Recent content by DarkStar

Awesome! If you like hanging out with a bunch of EV folk, definitely drop by an Oregon Electric Vehicle Association meeting sometime.

Yep, and looking at the history of J1772 they are at least a couple of years away from ratifying the first version of the standard and about 10 years away from adoption. CHAdeMO or bust!

The Rapidas system is pretty cool. Instead of using three-phase 480 volt AC like most DC Quick Chargers, this connects to standard single-phase 240 volt AC. To do the quick charging, it has an internal battery system that charges up so that when a vehicle pulls in it can dump current in. I...

Yep, not quite enough range... Here in Portland, our buses travel an average of 12 miles (19 km) on a single route.

Awesome, can't wait for the store to open!

With strictly freeway only driving, I would expect 80-85 miles, however since I usually drive 5 miles to the freeway and 5 miles back off my actual range is closer to 85-90 miles. Luckily, unlike NiMH batteries, the Leaf's LiMn (lithium magnesium) batteries prefer a temperature range of...

What model of GFCI is that? I've seen those before but they've always been 120 volt versions, not 240. Thanks!

Be sure to get some heatsinks on those SSRs, they heat up a lot! That's why EVSE manufacturers usually use contactors.

480 volts

I'll have to find the video again, but Nissan tested the charge port by pouring water directly into the charge port socket while plugging in a charging cable and measured no conductive currents.

Very few commercial J1772 EVSEs pass proper +12/-12 volt control pilot signal. Since there is a required GFCI test, that is considered sufficient for UL listing. There was a problem with the Shorepower units only putting out +11.5 volts on the control pilot pin, but this was fixed on all the...

The only black leaves are on trees! :-) There are black Leafs though! The 2011 and 2012 model year editions are available in blue, grey, white, black, and red. Green should have been an obvious color choice though...

The Leaf styling was one of the selling points for me and my wife. We just happen to be fans of Japanese/European styling vs. U.S. box-like styling. :biggrin:

Nissan does have a line filter installed right before the actual charger unit in the vehicle. I have VIN 568 and have no measurable line noise and have never tripped a GFCI. One thing I have noticed is that some owners that have reported random issues have also report low line voltage. One LEAF...

Given the information provided, he was charging at Level 1 from a regular outlet, not a Level 2 outlet. He would have gained about 50 miles in 4 hours if he was plugged into Level 2.