Leaf Thread

pwurple

No excuse? How about "it costs a frikken fortune to replumb an existing house"?
;p

We have one from tank, one electric. To get the other one pumped from tank would cost us thousands because of where it is located, so i can see why people don't do it.

With the larger capacity batteries a 6.6kw on the house might be handy for those who have them, but for us at the moment, zero benefit, large cost. I don't need my car to be fully charged at 3am. Couldn't justify it.

Maybe in a few years, but by then cost of unit should drop and who knows, the charging technology may be different.

I know a lot of people wouldn't spend the money on the 6.6 Kw just because it costs extra. For me it works and the convenience is worth a lot more. I find waiting at fast chargers far more inconvenient , especially if someone is already charging before me, that can be up to an hour to wait and if you can eliminate this in many circumstances then I think that 900 Euro's is extremely worth while. On a long run over 100 Kms in a 140-200 Km trip you won't avoid fast charging but for the other trips you can avoid it if there is an AC point near by.

If a fast charger is down and there's an AC point close by the 6.6 could be a life saver !

That's hardly a Zero benefit, it might be for you or you might be just happy to wait at fast chargers or perhaps you never make a trip that isn't planned or you don't drive much, of course if you haven't got it you won't know the benefit of it. It's not about having the car charged at 3am and you can set the timer that it turns on a 4 or 5 am instead depending on the charge % the battery is already at.

Single phase supplies can be upgraded if needs be + the car doesn't have to charge when someone is taking a 5 min shower and most of the time charging will take place at night.

Surely it's possible to run a bit of qualpex to the location of the shower ? I'm not saying someone shouldn't have a shower that heats the water but there are a lot of people who automatically think a shower should heat the water and don't think about the water that's sitting in the tank.

pwurple

Are you not talking about the charger installed on the house? I don't consider my house to be a fast charger, because I sleep there. So the car has at least 8 hours to charge, often 12+.


And yes, I bought an EV when it's range fitted my journey pattern, so I've got no need to fast charge. I know other people do, and that's fair enough, but having your home being an effective fast charger is a different thing. Unless the car is in use by two people who work alternate shifts, I don't see the general use case or justification. What benefit is starting charging at 4am instead of midnight if you're asleep the whole time anyway?


On the showers, in our house, the tank is on the ground floor (originally a small cottage), the house was extended in bits and pieces over the years, a part of it is two story with an attic, and the electric shower is in the attic. Yes, almost everything is possible with enough time and money. Yes, you can make your way through several ceilings in a very old higgle-piggled building, and run the piping up across three floors, insulate and seal the whole lot, and upgrade your pumps to deal with pumping to that height, but it's an expensive job which isn't particularly effective at the other end. Once you go beyond a certain pipe length you start to see some issues, like time lag before the hot water gets to you, etc. Other alternative is to re-site the tank to the top of the building, and flow downwards, but that's not a small job either because we've got a back boiler, solar panels, OFCH all plumbed to it in situ.

Sure, in the land where I've a lotto win burning a hole in my pocket, I'd love to have both the showers tank-fed, because they are higher pressure and nicer as well as being more efficient. But while I'm spending limited resources, it's not worth the quotes we got. That's our 'excuse'. I think it's valid.

mylesm

Deleted User wrote: »

I know a lot of people wouldn't spend the money on the 6.6 Kw just because it costs extra. For me it works and the convenience is worth a lot more. I find waiting at fast chargers far more inconvenient , especially if someone is already charging before me, that can be up to an hour to wait and if you can eliminate this in many circumstances then I think that 900 Euro's is extremely worth while. On a long run over 100 Kms in a 140-200 Km trip you won't avoid fast charging but for the other trips you can avoid it if there is an AC point near by.

If a fast charger is down and there's an AC point close by the 6.6 could be a life saver !

That's hardly a Zero benefit, it might be for you or you might be just happy to wait at fast chargers or perhaps you never make a trip that isn't planned or you don't drive much, of course if you haven't got it you won't know the benefit of it. It's not about having the car charged at 3am and you can set the timer that it turns on a 4 or 5 am instead depending on the charge % the battery is already at.

Single phase supplies can be upgraded if needs be + the car doesn't have to charge when someone is taking a 5 min shower and most of the time charging will take place at night.

Surely it's possible to run a bit of qualpex to the location of the shower ? I'm not saying someone shouldn't have a shower that heats the water but there are a lot of people who automatically think a shower should heat the water and don't think about the water that's sitting in the tank.

I was just in with a Nissan Dealer and he told me the 6kw is not really worth it but I take anything they say with a grain of salt

Can you clarify if I opt for 6kw will ESB install 32a Charger and if not what is the advantage of the 6Kw does it charge faster in public chargers

By the way I nearly feel off the chair when I asked him was the Granny cable included and he said no 800 euro extra

mylesm

pwurple

mylesm wrote: »

I was just in with a Nissan Dealer and he told me the 6kw is not really worth it but I take anything they say with a grain of salt

Can you clarify if I opt for 6kw will ESB install 32a Charger and if not what is the advantage of the 6Kw does it charge faster in public chargers

By the way I nearly feel off the chair when I asked him was the Granny cable included and he said no 800 euro extra

mylesm

No, the esb charger will still charge at the slower rate.

