The TRUTH about charging your 2023 Nissan Leaf - What you need to know

In this video I share about the three ways to charge the 2023 Nissan Leaf. I also share a bonus tip on how to extend the battery life of your leaf or any EV for that matter.

When using outlets only use outlets rated at 80% of their max current. For example if drawing 30a only use a 40a or higher circuit.

I show how much battery is gained with Level 1 charging (trickle charging), level 2 home charging, and Level 3 (DC fast charging).

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[thisislogout]

I'm a new EV owner who purchased a 2018 Leaf from a BMW dealer. Their elec. charging station did not work on the Leaf and they informed me they would have to take it off the lot to charge it. BMW said they had the plugs that came with the car in the back and I never asked to see them, I just trusted them because they were so nice and professional).
I left the car there so they could repair a small dent in the bumper. In the meantime, I have no idea how to charge the car, so I came to YouTube and typed, "How to charge 2018 Nissan Leaf." Out of the ten videos I watched, I still had doubts about how to charge it and what plugs I needed. Paul's video popped up and FINALLY! None of the other videos came close to the quality and "need to know" information I needed like Paul's. I even learned more stuff as a bonus! There is no one here trying to be a reviewer / comedian or fill the video with "commercial" type images and visuals that have nothing to do with information about the vehicle chargers and charging stations. Thank you, Paul! Best information video out there!

[Tron-Jockey]

Nice video Paul. Very helpful for new owners. I'll add a few things that I've learned over the past 6 years with my 2015 and 2019 Leafs.
Nissan Leaf 62 kWh pack is actually about 56 kWh useable.

Your charging rate numbers are right on track for a brand-new battery.
Level 1 is 120V@ 12A = 1.44 kW is roughly 2.5%/hour (US standard voltage is 120V not 110V)
Level 2 is 240V @ 27.5A = 6.60 kW is roughly 11.8%/hour
Level 3 (also called HVDC) = varies according to the charging station, the SOC and the temperature of the battery pack.

- Don't use HVDC charging if you can help it. IMHO the Leaf simply was not designed to use it.
Without Active Thermal Management (Liquid Cooling) you risk driving the battery
temperature into the red, especially if you've just pulled off the highway after an extended
period of highspeed driving (>80 mph). Fast charging after extended periods of highspeed
driving combined with living where ambient temperatures can exceed 100F (think Arizona)
are a death sentence for the Leaf.

- Don't charge to 100% if you don't need to and don't leave your Leaf sit at 100% SOC for extended
periods of time. If you need to charge to 100% then plan to use the vehicle right away. I've learned
that it's not a good idea to leave it at 100% even over a weekend. The damage may be small but
it's cumulative and I suspect that even charging to 100% every evening after work and leaving it
sit for 10 hours or more every night will accumulate damage after a few years. This isn't an issue
for LFP chemistry but is very applicable to NCA and especially our Leaf's NMC chemistries.

- Charging rate and temperature are very interdependent even on the low end. There is some
important new data on charging and battery life from recent cold weather studies performed on the
Leaf. In this report they suggest that all charging below 50F should be Level 1 charging to prevent
"Plating". Some very interesting reading for Leaf owners.
Google

[tolrem]

Very informative and well explained to a new Leaf buyer in NZ.They are selling the remaining Leafs in the country at half the original price here, so I bought the bigger battery one like yours.They are actually made in Britain.Second hand imports come in from Japan.We all drive on the left so no problem!

[Epiphany]

Thanks for making this video. It is very informative. Of note, one can make these calculation by using some mathematical formulas. The Leaf Plus has a battery capacity of 62 kWh with a usable capacity of approximately 56 kWh (according to another commenter). From there, you just need to know the voltage & amperage of the charge. Here’s an example:

Battery Capacity = 56 kWh
Voltage = 240
Amperage = 27.5 (this is the maximum that the Leaf will accept via a Level 2 charge)

Time to charge from 0-100%: Battery Capacity / (Voltage * Amperage / 1000). In this case, the numbers would be 56 / (240 * 27.5 / 1000) = 8.48 hours to fully charge

Percentage per hour: (Voltage * Amperage / 1000) / Battery Capacity. In this case, the numbers would be (240 * 27.5 / 100) / 56 = 11.79%

The car will slow down the charging rate when it nears full capacity, so charging time will increase if you plan to charge to or near 100%. If you plug these numbers into a spreadsheet, you can play the with variables and see how the charging time changes.

