On 04/27/13 12:29 PM, Lawrence Rhodes wrote:
If the Leaf algorithm charges 20% to 80% normally would the quick charge then only go to 60% in reality and the single quick charge per day is over cautious. I mean what good is the QC if you can't use a few in a day to go long distances. Lawrence Rhodes.....
I'm not sure of the mechanism/algorithm, but from a 2012 Leaf user's point of view, the quick-charge percentage is controlled from the external charging station, not from within the car. Depending on which type/brand of QC station you're using, it will tell you the current percent state of charge of your pack when you start, and you can tell it how high you want to go before stopping. You don't get to see a percent-full number from any of the car's own instrumentation (unless you buy an add-on SOC meter).
The 80% that you tell the QC station to stop at, does seem to correspond to the same number of "bars" you see on the car's charge/range meter if you tell the onboard charger (L1 or L2) to stop at 80%.
The recommendation to avoid more than one QC per day seems intended to warn that you decrease the longevity of the battery pack when you do a lot of quick charging. My interpretation of the owner's manual is that the more serious damage/decrease comes when the battery heats up too much. In fact, the car will disallow quick charging if the battery temperature is above some limit. In our experience, if the outdoor temperature is mild, even a full quick charge from near-zero up to 80% (~30 minutes) doesn't seem to increase the reading on the Leaf's battery temperature gauge by more than a bar or two.
My wife really appreciates the quick-charging capability. Because her daily commute can use most of the Leaf's range, if she wants to go on an extra errand or two (e.g. maybe an extra 20 miles beyond her normal 60-mile day), she can pop in to Portland's downtown "Electric Avenue" (not far from her normal route) and get a 10-15 minute top-up while she has a cup of tea or does a little knitting. This really makes the car much more convenient to use for your life outside of the usual planned commute. She's looking forward to quick charging being available in more locations.
Regards, Marion _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
