How to Choose Your Nissan Leaf Charging Stations?

Understanding the requirements for charging your Nissan Leaf is essential for you as an EV owner. While Nissan Leaf does not require fossil fuels as an electric vehicle, the charging station used to charge its battery should be one that meets essential considerations like charging speed, cost, and connection requirements. Nevertheless, the charging shouldn’t be demanding as you can choose to charge at home or at public charging stations, even though these chargers will charge your EV at different rates and costs. 

This post will guide you on everything you need to know about charging your Nissan Leaf effectively, including where and how to choose a suitable charger for your Nissan Leaf.

II. What Nissan Leaf Drivers Need to Know about EV Charging

Since its first introduction in 2010, Nissan Leaf has climbed great heights in the electric vehicle industry, one of which is exceeding the manufacture and sales of more than 400,000 units of Nissan Leaf. While it started with a 24kWh battery for its first generation, it rapidly improved the battery by launching its second generation with a 30kWh battery. Even though it is an accomplished piece of engineering work, the Nissan Leaf has not stopped improving as it became the only EV model with a second-generation model.

III. Nissan Leaf EV Charging & Range

With a consistent upgrade of its battery from 24kWh to 30kWh in 2016, Nissan has never looked back with further upgrading its battery two times more. The first upgrade only increased its range from 84 miles to 107 miles in 2016, but then the upgrade from 30kWh to 40kWh further pushed its range to 151 miles of driving range as estimated by the EPA in 2018. But Nissan was not done yet. In 2019, Nissan offered a 62kWh battery model, the Nissan Leaf e-Plus, which further increased the mileage. These improvements and upgrades never canceled out the original first-generation Nissan Leaf with a 40kWh battery. However, charging the Nissan Leaf is entirely different as the SAE J1772 connector serves this purpose.

IV. Nissan Leaf Connector Types and Charging Rate

When connecting the Nissan Leaf to a home charging station, a type 2 connector is used, but the same connector is used for charging at a public type 2 charging station. There is a change in the connector type when charging at a level 3 DC fast-charging station where a CHAdeMO connector is plugged into a different inlet for charging.

V. Nissan Leaf EV Charging Times

Even though an EV will often not get to 0% before an owner decides to charge it, the time required to charge the Nissan Leaf, or any other EV will vary. This variation depends on many factors, including the level of depletion of the battery, the battery capacity, and the type of charger used. Ambient temperature and the EVs onboard charger capacity are also relevant criteria for assessing Nissan Leaf’s charging time. 

If a level 1 charger is used, the Nissan Leaf often takes about 14 hours for a full battery, but about 6 hours to fully charge Nissan Leaf’s battery with a level 2 charging station. However, a level 3 DC rapid charger takes about 45 minutes for an 80% charge. Still, the 62kWh and 40kWh have the same charging rate as the charging rate of 100kW against the previous 50kW onboard charger. This improvement makes the charging faster except for the 24 kWh and 30kWh, which are still slow as they’ve remained unchanged with their 50kW onboard charger.

Related Article: EV Charging Time: How Long will it Take to Charge My Car?

VI. Level 3 DC Fast Charging

The level 3 charger is the fastest of the three available charging stations manufactured in the industry. However, for the Nissan Leaf, the onboard charger has been refitted with an improved onboard charger of 100kW, which helps charge the batteries to 80% in less than 30 minutes for the 24kWh batteries and about 30 minutes for the 30 kWh batteries. You should understand that the remaining 20% for a full battery will often come slower than 80% to protect the battery’s lifespan.

VII. Pick the Right Charging Speed to Suit you

A level 1 charger is used at home with a 120V, 15 amps socket supplying about 3kW power to your battery every hour. This small power output makes the level 1 charger very slow at charging your EV. However, this charger will be a suitable fit if you have a daily short distance driving routine, a small battery capacity, and a small budget. You can always connect to a level 1 charger overnight to give you significant power for your battery. 

With the level 2 charging station, a 240V socket supplies about 9kW of power per hour to your battery, making it faster than a level 1 charger. This will be the right charging speed for you if you drive medium distances daily, like driving within the city. It is also a suitable speed for you if you have a high-capacity battery with significant funds to purchase it. 

A level 3 fast-charging DC charger can supply up to 100kW power to your battery in minutes, making it the fastest charger. This charger will be suitable for you if you drive long distances, say intercity drives, and probably have a very high-capacity battery that requires about 80% charge in as little as 30 minutes.

