Nissan Leaf (Score: 3, Informative) by zenbi@pipedot.org on 2014-07-17 15:03 (#2HR) I have a Nissan Leaf that I use as my daily driver. I can go a respectable 70 miles per day around town on my normal 80% charge. Every night when I park it in the garage, I plug it into the standard 110V wall charger. Although I have the faster 220V charger, the charge time is never an issue as it charges overnight.Because I still own my previous gas powered vehicle, I've never tried going on a road trip where I have to rely on third party charging stations. Living in San Antonio, for example, I would have to stop twice to get to the coast - each stop being several hours. Re: Nissan Leaf (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on 2014-07-18 00:20 (#2J1) I plug it into the standard 110V wall charger. Although I have the faster 220V chargerIs there an advantage to using the smaller charger? It seems odd to use it when you have the more powerful one. Re: Nissan Leaf (Score: 2, Informative) by bryan@pipedot.org on 2014-07-20 20:58 (#2KF) Batteries last longer if they are charged slowly. I used to be a fan of radio controlled cars (the enthusiast kind, not the ones you find at Toys'r'Us.) You realize, quite early, that battery packs that you charge with the "quick 15 minute" charger loose potency much faster than the packs that you charge with the "slow overnight" charger. The same applies to the full scale electric vehicle batteries. In fact, the manual even warns that frequently using the extra quick charge ports that you find at 3rd party charging stations will degrade your battery.Lithium Ion batteries also last longer if you do not constantly bring them to 100% and 0%. Ideally, just like in your cellphone or your laptop, you keep the charge in the nice middle area. The Leaf has a convenient "80%" button that stops the charge before the battery gets too full. The first low range warning beeps occur at around 16 miles remaining mark. Keeping the battery within the 20-70 mile zone limits the range a bit, but increases the life expectancy of the battery.
Re: Nissan Leaf (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on 2014-07-18 00:20 (#2J1) I plug it into the standard 110V wall charger. Although I have the faster 220V chargerIs there an advantage to using the smaller charger? It seems odd to use it when you have the more powerful one. Re: Nissan Leaf (Score: 2, Informative) by bryan@pipedot.org on 2014-07-20 20:58 (#2KF) Batteries last longer if they are charged slowly. I used to be a fan of radio controlled cars (the enthusiast kind, not the ones you find at Toys'r'Us.) You realize, quite early, that battery packs that you charge with the "quick 15 minute" charger loose potency much faster than the packs that you charge with the "slow overnight" charger. The same applies to the full scale electric vehicle batteries. In fact, the manual even warns that frequently using the extra quick charge ports that you find at 3rd party charging stations will degrade your battery.Lithium Ion batteries also last longer if you do not constantly bring them to 100% and 0%. Ideally, just like in your cellphone or your laptop, you keep the charge in the nice middle area. The Leaf has a convenient "80%" button that stops the charge before the battery gets too full. The first low range warning beeps occur at around 16 miles remaining mark. Keeping the battery within the 20-70 mile zone limits the range a bit, but increases the life expectancy of the battery.
Re: Nissan Leaf (Score: 2, Informative) by bryan@pipedot.org on 2014-07-20 20:58 (#2KF) Batteries last longer if they are charged slowly. I used to be a fan of radio controlled cars (the enthusiast kind, not the ones you find at Toys'r'Us.) You realize, quite early, that battery packs that you charge with the "quick 15 minute" charger loose potency much faster than the packs that you charge with the "slow overnight" charger. The same applies to the full scale electric vehicle batteries. In fact, the manual even warns that frequently using the extra quick charge ports that you find at 3rd party charging stations will degrade your battery.Lithium Ion batteries also last longer if you do not constantly bring them to 100% and 0%. Ideally, just like in your cellphone or your laptop, you keep the charge in the nice middle area. The Leaf has a convenient "80%" button that stops the charge before the battery gets too full. The first low range warning beeps occur at around 16 miles remaining mark. Keeping the battery within the 20-70 mile zone limits the range a bit, but increases the life expectancy of the battery.