How to get my new Leaf home ?

[curto]

Hey Guys,

I am looking at purchasing a 2nd hand Nissan Leaf 2016 with a 30KW/h battery pack.

The reseller i am looking at apparently imports them from Japan and then blue slips them for sale here

My problem is that i am looking at one with 75% SOH on the battery pack and need to get it from Newcastle down to Sydney (North Shore)

This looks like about 150KMs of freeway driving. There is no way the battery will get that far - although the reseller has said one of his customers nursed one at 60KM/h all the way to Parramatta - so this could be an option.

The car will come with an OZ certified Granny Charger (8AMPs) - but wondering what my options are in terms of finding a midpoint charging station (that will be reliable and working !) on the way down to Sydney.

I was going to get a Type 2 to Type 1 adapter cable if i had to - this will just be our granny trip drive at home so i intend to charge from Solar on the granny charger all the time so do not want to "waste" $250 on a cable unless that is my only option - my plan longer term was to get the OpenEVSE single phase solution for home use - so i guess i could get one of those and mount a tye 2 socket on it so the cable does not go to waste

ANy other ideas ?

Craig

[gany]

We have a lot of public chargers around us so the type 1-type 2 cable has been very worthwhile.
If you’re not keen on picking one up, perhaps another member can loan you one just for the one off trip, assuming there are charge points along the way to need the cable?

[curto]

Thanks for the quick reply Gany - i guess it was a two part question

1) Will the cable be worthwhile - your answer seems to be yes
2) Is there a known reliable charge point where i can use the cable somewhere along the way between Sydney and Newcastle ?

I am looking on the PlugShare app now - are there any others that are better to use in OZ ?

Craig

[gany]

I was about to recommend plugshare, as that tends to cover all options. Chargefox, evie and chargepoint are the other apps I use, however all stations listed on those are usually listed on plugshare. You’ll need to set up accounts on those in order to use them, even if they are free. Worth getting the rfid cards from them as well as sometimes the mobile coverage or wifi isnt working to unlock them where the rfid cards will still work.

But overall, plugshare should be enough to plan your trip. If its a one off and you’re happy to pay for fast charging, chademo stations are an option that dont require a cable.

[curto]

Good one thanks Gany - will start on the app and see how i go !

thanks for the help

Craig

[tomkauf]

Hi Craig,
Welcome. Usually I'd say www.abetterrouteplanner.com is a great choice. It's also an App. But I selected your Leaf year (basically the same 30kWh year I had), and it doesn't come up with much when I entered your trip. You can enter the Vehicle, SOH, Type of Chargers you want to use, and play around with maximum speeds. It calculates consumption pretty accurately based on elevation and road speeds.
In your case it basically says you won't make it. But I find that it doesn't know nearly as many charge locations as Plugshare. With the help of plugshare, you should be able to work out a route.

I assume the car has CHAdeMO fast charging as well? That is usually extremely useful on a roadtrip, but that area of the state is surprisingly sparse.

[jin]

Just hit the chademos at Swansea and Tumbi umbi and youre gold.

[curto]

Mar 14, 2023 20:37:25 GMT 11 tomkauf said:

Hi Craig,
Welcome. Usually I'd say www.abetterrouteplanner.com is a great choice. It's also an App. But I selected your Leaf year (basically the same 30kWh year I had), and it doesn't come up with much when I entered your trip. You can enter the Vehicle, SOH, Type of Chargers you want to use, and play around with maximum speeds. It calculates consumption pretty accurately based on elevation and road speeds.
In your case it basically says you won't make it. But I find that it doesn't know nearly as many charge locations as Plugshare. With the help of plugshare, you should be able to work out a route.

I assume the car has CHAdeMO fast charging as well? That is usually extremely useful on a roadtrip, but that area of the state is surprisingly sparse.

Thanks for the detailed nfo 

Yes my car does have Chademo - it looks like i have an option for Chademo 1/2 way down at a place called Tumbi Umbi on the Central Coast so might try that one and then nurse it home at less than Freeway speeds for the 2nd part of the trip and see how we go

Craig

[curto]

Mar 15, 2023 11:21:17 GMT 11 jin said:

Just hit the chademos at Swansea and Tumbi umbi and youre gold.

Hey Jiin

Thanks for that - hopefully the car will be full when i get it in Newcastle so can probably skip the Swansea one and then try Tumbi Umbi - thats looking like 80KM from my place so as long as i do not hit it too heavily on the freeway leg i should be right to limp home

Craig

[curto]

Hey Guys,

An extension to this question about the car i am getting

If it is showing at 75% SOH in LeafSpy - this essentially means that i have 22.5KW/h available from the Battery.

If i do a Chademo fast charge - does it does the quick 80% charge (approx) of the 22.5KW/h so it will fast charge me approx 18KW/h i.e. is the "bad" 25% of my battery locked out or does it still participate in some fashion ?

Craig

[jin]

You have to specify charging over 80% in car and/or fast charger settings if that is what you want.

On the car it's under charging timers if enabled.

On the charger it might have toggleable 80%/100% caps

[jin]

Also of noteworthy, check with your dealer if the LBC firmware update has been applied, and if not, if they can do it.

Specific to your cars generation you can get as much as ~10% soh back on the battery after applying.

[curto]

Thanks for the tip Jiin re firmware - will do.

SO if i am trickle charging at home i assume it is OK to go over 80% - its only on Fast Chargers that you do not want to do this too often ?

Craig

[tomkauf]

Mar 16, 2023 9:09:35 GMT 11 curto said:

Thanks for the tip Jiin re firmware - will do.

SO if i am trickle charging at home i assume it is OK to go over 80% - its only on Fast Chargers that you do not want to do this too often ?

Craig

It is definitely better to trickle charge to high SOC levels, since that creates much less heat than fast charging. But it is recommended to only charge above 80% unless going on a trip. It's not good for the battery to sit above 80% for a long period of time. If you need eg. 100% for a long trip, that's ok, but charge up right before leaving. That way it doesn't sit at high SOC levels for a long time (eg. days).