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 UKposts 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!

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 "Cold-Weather-Issues-for-EVs-in-Alaska"

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Thank you for sharing the experience. Looking forward to learn more from your life with evs.

Picked up my new leaf yesterday 😊 thanks for the video

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

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. You can use a spreadsheet that I created at this link: tinyurl.com/2p8x4urm

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

Incredibly helpful Paul. Thanks very much!!!

If you leave home about the same time every day, set your charge timer to complete the charge one or two hours later. The car will calculate when to start charging to be done on time, but you interrupt the charging when you leave home, and it never gets to 100%. You can set different times for every weekday.

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...

Thanks Paul. Great video from a practical owners perspective.

Very helpful video for a new leaf owner - thanks!

Awesome video, I am learning so much from the info from people like you, as I am planning to get an ev early next year, thanks again!

Great video, thank you for breaking this down.

Really excellent video. Very informative. Good idea

Awesome explanation… Thanks a ton!

Thank you for the advice regarding charging to 80%. So much conflicting information out there. I’m into my 3rd year of ownership of my 2020 Leaf. It has been a great daily commuter. Economical as well. I intend to keep it long term. So battery life is my main concern.

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.

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.

Great video. Thank you for the info!

Thanks this vid help me to try to get a leaf

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.

I can't understand why manufacturers don't want to make things easier than obviously you're finding it , to live with this new technology . Okay , eventually electric is the future of transport , whether by choice , or by necessity . But surely at this stage in the game , any hardships encountered by current owners , is only going to filter down to potential interested parties . With the result that those likely owners are naturally going to be more reluctant to take the plunge , until it's absolutely necessary . Thanks for taking the time to go into such details though . As I'm sure learning from a user of this technology , is far preferable than trying to glean info from a handbook . Oh and by the way , thanks for getting wet on our behalf . That wasn't a particularly nice night to go out and make a video for your channel . Nevertheless it was much appreciated . I hope you didn't catch a cold . Finally , six charging ports isn't really half enough , taking into account the expected rise in sales over the coming years . I think the word I'm looking for is stingy .

thank you so much. I just bought one but it is not even home yet. Now I am anxious! I am not sure what size our circuit breaker is on plug i was going to use to trickle charge so guess better not charge at home till we check that out. plan to install an outdoor 240 though. we don't have driveway but hoping I can just put a "Guard" thing like you use for construction and run across the sidewalk :-) for now I am praying the local level 2 chargers in my neighborhood will work. knew nothing about this chademeo vs CCS but presume that is fast charging? so now I will try to minimize that. I pray the local level 2s are all universal? looks like there are 2 ports I better make sure I do have the DC port for when/if we do travel! thank you so helpful!

Cool Video. It is nice to know someone else in the Dayton Ohio area owns a Tesla and a Leaf. I also think Costco should get a DC Fast Charger

Very helpful sir

Thank you for sharing

My 2021 Leaf has a battery charge indicator with a thermometer stylegraphic that.displays the time to reach your desired percentage charge. You need to set it for your charger rate but here in UK most home chargers are 220 volt 7kw units.

19:07 you can set the limit to 80%. It’s in the “Zero Emission” menu

That’s all I use my Leaf for is around town. I love the car, but I wish it had a % selector like the Tesla. It sure would make charging a lot easier.

You stated that level 3 was charging at 22kW, but the screen shot shows 45kW max rate and 22kWh after 30 minutes, which is consistent with an average rate stopping 45kW. I get ~45kW until about 75% SOC, and then it tapers off pretty quickly as it gets to higher SOC.

AWESOME video, I have 2023 leaf SV+, my apartment has 6-50 outlet, do you know where I can get after market charger that will fit in to our current outlet. Watching from British Columbia Canada.❤

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.

Good job 👍

I just look at the car screen that shows time to charge to 75%...then add 30 mins...you'll be really close every time...then set timer in car for night time charging or use your phone to set timer then go unplug when timer goes off.

I think even when charged to 100%, the newer Leaf has about 8% not charged to protect the battery. When we were away for 5 weeks in the winter and left the car unplugged and charged to 80%. When we returned the battery was at 78%. Btw, Nissan recommends leaving car unplugged when away for the month, and Tesla recommends leaving it plugged in. Our 2022 SV plus is much better than we expected. For road trips, we chose a 2023 Subaru Outback over a Tesla Y, for much better range and better ground clearance .

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

I just found out on the UKposts channel Dala's EV repair that a Chademo to CCS1 (for U.S.) adapter is now available.

My 2023 manual does say how long it takes to charge. On page CH-8, it tells you how long it should take to charge depending on battery temperature. They also show the estimated time differences, if the charger is 50kW or 100kW. It also tells you that the range in % of full capacity and distance is updated and displayed on the dashboard. On EV-23 it says range depends on many factors and that the EPA range info is on the window sticker. We all should know by now that the EPA range is for comparison only and a particular drivers range will depend on conditions and how they drive.

