1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Nissan Leaf Trickle Charger Cable

Discussion in 'Nissan/Infiniti Hybrids and EVs' started by bioman666, Aug 15, 2011.

  1. bioman666

    bioman666 Prius Virgin

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2009
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    This trickle charge cable comes with each new Leaf. Unfortunately, I left my garage door open for 2 hours and someone opened up the hatchback of my new Leaf and stole the Trickle Charger Cable (luckily, I have a Blink Level 2 charger permanently installed also in the garage.

    BUT, WARNING: Protect your trickle charge cable! You may not use it very often, but it may come in handy at times .I called the Nissan Dealer to ask how much it would cost for a replacement Level 1 Trickle Charge Cable....I expected it to run around $100 or so. I was wrong.

    It costs $625.71 + tax (Dealer gouging, in my opinion)....so, now I have to claim the theft on my auto insurance at AAA under Comprehensive (the trickle charge cable is considered part of the car). It won't increase the insurance premium, but I think that is a ridiculous price for that cable.

    Am I out of line here in terms of what I think a reasonable price should be for that cable?
     
  2. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2005
    20,171
    8,353
    54
    Location:
    Montana & Nashville, TN
    Vehicle:
    2018 Chevy Volt
    Model:
    Premium
    Do you see what's directly behind the chrome release button?

    [​IMG]

    It's a hole - for inserting a padlock or combonation lock. Once installed, you can NOT remove the J1772 handle. Yes - there IS a reason for that hole . . . it's not just for artistic value.
    ;)
    Sorry to hear about your loss - but at least you'll know now for next time.
     
  3. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
    873
    194
    0
    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    $625 seems steep but I saw the charger that you are talking about on Friday at a Leaf event. I just had to buy a new charger for my wife's MacBook - it was about $75 from Amazon. Compared to the Apple charger, the Leaf was way more substantial - the cable was almost as thick as my pinky, the brick was close to the size of an egg carton (1 dozen eggs) and the charging port (j1772 I believe) is way bigger and more complex. So just based on the physical appearance I'd say the Leaf charger should be 3-4 times the cost of the Apple charger. Add in the fact that Apple makes and sells these by the 10's of thousands and there has to be a quantity break in there as well. So with all of that I'd say closer to $500, but $625 does seem a wee bit much.

    Since the charging port is a standard does anyone make a 3rd party charger?

    Sorry about your loss though.
     
  4. jbrad4

    jbrad4 Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2011
    474
    148
    11
    Location:
    Rowlett, TX
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
  5. Skoorbmax

    Skoorbmax Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2010
    2,641
    264
    0
    Location:
    Western NY
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Somebody came in your open garage, opened the back, and took this? Are you sure you didn't leave it somewhere? Seems a very stupid thing to steal.
     
  6. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2005
    20,171
    8,353
    54
    Location:
    Montana & Nashville, TN
    Vehicle:
    2018 Chevy Volt
    Model:
    Premium
    Several L2 hard wired charge point owners have sold the 120V unit on ebay. Knowing that you can get over $600 ... it's as good a thing to steal as any other item. Conversely, people sell the L2 models and simply use the L1 charger:

    UNIVERSAL ELECTRIC CAR CHARGER NISSAN LEAF NEW! | eBay

    The L1 can, and is being converted by (PC member) pEEf up in the Cal bay area and so the L1 can actually charge then off 120V ... 208V ... and 240V 16 amps. You can't get that kind of flexibility out of your AV wall mounted AV type charger.
     
  7. bioman666

    bioman666 Prius Virgin

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2009
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Yes, they just grabbed some change and the pack with the cable...guess they hoped the pack had something else in it. I haven't used this Level 1 cable since the Blink Level 2 charger was installed, but kept it in the back of the car just in case.

    I also have a 2010 Prius and love both vehicles, but use the Leaf 90 percent of the time now.
     
  8. Going Greener

    Going Greener Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2010
    52
    8
    0
    Location:
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Sorry to hear about that.

    Recently, we stayed at a hotel and we were worried about leaving the EVSE trickle charging through the night. The hotel was wonderful, but couldn't sleep too well. Luckily, everything was safe and sound the next morning.

    If we put a lock on it, it's only a small deterent as it's limited to the size of the hole the lock can fit through. It's better than nothing for now. But, hopefully, there'll be better options soon.

    Luckily you have the Blink at home already.

    Like you, we love our Pri and Leaf.
     
  9. TheForce

    TheForce Stop War! Lets Rave! Make Love!

    Joined:
    May 30, 2005
    3,461
    537
    0
    Location:
    Wheelersburg, Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Dont mean to go off topic but does the Leaf have an option that if someone removes your plug while charging the alarm will go off?
     
  10. hybridtwins

    hybridtwins Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2009
    202
    19
    0
    Location:
    Van Nuys, CA
    Vehicle:
    2002 Prius
    Yes, in a manner of speaking. Nissan wrote an iPhone app that will alert you should this happen.
     
  11. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2005
    20,171
    8,353
    54
    Location:
    Montana & Nashville, TN
    Vehicle:
    2018 Chevy Volt
    Model:
    Premium
    Not just the iphone app. Nissan's carwings will send either sms or email messages to your pc or smart phone. So you're covered no matter what smart appliance you use.
    :)
     
  12. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    couple people selling theirs on MNL.com. one as low as $300 but that was last week. at that price, its probably long gone
     
  13. adric22

    adric22 Ev and Hybrid Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2009
    642
    144
    2
    Location:
    Fort Worth, TX
    Vehicle:
    2018 Chevy Volt
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Somehow I doubt the thief knew what he was stealing. He probably saw the nice looking bag and grabbed it, hoping it would have a laptop, camera, or something of value in it. The sad part is, after opening it up he probably thought it was useless and threw it in the trash.

    Perhaps in the future, if it becomes a big problem with theft of EVSE cables, hopefully they could serialize them (if they aren't already) and then have some kind of database for stolen cables. That way people could check serial numbers on them.