The Leviton EVSE I am using at home has the choice of either 12 amps or 7 amps I have been charging at 7 amps when I am in no rush.. aka when the car is home for the night.. It takes a lil longer (maybe 45-60 minutes) but I feel it's less stress on the house wiring.. Can anyone think of any ill effects from charging at the lower amperage? This is the one I am using: http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Leviton-EVC11-300-120V-Ever-Green-Portable-Charger-Level-1-/00/s/NTAwWDMyNQ==/z/9~8AAOxy1GNSTSE3/$(KGrHqF,!ncFI+EeibZWBSTSE3oGjg~~60_12.JPG
Why do you use that EVSE rather than the stock one that comes with the car? Just to be able to charge even slower?
if this unit's paltry 1,400watts stresses your wiring - then there's a bigger concern than 120v being more loss-ie than 240v.
I bought a 2nd EVSE to leave in the garage, for the convenience of not needing to one out of the trunk twice a day. The one I bought just so happens to have the choice of the lower or higher amps.. I have no need right now for anything faster. I asked a question about the charge rating and the battery... lets try and keep it to that, please. I have 100% confidence in the wiring..... but can you deny that 7 amps is less stress than 12 or 14? This is plugged into my garage, which is all on a 20 amp circuit.. The garage that I sometimes do.. you know real work in.. with power tools and stuff.. so yeah.. I don't mind the trade off of longer charge times if I have the available capacity to do other thing with the same circuit.. ESPECIALLY when I dont have a need for faster charging. I AM TOTALLY FINE WITH IT TAKING LONGER. Right now there is no benefit to me at all to be charged any faster than I am now. NONE at all...
This is anecdotal evidence, but I used to only use the stock EVSE until the past few weeks when I started using a Level 2 charger here and there. Since I started using the L2, my fully charged range has slightly decreased (on the dash reading and in actual performance). The weather hasn't really changed, so the only thing I can chalk it up to that changed was use of a L2 charger. So maybe low and slow is better for the battery somehow.
there may be something to that, but i'm not sure. when you get near the end of the charging cycle, it slows way down. perhaps it then tops up a bit more on L1 than L2? i have also noticed that if you unplug near the end of the charging cycle, if you plug it back in, it may not resume.
Charging the battery makes it heat up. The higher the charging current the more it heats up. Discharging the battery also causes it to heat up. High internal cell temperatures are one of the main causes of reduced Li Ion battery service life. This is why it is recommended to let the battery cool after use before charging it again. If you don't worry about how long the charge is going to take, setting a lower charge current should extend the service life of the battery. Because the battery temperature is monitored throughout the charging cycle the extra heat generated during higher current charging could be the reason the charging system seems to finish the charge with a lower total charge capacity than when it is charging at the lower current setting.
2013 Volts default to 8 amps charging. You have to manually switch to 12 amps every time you plug. GM supposedly made the change to decrease the load on the circuit. I'm with you on this one. I have older wires in my home. I charge overnight so unless the charge time were double digit hours, I don't mind a slower charge time to put less load on my circuits. I found out my space heater in the living room was on the same circuit as my car when the fuse blew last winter. My space heater is built into the chimney so I can't just move it. I may install a dedicated circuit in my garage in the future but not for 11 EV miles.
Also supposed to be better to not leave battery at high States of charge for too long, so slow charging right before use is good.
