Charger info needed

Abitinga · Mar 20, 2015

Ok so i officially know nothing about electrics
i am getting my charger installed by chargemaster on monday
i opted for the 16 amp non tethered as i was told this would be better for me.
so i now have to order the cable.

ive been reading other posts from people saying they should have ordered the 32 (mentioned a couple of times on the thread regarding pre heating)
my question is why if the outlander will only charge at 16 why get the 32?
would it be better to get the tethered lead as i wont be changing the car as its on lease and i will be moving house before the lease is up.
also for the stupid (i.e. me) how do kilowats work in relation to amps as in how does the 50 kw chademo charge the car in 30 minutes if the car will only charge on 16 amps in 3.5 hours

Abitinga · Mar 20, 2015

Also how much does the typical plug in eqpt use in power and how much would that effect range
i.e. if i plug in an iphone 6plus and a dash cam will it make a significant difference to the range or is it to small to matter

Stvtech · Mar 20, 2015

First off, you won’t be at any significant disadvantage opting for a 16A charger. The car after all, will only take 16A from the standard charge socket.
The benefit if the 32A is for future proofing (in a couple of years time I expect even Phev’s to be able to charge at 32A), and for when your bestest buddy turns up in a Nissan LEAF or similar.
I also believe personally that it is better to draw 16A through a 32A system than run a 16A setup at near maximum load.

I have a tethered 32A, because it is more convenient and quicker to just uncoil and plug in, then unplug and re-coil when I set off. No messing about with a separate cable which I do have, but stays in the boot in case I find myself able to use public charging.

As for the Type1 to Type 2 cable, the reason people are saying get the 32A is because the cables incorporate a resistor that tells a public charger what level of current the cable is capable of carrying. If it’s a 32A charger, it has been known for some of them to refuse to charge via a 16A cable, as they are not clever enough to know that it’s only a 16A car on the other end of it. If you tried to charge a 32A car on a 32A charger car via a 16A cable, it would get very hot and dangerous if the charger didn’t stop you.

The Chamedo fast chargers use a separate socket on the Phev, and output 400v and (I think about 60A, but not sure), bypassing the 230V charge circuitry that your charge point will use.

As for phone and dash cams, they aren’t worth worrying about and run off a separate 12v battery in the boot.

discorduk · Mar 22, 2015

Abitinga said:
Ok so i officially know nothing about electrics
also for the stupid (i.e. me) how do kilowats work in relation to amps

Watts = Volts * Amps

240 volts at 10 amps = 2.4kW

Abitinga said:
as in how does the 50 kw chademo charge the car in 30 minutes if the car will only charge on 16 amps in 3.5 hours

The supplied 10 amp regular mains cable, and the 16/32 Amp chargers are AC supplies, circuitry in the car converts that to the DC that is needed to charge the batteries, this circuit draws at most 16 Amps in the outlander.

The chademo chargers bypass the convertor in the car and supply DC directly to the batteries, they are rated for much higher currents, but charging so quickly comes with its own issues, so they only charge to 80% capacity to try and prevent potential damage.

Tex · Mar 24, 2015

I know this is perhaps a stupid question but is the charger supplied with the car waterproof?
That is, can it be used if risk of rain, provided plug is in a waterproof socket?

Regulo · Mar 24, 2015

I've taken mine apart, and it's well insulated. The manual does state not to use it in heavy rain, but only really requires the socket you use to be waterproof.