Of note, the amperage capacity of the 240 volt circuit will vary depending on the wiring and the breaker. Moreover, regardless of the amperage capacity of the circuit, the Leaf’s maximum charging wattage is 6600 which equates to 27.5 amps at 240 volts.

[peteowens]

I have had my LEAF Plus almost a year now. I have found the easiest way to compute reaching 80 to 85% charge is to: Read the message the car gives you at shutdown as to what time the car will be fully charged ( it is assuming you are going ahead and plug it in now). After seeing the estimate of, let's say 3:00 AM to 100% charge (as an example), subtract 2 to 2 1/2 hours from that. That should give the car an estimated 80-85% charge around 12:30 to 1:00 AM. If you are going to plug in and start charging now set the end time for 12:30 or so. If you want it to start later you now can estimate how many hours you need to charge by subtracting what time it is now from the 12:30 AM end time. Adjust your start to stop time span to equal that same length of time. There are some variables, temp, battery condition, actual line voltage your charger receives and the state of charge the car is in but this is a way to get close. You can tweak the amount of time to subtract from the 100% estimate as you narrow in on the best number for your current situation.

[laura-ann.]

FYI for EV owners living in homes built before 1996: The NEMA 14-50 plug shown in this video has been around for many decades, but in homes built before 1996, it's typically only found in the kitchen, for powering an electric cooking range. The connection in the garage or laundry room for electric dryers will likely be a NEMA 10-30R outlet. This is a 240 volt, single phase, 3-pin outlet with a Hot, a Neutral, and a Center Tap line, but NO GROUND, unlike the NEMA 14-50, which is a 4-pin outlet (Hot, Neutral, Common, and Ground). Many EVSE's will not work properly off of a NEMA 10-30R outlet even with a 14-50R to 10-30P adapter, because they expect the supply circuit to be grounded, and if there's no ground, they will not connect. If the dryer outlet in your garage has only 3 pins, it's a NEMA 10-30R, and you will need to find out from your car's manufacturer if the supplied EVSE can be used in an ungrounded 240 volt outlet. It's already well-known that Teslas can not be charged from a NEMA 10-30R dryer outlet because of this issue.

Another issue with 120 volt (Level 1) charging: the charge rate is not only 60% slower than Level 2, it's not as efficient: Sending a kilowatt of power through a 120 volt circuit means twice as many amps have to flow as would be needed to send the same 1 kilowatt through a 240 volt circuit. Doubling the current flow (amps) doubles the amount of "line loss": when electric current flows in a conductor, some of the power becomes heat that is lost to the atmosphere. To get the most efficient charge for an EV at home with as little heat loss as possible, always use Level 2 charging, even if you have to install a NEMA 14-50R outlet in your garage and run a new line for it to your breaker box.

Charging Cost: If you have not yet owned an EV, but are considering one for your next vehicle, DC fast charging is very expensive - 2 to 4 times more than you pay at home per kilowatt-hour for Level 2 charging. Depending on where you live, residential electric rates are generally 10 to 14 cents per kw-hour between midnight and 06:00, and many utility companies have incentives for EV owners, usually a few percent discount on the rate between midnight and 06:00. Electrify America, EV-G0, and Charge Point are 43¢/kw-hour - 4 times more than I pay to charge my Prius Prime at home in Sacramento, CA. So try to avoid DC fast charging; you will save money, and your EV battery will last longer.

[RobertWetzel-iuzq]

Great video. I could find nothing in the owners manual on how to charge to 80%. I am going to try the timer next time I charge. I bought my 2018 Leaf last year with 21, 000 miles on it. I was worried about the battery overheating in the summer, but had no issues driving in Phoenix in 115 temps. I only charge on a level on charger in my garage and only charge a couple of times a month. Thanks for sharing, very helpful to a new Leaf owner.