Yes, the 6kw charges faster at SOME public chargers. Typically not the ones installed at hotels, or in the qparks in cork etc. Some of the on-street chargers.

cros13

pwurple wrote: »

Unless the car is in use by two people who work alternate shifts, I don't see the general use case or justification. What benefit is starting charging at 4am instead of midnight if you're asleep the whole time anyway?

It depends on the user.

In my case with the 7.4kW charging i3 I really like the ability to return home from my weekend place in the sticks on a monday morning and have a full charge by lunchtime if I want to run some errands. Also when I get down to Tipp on a Friday or Saturday evening I can roll in with very little on the battery and by the time I've unloaded the car and unlocked everything I have sufficient charge to pop to the shops.

My dad on the other hand, only charges his Leaf two or three times a week and that's on the timer. I don't think he has ever used a public level 2 chargepoint. So when I ordered the 2016 30kWh Leaf for him I stayed with the 3.3kW charger.

The 6.6kW Leaf does charge around 10% faster on the 16A ESB chargepoint.
But of course you can just buy a 32A chargepoint for about €400 and get the 16A put in somewhere else.

My dad has a 32A and a 16A at his place already so the ESB chargepoint and installation from the 2016 Leaf order is being donated to a club/group we support that has a number of EV drivers as members.

Rafal

I ordered the 6.6 kW model because, effectively, it makes the Irish charging network more usable for me. If a rapid charger along my route were unexpectedly out of order, a 7 kW fast charger—which there a lot of around where I need them—gets me comfortably out of trouble, while with a 3 kW car I'd be making this inconvenience into an issue affecting my journey.

Also, I went for the 32A home charger, making a financially so-so but otherwise very convenient deal with the installers. While I don't expect to need that speed most of the time, it should be useful for quick top-ups during days when doing more than the usual number of errands, a couple of times every month. All in all, there is no one choice that's right for everyone, it depends on your expected pattern of use, I think.

pwurple

pwurple wrote: »

Are you not talking about the charger installed on the house? I don't consider my house to be a fast charger, because I sleep there. So the car has at least 8 hours to charge, often 12+.


And yes, I bought an EV when it's range fitted my journey pattern, so I've got no need to fast charge. I know other people do, and that's fair enough, but having your home being an effective fast charger is a different thing. Unless the car is in use by two people who work alternate shifts, I don't see the general use case or justification. What benefit is starting charging at 4am instead of midnight if you're asleep the whole time anyway?

No I'm not talking about having the car starting to charge at 4 am I'm talking about the convenience of having the ability to charge up twice as fast if the need arises and there have been a good few times I would have benefited from this rather than have to visit a fast charger that is 10 Km away and if I need to go a different direction it's a pain in the ass which is why I intend to install the 32 amp evse next year.

The 6.6 also means at public charge points I can get a decent charge, about 30-90% in 2 hrs give or take a few mins and not have to use a fast charger, my time is far more valuable than waiting up to an hour at a fast charger. When that hour would put a decent charge in the car at an AC point in a hour.

I'm not trying to tell people it's suitable for them if it's not but I am trying to highlight the benefits for those who are not aware of it or if dealers are telling them they don't need it just because they don;t have one with the 6.6 in stock, they don't want them going elsewhere , and they are actively encouraging people to use the fast chargers when in many cases they may not need to waste their time at one.

mylesm

mylesm wrote: »

I was just in with a Nissan Dealer and he told me the 6kw is not really worth it but I take anything they say with a grain of salt

Can you clarify if I opt for 6kw will ESB install 32a Charger and if not what is the advantage of the 6Kw does it charge faster in public chargers

By the way I nearly feel off the chair when I asked him was the Granny cable included and he said no 800 euro extra

mylesm

Of course the dealer will tell you the 6.6 Kw is of no benefit because 99%of leafs they import have the 3.3 Kw to keep the list price lower and they tell you this so you won't go elsewhere and want you to buy what's in stock.

I guarantee that time spent charging while you're about doing your business in town somewhere is worth far more than sitting behind someone who insists they want a 90% charge and you then need to charge for up to 30-40 mins depending on how cold the battery is.

On a long trip you probably won't escape using the fast charger but then when you get into any half decent town you can charge at an AC point and not have to again look for a fast charger and wait again. It gets old very fast and the sales people don't have to live with the car so they don't care how long you spend at the chargers.

Charging at home faster can be of benefit if you need to go somewhere you hadn't planned or need to go out soon again for a longer trip.

And even if you don;t get a full charge off the AC it will still greatly reduce the time you then have to spend on the fast charger.

The way I look at it is this, better to have it than want it, what if a fast charger was down and there was an AC point close by ? an hour on the AC with the 6.6 Kw will give you 6 kwh of charge roughly 20-25 miles range per hour. V 10-12 miles on the 3.3 kw.