Nissan Leafs can charge at up to 6.6kw. At 240v, that is 27.5A. The current measured at the outlet will be slightly higher to cover losses in the EVSE and overhead in the car. If you have one of those EVSEs, it needs to be on a 40A circuit your Dryer is 30A -80% = Max Current useable is 24A.

why didn't you use the standard charger that came with the car and connected it to the 240VAC connector on the wall? If you remove the 3 prong adapter the connector seems to match what you have on the wall behind the dryer?

Its make me i am in real world.Great Thanks.

You can never ever charge the Nissan Leaf battery to 100%. Charging cuts off when the voltage of each individual cell reaches 4.12V which is 90% of true capacity. In essence, just don't worry about it and this is Nissan's simple but very effective way of protecting the battery. I charge mine to approximately 80% of charge (a true 70%) and run down to around 30% using level 2 before recharging, unless I need the range. That way, the battery should last the lifetime of the vehicle.

You are pulling, what 28 amps at 240 V? If so, that is very dangerous to draw 28 amps from a 30 amp circuit - you are asking for a fire. Do not pull more than 80% continuously on any circuit, ie 24 amps on a 30 amp circuit.

Hey Paul. My wife and I are 70 yrs old and we just purchased a 2022 Leaf SL. We were planning on doing most of our charging with the 110. Will this damage the battery? Should we have a 220volt charger installed? We don't understand a lot of the information you offered , in your video, but we are trying to learn. Thank you for sharing the information in this video.

Interesting approach to use the timer, nevertheless I was thinking about the possibility of using for example (no ad) a Xiaomi smart plug that has the function of Charge protection, meaning that if the current draw (or watts) drop below a certain value, the smart plug just switches off the power to the charger. So if we measured the (decreased) draw of current at around 78-80 percent, we could set the smart plug to do the job for us by telling it to switch off the power when the draw drops below this value.

Thank you! I am going Saturday to buy a 2022 leaf. So the car should come with the charging cable that has 120v and 240v connectors? That means all I will need to do is run a 240 outlet into my garage correct?

Thanks for this information. I was about to buy a Leaf, but after watching the things that you mentioned, I’m sticking with an ICE vehicle because there is way too much time, patience and change of routine required on an EV. Which I have neither of. Call me a dinosaur, but I like being able to fill and go. A couple of things I see from all this is: EVs are not ready for prime time due to the small infrastructure and even if there were enough charging stations available and they are available, there is just way too much effort involved at the current state. Maybe twenty years down the road, things will get better. But from what I saw you do with the DC charging which was fast, my concern is how much damage you have done to the battery capacity. Keep doing the fast charging and I can see the battery life shortening just like phones. I saw an article in China, that BYD has gotten around this issue by swapping out battery packs with fully charged ones done in a Jiffy Lube type of way. The current method of charging is either way to slow, while preventing battery loss or too fast ie heat that will cause a much shorter battery life. Cheers

Thank You for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste 🙏🏻 😊 🌈 ✌ ☮ ❤

I live in an apartment, so it would be impractical for me to get one. However, these videos are interesting. You are fortunate to live in a house with a garage, so you can purchase an EV.

I noticed that there was water in the charge port housing area. Is that normal after driving in the rain. If so, do you think that is something that Nissan should address. I just wonder if long term that could have an impact on the charge ports due to humidity. Awesome video.

Hi what is your Nissan Leaf model it is sv or sv plus? And I wonder what is the max charge rate for sv model?

Hi I have a question, I have a 2018 Leaf S that just has the level 1 (“trickle charge”) charger, with no add-on for the 240v (normal charge) charger. Why is that? It’s just the base model so it doesn’t have the extended range (40KW instead of 60). I also don’t have a 240V outlet in my garage, so even if I didn’t have the correct hardware, I would have to install one. Also, what would happen if I continued to trickle-charge it long term?

How many Amps is your dryer outlet rated? If the EVSE pulls 30amps you should have at least 40 amp rating. If 24 amps you can use a 30 amp dryer outlet, which is what ours is rated for. I had a 14-50r on a 50 amp circuit installed in our carport so we can charge our ID.4 at 40 amps. We also have a 2016 Nissan Leaf SL that’s on permanent “loan” to my 84-year-old MIL - it’s the perfect around town car for her here in Dallas and stock level 1 works for her but I’ve charged it at 30 amps at our house too. Great starter video!

I am curious about charging to 100%. all of the other cars (tesla etc) suggest charging to about 80%. the manual says nothing... I asked one of the nissan engineers and he had no idea.

could you set the amp current on the leaf

I get about 3.1 % per hour of trickle. No problem.

Good video

How long is that Level 1 charge cord? I don’t have a garage, which has been holding me back for an EV but that cord may get from my house to my parking spot!

We have a 2023 leaf, the there is a screen that will tell you how long it will take to charge to 80% at a given rate so no need to do any math. I do wish that it would let us stop it at 80% but our dealer said not to worry about it, and charge 100% as much as we want. I've read that the car never let's you charge to a true 100% anyway so that must be why.

