of the J1772 connector with the protective door closed. It's funny, pulling back the tab on the left causes the door to swing open, but it does so in a beautifully damped way, it doesn't just spring open. I don't know if this should be classified as remarkable attention to detail, or just overkill.

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Keywords: leaf nissan j1772

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