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How To Quick-Charge Your Electric Car: Helpful Video

 
1,290 views Jul 23, 2012
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If there's one thing to be said for the relatively steady uptake on electric cars, it's that there's a friendly, tight-knit community of electric car owners ever-ready to hand out advice.

Whatever you want to know about owning or driving an EV, it's never difficult to find someone who can help out.

This even goes as far as charging, and Seattle-based Nissan Leaf owner Brad Gibson has made a handy video on easy quick-charger use.


Brad notes that it's not unknown for electric car drivers to find a quick charger has been damaged, perhaps through improper use, and his video provides some simple step-by-step instructions on how to use the CHAdeMO cord.

Sure, it sounds--and is--a simple process, but everyone has to start somewhere.

If it even helps just one more EV owner to use the equipment properly, then it's served a purpose. Thanks Brad!

For more tips on avoiding quick charging pitfalls, Tom and Cathy Saxton have a similarly helpful guide on their website.

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Comments (14)

  1. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 7/23/2012 1:18pm PDT

    It is certainly more complicated than I would have realized.
     
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  2. fb_604660808 avatar Brad Gibson Posted: 7/23/2012 11:52pm PDT

    Indeed! Several folks commented on the Seattle Leaf Owners group about difficulties with the connector, and after one connector broke (on the charger in the video), I thought I'd post this to see if it would help.
     
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  3. fb_1559222512 avatar Xiaolong Li Posted: 7/23/2012 5:22pm PDT

    Now, that quicker charger is in WA State.

    Has anyone tried it in AZ? I would imagine the quicker charger will generate even more heat during the hot climate charging thus damage the passive cooled battery even more..
     
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  4. eporteous avatar Eric P Posted: 7/23/2012 7:48pm PDT

    I already noted this in another story, so don't think that I'm picking on you, but the Leaf already comes equipped with a cooling system for it's battery charger (a small radiator with a pump you can hear kick on when you start charging).
     
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  5. fb_1559222512 avatar Xiaolong Li Posted: 7/24/2012 12:23am PDT

    Is the battery liquid cooled or the charger is liquid cooled? I don't think the battery is...
     
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  6. eporteous avatar Eric P Posted: 7/24/2012 7:13am PDT

    My understanding is only the charging system is cooled with that setup.
    Also, the car monitors battery temperature and will automatically reduce available power if temps get too high - this could happen under extreme discharge in high temps, but I've never seen my gauge move from nominal.
     
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  7. fb_1559222512 avatar Xiaolong Li Posted: 7/24/2012 1:56pm PDT

    So you are saying that in extreme heat such as AZ, the quick charging will NOT be "quick charging" if the battery temperature is too hot? What is too hot? fire danger hot or just hotter than "normal"? Wouldn't that limit the speed or the charge rate of the Leaf?
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  8. eporteous avatar Eric P Posted: 7/24/2012 6:00pm PDT

    Sorry I wasn't more clear; while you are driving the car monitors battery pack temps and will prevent you from accelerating at full throttle if the pack is too hot. In 13 months of driving in hot southern CA I've never seen my battery temp rise over normal; this is just a backup system in case there is a problem. You'd have to ask a Nissan engineer what components the charging cooling system actually cools. I'm sure the system is well designed to keep the pack cool when charging.
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  9. fb_1559222512 avatar Xiaolong Li Posted: 7/24/2012 11:30pm PDT

    @Eric P,

    Everywhere I read that Leaf does NOT have a liquid cooled battery pack. So, it can potentially get up in temperature during charging. The charger is fine. I am NOT worried about it. But the battery pack is a different case. So far, the battery pack looks like one of those "passive" cooled packs. So during rapid charging, the battery itself can heat up quickly (not just the charger). That coupled with extreme heat in AZ (passive or fan based cooling don't work well in that situation), it can shorten the life of Li-ion battery.

    Well, that is just people's guessing. But it shouldn't be far off since that is very typical of Li-ion batteries. But I will wait for "official" Nissan explaination.
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  10. eporteous avatar Eric P Posted: 7/23/2012 7:50pm PDT

    Nice little video. I'm curious if the charger will come out if you continue to hold the release button the first time, or whether you truly need to push and release twice? Looks simple, but it's definitely not intuitive.
     
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  11. fb_604660808 avatar Brad Gibson Posted: 7/23/2012 11:54pm PDT

    Agreed, Eric.

    The top lock is electro-mechanical--you can't push it down on a Blink charger unless you've told the charger you want to stop charging first for example, so it's not a simple mechanical lever.

    That being said, I can't recall trying to hold it down--I'll have to give it a try tomorrow, and will let you know.
     
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  12. fb_604660808 avatar Brad Gibson Posted: 7/24/2012 11:13pm PDT

    Hi, Eric,

    I did try it today, and found that technically, yes, it works--you can hold down the top button and remove the connector.

    The way the connector is designed, though, you are likely to be holding the handle when you press the button, which will prevent the connector from disengaging.

    It's hard to describe, but in practice, it will be two presses, not one.
     
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  13. eporteous avatar Eric P Posted: 7/25/2012 12:36pm PDT

    I think it's that handle underneath which is the most non-intuitive part; I imagine most people grab that when they first try removing the unit. Thanks again.
     
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  14. fb_604660808 avatar Brad Gibson Posted: 7/23/2012 11:58pm PDT

    Wow, you're welcome, Antony! Thanks for posting this! I've received quite a bit of feedback from folks planning to try their first QC that they "never would have figured this out", so I hope it helps keep the charger network working.

    The unit in the video had a broken lock on the connector last week, and a number of people had to change their plans or drive ICE as a result, so I thought I'd post this to help people with QC'ing. It's easy once you know how, but it's not that intuitive to figure out.

    Thanks again,
    -Brad
     
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