[jamesmorin]

VERY helpful video. Just bought a Nissan Leaf and this info will save me a lot of pain. Thanks, Paul!

[jcsusi]

Thinking about purchasing this vehicle for my short local commutes to work. Thanks for this review! This was so valuable!

[peteowens]

Your video has a lot of real world practical advice. Thanks. I have had my LEAF about a week now and I am loving it. It is a 2019 Nissan LEAF SL Plus. It only has 7K on it

[fredjaques]

Great job, Paul. I have a 2023 Leaf with the 60 kwh battery. I drove 1, 550 miles so far. From another You Tube video, it seems like Leafs have software in them to disable DC charging if it got too hot . It's logical, since no reputable car company would want this scenario...

[KevinMcKlveen]

Great video! Had all the charge information I was looking for. I wish Nissan made it easier to set the max charge to 80%. I might sit there and do the math for an 80% charge, but my wife and kids won't.

[viperdrake]

Hey Paul randomly found your video, I am also from Dayton. thinking about getting a used nissan leaf. Nice to see some local reviews!

[SuperDamask]

Picked up my new leaf yesterday 😊 thanks for the video

[joeaverager]

Excellent video. I will be aiming people at this video. We're planning to buy a used Leaf soon. Will be showing my wife this so she better understands the charging side of things. We too will 99% of the time be using this car as a local car. Maybe occasionally a trip from our town to the big city. Maybe x1 a year. I've done it with a borrowed Leaf so I know it'll do it.

[martinhawrylkiewicz]

Really nice vid especially for those who are thinking of getting an electric car. My current lease on 2020 Nissan Murano is ending in 3 months and I am considering getting an electric car since the gas is so expensive. Problem I am having is that I rent an apt where I park my car on the street right in front of my house and the landlord doesn't want to have special plugs installed for charging any cars. That leaves me with only one option to find a charging station and wait 40 min for the car to charge....a bit annoying. But I am sure people were in the same situation and made it work.

[justinjones]

I'm surprised Nissan didn't switch over to ccs with the refresh

[johnbaxter]

Incredibly helpful Paul. Thanks very much!!!

[voneschenbachmusic]

Very helpful video for a new leaf owner - thanks!

[JonDonaldson-hy]

Charging outside of the Box, AKA, “Thinking outside of the box”. In order to charge less than 100% by adjusting the timer end time pass the unplug time while “Full Charge has Priority” is set.
If you can physically stop (unplug) the charger at a set time. Use the timer feature “Full Charge has Priority”. Set the “Start Time” to when you want to physically stop the charging (important, “Start Time” must be set to a time, that is, before the “End Time”). Set the “End Time” to a time, after you would physically stop the charging, thus reducing the total charging time. To get a set amount of time cut out of the end of the charging cycle. Set "Full Charge has Priority", “Days”, “Timer ON”, "Start" and "End Time". When you turn off the car, check the charge time screen for the effect of the timer change, the timing of, the charge will start will become a variable depending mostly on the “State of Charge” and how much charging time you are reducing by setting the “End Time” to a time later than you unplug.
After any adjustment of setting confirm the timing for the “Charging Start Time” displayed just after turning off the LEAF and the your unplug time make sense for your situation note the date and time including AM and PM.
The last hour and a half of charging will have the least impact to the “State of Charge” after that the changes have a more linear effect. I have a 62KW battery and the charger charges at a bulk rate of 10 percent an hour through most of the charging capacity of the battery, and slowing down toward the end of charge. I make note of the percent “State of Charge” and charge time screen and calculate to check if it will charge about enough. Fine adjustments may be necessary for changes in the weather, summer vs winter. I cut about 3 hours off the end of charge by unplugging before going to work at a routine time and even if the LEAF ends up at the end of the day with a different SOC the charging timer will shift the Charging Start Time and keep the set Charging End Time fixed while the “Full Charge has Priority” is set.