getting an extra level 1 portable charger

FYI, Phil (owner of EVSEupgrade) stated over on the MyNissanLeaf forum, that they are now upgrading the Toyota EVSEs to 240V, which will double your charging speed, he said it would be $239

Here is a link to his site: http://www.evseupgrade.com/styled/

 

I DO NOT recommend the Legrand unit! This is essentially the same unit that ships with the Chevy Volt, BMW Active-E, and the Fisker Karma. It's made by Lear and is NOT even UL Listed, and in addition, the unit is made with substandard 16AWG wire throughout! (same as most table lamps!)

We have received several of these (in Chevy Volt form) in over time that have had thermal damage due in large part to this excessive cost-cutting design. Hard to imagine BMW spec'd this!

While not as affordable, we can sell you an upgraded Nissan-Branded (easy to cover the logo up) unit made by Panasonic that will work on 240v as well as 120v and is capable of the full rate the PiP can charge at. (when connected to 240v) This unit is extremely well built and will even survive being driven over.

We are also upgrading the Toyota-Branded Panasonic EVSE that ships with the PiP to this same universal voltage capability. Unfortunately the unit is a newer model that is not built quite as well as the one Nissan is using, and due to the smaller cable size, (14awg) we are only comfortable upgrading the unit to 2.88kW max. (12a 240v) The cost for this is $239 + shipping. The unit will then function on any outlet in the world (with appropriate adapter) and auto-detect the voltage. The total output power depends on the voltage. (volts X 12 = kW)

On 240v your PiP will charge over twice as fast as on 120v, which also means you save electricity. There is no significant delta-T rise in the battery from these low wattages, so you aren't extending your battery life by only charging on 120v. (The reason it's over twice as fast and saves power is due to the large fixed overhead while charging. This is almost 200 watts regardless of input power)

If you desire faster charging, but don't want the hassle and expense of a permanently installed charge station, this is a good alternative. You can either have a local electrician install a NEMA L6-20 outlet (20A) or use a "Quick220" and not have to have any electrical work done at all while still enjoying fast 240 charging. This is also a good solution to opportunity charging when visiting friends/relatives.

See our website for more information and ordering.



-Phil

 

In the EU, Renault is selling the 230V 10A EVSE portable charger for 345 UK Pounds:
Renault Cars - Renault UK
Go to the Equipment & options.

They're selling it cheap, because they don't equip their cars with J-1772 plugs, but a forced EU Mennekes plug, which IMO won't succeed. J-1772 via Schuko plug has become a defacto standard, set by the Japanese manufacturers.
If if/when I get my PiP, instead of second 1200US$ Toyota 12A charger, I'll be getting Renault 10A one, which will take a bit longer (1 hour 45 minutes instead of 1 hour 30 minutes) to recharge, but the price is right.
I'll have Renault one permanently plugged into the garage plug and have a PiP one stored in the car.

 

Unfortunately a year might not be enough.

I made a similar statement one year ago when I picked up my LEAF and there is hardly any price drop since.

 

Any update on this? I'd love to get an extra charger to use at work (they'll provide me with an outlet, but not the charger)

 

Sure thing, build you own, will cost under $500 total, and be capable of either 120V (L1), or 240V (L2), at up to 30Amps (more than double what the current generation PiP can use)

open-evse - Open Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) - Google Project Hosting

 

I have the ORIGINAL Battery Charger Cable, 110V that came with my 2012 Chevy Volt that I can sell. Never used.

I traded up my 2011 for the 2012 and i forgot my 2011 cable at home but the dealer said it's ok, they didn't need it (weird). so now i have an xtra one.

I can sell it for $270 shipping included. I know the lowest price that these are selling for is $360 on shopchevyparts.com

Paypal accepted. I will ship it as soon as I receive the money.

 

The Volt EVSE will *not* work with the PiP. We tried multiple versions of the Volt's EVSE, and none of 'em would work with the PiP.