Stupid (or Smart?) Level 1 charging tricks

[YUGreen 4]

Has anyone found a good safe & secure way to do level 1 charging away from home? At work, I park in a fairly secure indoor spot, with a 120-volt outlet right next to the car. The garage is fairly cool so I've been keeping the charging unit inside the car. An extension cord runs out the left side of the rear hatch window and plugs in. The charging cable runs out the right side of the rear window and plugs into the car. If you arrange the cables carefully the hatch closes and locks without putting much pressure on the cables.

I generally just top up from 80 or 90%, so it does not charge for more than a few hours. Anyone else doing something like this? The unit does get a bit warm inside the car -- I would not do this out in full summer sun, but it has worked well for me for months.

For the future, I'm thinking of a quick-release mount that would go inside (behind) the rear bumper. That would at least keep the charging unit out of sight.

[Alex 21]

Sounds fine to me. The unit must have a temperature sensor and reduce or stop the charge if it gets too hot, or the lawsuits would be phenomenal. No safety concerns. Possible problem though, if it has the cheapest method of thermal protection by using a thermal fuse, it is a one time blow device and needs to be replaced, possibly by desoldering from the board.

I would doubt that very much though, even Crappy Tire chargers have a thermal breaker which does reset when it cools.

[TO Ed 9]

Crappy Tire (12 volt) chargers warm up because they invert 120 volts a.c. to 12 volts d.c. The inverter in your smart car is located inside the rear of the car. It is not located inside the small black box with the two red and four green leds located on the electrical cord that you use to charge your car. As this is just a fancy gfci and not an inverter it shouldn't heat up.

[marchanna 115]

An extension cord is fine, but you should use a heavy gage one, not the cheap home use ones.

I've got an industrial one that I use.

[YUGreen 4]

Thanks for the advice -- I've been using a 12-gauge cord. Inside the car, the EVSE does get warm after a few hours of charging. Not melt the wires hot, but fairly warm. Was just curious if anyone else is doing this to keep the EVSE secure. During some reno work, I roughed in wiring for a 30-amp circuit that can reach the driveway. Still have not made up my mind about installing a level 2 charger though. After almost a year of daily driving, the need for L2 has never really come up.

[steveyfrac 73]

I found the L2 charger indispensable for winter driving, where my normal commute drains the entire pack, daily. The 17 hour charge time means that my car wouldn't be charged in the morning every day.

[YUGreen 4]

For most of last winter I parked outside with no plugin at work, which meant a 34km round trip before I could charge at home. Topping up 40% to 50% with L1 was just doable, I never felt that L1 was quite up to the task on the coldest days though -- the car locked up a couple of times and did not always precondition. Makes me wonder if L2 might work better in extreme temps?

[marchanna 115]

For me the L2 is necessary too. Before I got it, I was always running into issues with insufficient charge time.

[steveyfrac 73]

For most of last winter I parked outside with no plugin at work, which meant a 34km round trip before I could charge at home. Topping up 40% to 50% with L1 was just doable, I never felt that L1 was quite up to the task on the coldest days though -- the car locked up a couple of times and did not always precondition. Makes me wonder if L2 might work better in extreme temps?

I think the car locking up is more a product of parking the car outside than the charger. My garage only ever gets down to about -10C. The battery heater is only a few hundred watts, so it doesn't need an L2 charger to turn on effectively.

Edited July 6, 2015 by steveyfrac

[YUGreen 4]

For most of last winter I parked outside with no plugin at work, which meant a 34km round trip before I could charge at home. Topping up 40% to 50% with L1 was just doable, I never felt that L1 was quite up to the task on the coldest days though -- the car locked up a couple of times and did not always precondition. Makes me wonder if L2 might work better in extreme temps?

I think the car locking up is more a product of parking the car outside than the charger. My garage only ever gets down to about -10C. The battery heater is only a few hundred watts, so it doesn't need an L2 charger to turn on effectively.

Yeah, maybe. I may still try to get through one more winter with Level 1 -- hoping this winter might be a BIT warmer than last year. We shall see, looks like we could be in for some wild weather swings as we get climate-changed. BTW, I really liked your latest CleanTechnica piece: http://cleantechnica.com/2015/07/01/long-term-electric-car-ownership-really-like/

Cheers

[14smartelectric 0]

I use an extension cord for mine. I always charge in 8 amps. If I charge in 12, the extension cord gets too warm. I don't want to put too much of a load on it. I usually leave the car charging until it gets to 100%. I drive my other car and when I get home from work, I unplug the smart and use it for the remainder of the day's driving. This is my extra vehicle.

[steveyfrac 73]

Is work too far away to reach in your E-smart?

[YUGreen 4]

I managed to charge most days at work through out the summer -- usually just topping up from 70 to 75%. I've been using a flat, 15-amp-rated air-conditioner cord so I can keep the entire EVSE inside the car. It did get warm, but a long way from hot. I always charge at 12amps.