Related Article: EV Charging Levels  

Related Article: DC Fast Charging

VIII. Nissan Leaf EV Charging Cost

Some factors should be considered to estimate the cost of charging the Nissan Leaf EV. These factors include the charger used for the charging, the battery capacity, and the billing method used by the charging station operator. 

It is common knowledge that fast EV charging stations cost more than their slow charging counterparts as they have higher power output per time. Hence, the most expensive charging will be level 3 chargers, which give more power in less time. Also, the battery capacity, if high, will consume more energy and cost more. Nevertheless, on average, it takes about 8 cents per mile to charge a Nissan Leaf with an AC level 2 charger. 

Related Article: Electric Car Charging Costs: How Much does it Cost to Charge Your Electric Vehicle?

Related Article: How to Choose Your Proper Home EV Charger?

IX. How to Choose Your Right Nissan Leaf Charging Station?

To choose the right Nissan Leaf charging station, adequate consideration will be given to factors that include your local charging standards, your driving patterns, budget, battery capacity, and purpose of buying the charging station.

Location – The local guiding standards for charging EVs will be of immense impact as every locality is responsible for the charging conventions in their area. For example, Asian manufacturers have the CHAdeMO as their standard connection mode. Buying a charging station with an SAE J1772 connector will be impractical and unsuitable. 

Driving pattern – Moving around town in your Nissan Leaf but still within the vicinity of your home can mean you don’t use a lot of battery power and, as such, only need to charge your EV overnight at home. However, if you drive farther from the house every day, a level 2 or 3 chargers might be suitable as you will need to constantly fill up your battery before you get home.

Price – Fast-charging stations often cost more than a slow one. But the cost of fast chargers is also higher. Hence, your budget must be commensurate with the type of charger you intend to buy.

Battery capacity – Your driving pattern may require getting a Nissan Leaf with a high-capacity battery. This battery will need frequent charging while on the road, and you might consider a portable charger while supplementing with publicly available level 2 and 3 fast chargers. 

Purpose – If you buy a Nissan Charging station to establish a public charging station for Nissan Leaf owners, then your choice will have to be a level 2 or level 3 DC fast charger. However, if you only want to charge at home as an individual Nissan Leaf owner, then a level 1 or home level 2 charger will be sufficient. 

X. Where to Buy Quality Nissan Leaf EV Chargers for Home Use?

An important skill to have as a Nissan Leaf EV owner is knowing where to get a quality EV charger for your vehicle, especially if you are just venturing into the EV industry. Here are some places that might be invaluable in searching for a quality EV charger for your Nissan Leaf. 

Search Engines – Many EV owners often overlook popular search engines like google search in their search for a quality EV charger. This is a big disservice to the search as millions of manufacturers with an online presence are waiting for you to reach out to them. A simple search with the appropriate search operator will give you a more accurate result for your search. 

Online stores – Many quality EV manufacturers are also aggregated and well categorized for quickly finding the most relevant ones with online stores. You can easily filter these manufacturers based on price, product, customer rating, and reviews. 

Trade fairs and exhibitions – The last channel you can use is periodic exhibitions and trade fairs where EV manufacturers assemble to promote their products. You can physically meet many manufacturers and evaluate their offerings and EV charger’s features before ordering.

XI. EV-Top Advantages for Nissan Leaf Owners

As a Chinese EV charger manufacturer of repute, EV-Top has offered many benefits to its customers over the years and can provide the same to Nissan Leaf owners. Here are some advantages you can enjoy from EV-Top

• Innovative – Their dedication to research and development, which takes up to 5% of their yearly income, helps them consistently release innovative and intuitive products. 
• Certified – EV-Top has the necessary certifications to meet the required quality and safety specifications for various international governing bodies. These certifications include UL, CE, ISO, EN, etc. 
• Affordable – EV-Top offers some of the industry’s most competitive and affordable prices without compromising quality. Their affordable prices are enhanced by the availability of a large labor force of professionals and experts, driving the cost of production down.
• Reliable – With a dedicated workforce of engineers, EV-Top is always reliable, delivering orders when agreed without fail.
• User-Centric – They can also manufacture based on customer requirements of user intuitiveness, delivering bespoke EV charging solutions for a comprehensive user experience.

Conclusion

Factors like budget, location, the purpose of the purchase, and daily driving patterns often affect the choice of EV charger that you get for your Nissan Leaf. But more importantly, choosing a quality manufacturer can affect your choice positively or negatively if you pick a manufacturer without credibility. One manufacturer you can trust is EV-Top. They have a consistent track record of success in delivering quality EV chargers at competitive prices to Nissan Leaf and other EV owners. Their quality EV chargers, affordability, reliability, and innovation stand them out among other European and American counterparts.