Meh, my 2013 Leaf had the ability to stop charging at 80%. My 2017 doesn’t so I charge it to 100% on 110V when it needs it. I’m down 2 bars out of 12 for capacity with 45k miles.

Hi can I use oven outlet to charge the leaf?

Ive been 120v 10amp charging since new , I drive about 40Kms a day and its not a problem. It seems like they dont want you to do that but only give "time" as a negative. ??? My garage is 300 feet from my house and my FULL panel is on the other side of the house so 240v will cost me an obscene amount of $$$

That's good the charge station with the Chademo connector only provides 150KW for CCS, while the others do 350KW. That way hopefully people would avoid it or not hesitate to let you use it if you explain to them the time savings in waiting on another one.

why does nissan not recommend trickle charging for long term use?

I only get 160 miles on a full charge is that the normal and it drains fast

when doing the level 2 charging you used a cable adapter and did not indicate the actual charge rate achieved. It could have been as low as 3200W or as high as 6000W. That makes a big difference. The plug on the standard charger usually has a thermal protection. Using the pigtail though there was no protection if there was any overheating on the wall outlet.

Just to confirm, you read in the manual that 15 amp should not be day to day charge you use?

I hate chasing to go gas up. Line ups & costs.

Why do all these tests to determine times ti charge when there is a menu on the main dash that shows time left to charge at diferente charging speeds…

Nissan is not known for high quality cells in early Leaf, and no 80% charge limit, so, of course, there are lots of highly degraded battery packs. Don’t know about 2023 cell quality. Good luck!

They should come up with a wireless platform charging station that way you won't be carrying all those heavy cables with you every damn time you need to recharge your car. Well, I think they do provide the charging cable at the stations but I what I meant to say was that it'd better if they make it wireless and faster, drop the prices. It's not like you'll live forever so why you wanna bring the prices up if you won't even get to live 100 years. I don't see no point. Let's help us out each other instead of raising the prices. Kinda like phones. We got the technology, let's use it for good and bring down the price, too !

I looked at nissan ariya today single motor 87kwh ONLY 216 miles for a 45k car. BS. Nissan really does want to go out of business. The Leaf is still the best value in EV's for a decent price. The newer Bolt with the better battery is also good value, especially since GM has gone stupid and targeting morons with more money than brains with junk such as the hummer and silverado. Apparently GM has not been watching Ford with their boat anchor the Lighting. I have a high school buddy lives in Pittsburgh and he and his wife bought a bolt in cleveland and the dealer practically gave it away, as said dealer couldn''t sell the bolt. With state/fed tax rebates and the dealer just wanting to get rid of his stock of bolts they walked away with 17,500 out the door plus tax/tags/freight. The dealer was so anxious to dump his stock of bolts they gave both the state/fed credit at the sales point.

The Teslas with LF batts seem now to not hurt 100 %.

31c per KW? Insane price!

there is a setting in the menu to stop charging at 80 %

Saw you get an tesla. You can buy an Tesla to J1772 adapter and share the charging port 😂

Nissan manual tldr: Got problem? Go to the dealer.

The manufacturer has a buffer and you can never overcharge a battery

If Nissan would get their heads out of their ass and change the charger to CCS and install both thermal management and larger on board charge and kill the 40 kwh version and make the 62kwh standard and keep the car at sub 30k they would own the ev market as far as reasonably practical ev's and price.

Lol, my kids learned on an automatic and can’t drive a standard, your kid might learn e-pedal😮

Ok. So the solution is not to change from petrol vehicules to electric vehicules but stop using and buying personal vehicules. Take public transports and develop them. As we all know we will not do this, we should at least stop producing big vehicules like SUV with big batteries over 80 kwh like tesla model X. More than 500 hp, how can someone thing this is good for the environnement...

You made an ERROR - when you went to plug the charger into the car you said it was a NEMA 14-50 plug going into the car - IT IS A J-1772 plug - you might want to correct your video

North America uses CCS-1 not CCS-2

The fast charge would only heat up the batteries after 70% SOC. You only charged for 30 min for a 40% gain. No one does that realistically speaking. Most folks try getting up to 80%. This test would only be valid if you waited the typical 45 min to 1 hours most people budget spending on charge.

dumb Nissan software, should show all chargers !

Literally the Nissan leaf sv plus is the only good ev car to get because the S is just a joke and should make Nissan a shamed for still having it.

I'd rather read "Crime and Punishment."

Whatever you do, do Not speed charge your EV.

You can’t get .35c a kW. It’s kWH. Can’t quantify a kw

Click bait. You never said the truth about 20% soc takes on awful amount of heat compared to plugging in at 30% at a DC charger. Driving over 60mph for long periods heats the battery. So stay at 55 and charge before 30% for road trips keep battery pack cool

These cars are garbage! Why would anyone buy an electric vehicle without a battery cooling system??!

What about electricity bill? How does that look like?

i want one