Quirky thing...

[gatedad11]

This was kind of weird, but I realize it doesn't mean what it seemed...
On Sunday I had driven my car 10 miles to drop my wife off at work. I left home with all 16 bars showing and arrived there with 14 showing. Range had been 73 miles and it was reading 62 miles then. Typical for me on a nice day. Just to check if the nearest Nissan dealer's Level II untis had been fixed(they had been off line for a while), I stopped in and plugged into their unit. I sat there for at most 5 minutes because I really didn't have an urgent need to charge. After 5 minutes I unplugged and looked at my battery charge indicator as well as the range. Showed all 16 bars and back to 71 miles range! No way that was accurate...I had estimated I'd get maybe 1-2 miles added back in. Once I started driving, I lost a bar almost immediately. But the range dropped in proportion to as if it had actually charged fully. Returning home(10 miles) that range remaining showed 61 miles). How is that possible? I know it's a quirk, I HIGHLY doubt that I gained 10 miles in 5 minutes(and the battery was nearly fullwhen I plugged in). What happend thouigh?

Lou

 

[Malm]

I-MiEV is not very good in getting the SoC. And it uses the SoC to calculate the bars and the RR. Mine, that is not of 16 kWh anymore (after 3 years), stops sometimes with 0,0%, but other times with 3 or 4%. Just lost in the SoC.

 

[JoeS]

gatedad11, your numbers and questioning are spot on. After considering -

1. If it was now a warm day, and that might have had a very slight influence
2. Nissan's EVSE was running off 240vac and not 208vac, a slight influence

I've concluded -

3. The pretty blonde receptionist at the Nissan dealership made you lose track of time …

 

[Malm]

I believe in you gatedad11. I see many things like that in my car and no pretty blond woman here. I'm sure because I wouldn't miss that.

 

[gatedad11]

No hot blondes(unfortunately), as it was a Sunday and the dealer was closed. Probably a combination of factors, among them that the newly repaired EVSE was putting out at the full 240V. In addition, the I-MiEv was probably simply not particularly accurate in its SoC reading to begin with. Did make me wish that I had a 240V outlet in my garage, as even adding 10 miles in a hour is a nice upgrade from 3.5 per hour on the trickle charge. Next EV(I have until 1/15 on my lease) I will have to seriously consider having the 240V line run into my garage. Even at the slower 3.3 on board rate that we have now, it would suffice for my needs. Of course, I have not decided yet on which EV I will lease in January. My suspicion is that the I-MiEv will be a very attractively priced lease, probably the most affordable one out there. I would certainly appreciate the QC being standard and having the ability to charge from 110V at 12 amps means 5 miles per hour charge rate. Again, it adds up and can make a difference. We'll see.
Lou

 

[Don]

The upgraded stock EVSE charges at about 5 miles per hour using 12 amps . . . . and about 10 miles per hour using 12 amps at 240 volts

If you have a dedicated 120 volt outlet in your garage (no other outlets on the breaker for that outlet) converting it from 120 to 240 might not be all that hard to do . . . . assuming you have an extra breaker space in your power panel. It could be as simple as replacing the outlet with a 240 volt one and moving the white wire in the panel from AC neutral to another breaker - The new breaker would need to be on the opposite 'leg' from the original one. If you ever do make a white wire 'hot' (as in this case) you need to 'color' it black on both ends - Either by wrapping it with black electricians tape, covering it with some black heat shrink tubing, or just coloring it with a permanent black marker . . . . it would then be a legal hot wire. The new outlet would not be 'legal' for 120/240 operation since it wouldn't have a dedicated neutral wire, but it would be just fine to use for an L2 EVSE, or an upgraded stock EVSE

Don

 

[gatedad11]

Thanks Don. I will kep that in mind. In no way would I ever tinker with the electricity in my home, I am about as unaware and unskilled as they come. But I do have some friends and family members who are capable of doing this. Up to this point I have been waiting for my employer to install Level II at my workplace(it had been planned a year ago, but the bankruptcy of Ecotality threw those plans down the drain and we have not resurrected them to my knowledge). My guess is that some time this summer we will cmplete the project. That would help me a lot. If we end up not installing them, I will have to do the at home Level II...

One clarification: The upgraded charging cable is not expected to have Level II capability is it(such as the EVSE Upgrade does)?

 

[PV1]

Mitsubishi's upgraded cord is 120 Volt (level 1) only, 8 or 12 amps.

The EVSE Upgrade will do 120 or 240 volt (level 1 and 2) from 8 amps up to 13, though mine has difficulty changing the amperage.