How to open the 240V charging on the SE model??? new here

[divorcedopec]

I got my car in May and I see that it has 2 charge openings. The passenger side is the 110V and it came with that charger, the one I use nightly. On the other side is one that I can't find a way to open.
On the window sticker it has a 240V. charger (level 2) on my SE model which I would like to use. Help?? How do I do this? I am sure this is old news but with 4 kids I have not had time to think about this until now as we are finally getting a charging station in town.
Best
Divorcedopec

 

[siai47]

Unless you have the QC option there is nothing in the hole on the driver's side. If you have QC it opens with a lever under the left side of the drivers seat. If not, it opens by pulling on a cable that can be found by taking off a cover on the passengers side of the rear cargo area. You wil find a cable held in a little clamp---just hold the cable in one hand and pull on the ferrel with your other hand and the door will open so you can see an empty hole. BTW--QC (quick charging) is Level 3. Your interal charger can do both level 1 and level 2 but the EVSE brick that comes with the car only does level 1. It can be modified by people like EVSE upgrade to make it work on 240 volts---the cheapest way to go.

 

[divorcedopec]

Thank you so much! If it charges at 220 will if be a level 2? Where do I get this part you are speaking of?
Best,
Rebecca

 

[PV1]

Level 1 is 110 VAC, which is your cord that came with the car.
Level 2 is 220 VAC, which are charging stations that can be found at Mitsubishi and Nissan dealers, plus many other places that offer charging.
Level 3 is DC Quick Charge, which are the large chargers found in a few places. (gas pump size or larger)

Both Level 1 and Level 2 use the J1772 connector on the passenger side of the car.
Level 3 uses the CHAdeMO port on the driver's side of the car. This is the port that you are trying to open. If you don't have a lever on the floor between the driver's seat and the door, you don't have this port (quick charge package option)

Upgrading the cord is available at http://evseupgrade.com . This will require you to send your cord to them, leaving you without it for a week or two. When you get it back, it will be good for both level 1 and level 2.

As far as parts for the level 3, there is no easy way to get it installed if your car doesn't have it from the factory.

 

[divorcedopec]

Thank you.
I was just trying to get to a level 2. This is great.
Also, does this mean that if I go to a charging station with a level 2 charger it will fit into the plug that is there on the passenger side? I am wanting to make sure I can use all of the cords/parts at the station and charge at a level 2 even if I do not upgrade for home.

 

[siai47]

Yes, the J1772 socket on the passenger side of the car will fit any EVSE that is 1772 compatible either 120 or 240 volts. This is a SAE standard for AC charging. Level 3 is high voltage DC charging with Chademo on the I-MiEV however there are competing standards out there like VHS v.s. Betamax. You will be fine with level 2 charging.

 

[divorcedopec]

Thank you! for the last 3 months I have been slow charging at home not knowing I could level 2 while out at a store! much thanks
Rebecca

 

[Don]

Level 1 is 110 VAC, which is your cord that came with the car.
Level 2 is 220 VAC, which are charging stations that can be found at Mitsubishi and Nissan dealers, plus many other places that offer charging.
Level 3 is DC Quick Charge, which are the large chargers found in a few places. (gas pump size or larger)

Actually, there is no 110 Volt nor 220 volt service in the USA, or anywhere else I'm familiar with for that matter. It's 120 and 240 respectively

"In the United States and Canada, national standards specify that the nominal voltage at the source should be 120 V and allow a range of 114 to 126 V (RMS) (−5% to +5%). Historically 110, 115 and 117 volts have been used at different times and places in North America. Main power is sometimes spoken of as 110; however, 120 is the nominal voltage."

Rebecca - Check out http://www.evseupgrade.com for the cheapest way to do speed up your home charging - Your Level 1 will be increased from just 8 amps to nearly 13 and it will also allow you to recharge using Level 2 at 13 amps. Your L1 will be 50% faster and L2 will do a full charge in about 6 or 7 hours. You'll need to get a 240 outlet installed in your garage though. If you have an electric clothes dryer nearby, you can probably L2 charge using your dryer outlet

Don

 

[divorcedopec]

Thank you so much Don. I was confused on the numbers. I went on the link you posted. If I pay the $287 to get my cord upgraded does that mean I can only pulg into the 240(which I have available 10 feet away from garage)? Or can I still use same cord if I want in the 120? trying to teach myself since I bought through a fleet dealer who did not know much.
Thank you,
Rebecca

 

[divorcedopec]

sorry, 220 and 110. Still just making up my own numbers.

 

[alohart]

If I pay the $287 to get my cord upgraded does that mean I can only pulg into the 240(which I have available 10 feet away from garage)? Or can I still use same cord if I want in the 120?

If you also order the $25 5-15 to L6-20 Adapter, you would be able to plug your EVSE into either a 240 v. L6-20 outlet or a standard 120 v. 5-15 outlet. But without this adapter, you'd be able to charge only from a 240 v. outlet.

sorry, 220 and 110. Still just making up my own numbers.

This is a VERY common mistake, so no need to be sorry.

 

[PV1]

Sorry for the confusion. 110 and 120 are the same. This is your regular outlet in the house.

The same for 220 and 240. This is either a twist-lock plug (like what is on the upgraded EVSE) or a large outlet (like a dryer outlet).

My relatives still call it 110 and 220, even though actual line voltage is 120 and 240.

 

[Don]

Thank you so much Don. I was confused on the numbers. I went on the link you posted. If I pay the $287 to get my cord upgraded does that mean I can only pulg into the 240(which I have available 10 feet away from garage)? Or can I still use same cord if I want in the 120?

They will return it to you with a new plug on it - A NEMA L6-20 plug which can be used with either 120 or 240 volts. With a short adapter you can then plug it into anything you like. You *will need* an adapter to use it with any normal 120 or 240 outlet though. Two different adapters if you want to use both L1 and L2

Order the NEMA 5-15 120 volt adapter from them when you get it upgraded so you can use it in L1 mode with any standard household outlet. Also, buy another pigtail from them with bare ends to use with a 240 volt outlet - You'll need to install a plug on that pigtail to match your 240 volt outlet. Lowes or Home Depot can sell you a plug which matches your 240 volt outlet - There are different ones, depending on the age of your house. Some are 3 prong plugs and some are 4 prong. Put whichever one you need on your bare ended pigtail and you'll be all set for L2 at home

Or . . . . you can have an electrician install a pair of NEMA L6-20 sockets (one wired to 120 volts and the other wired to 240 volts) in your garage and your new Upgraded EVSE will plug directly into either of them with no adapters necessary - One socket for 120 L1 and another for 240 L2. The upgraded EVSE automatically senses which voltage is present and provides you with either L1 or L2

Don

 

[Vike]

If I pay the $287 to get my cord upgraded does that mean I can only pulg into the 240(which I have available 10 feet away from garage)? Or can I still use same cord if I want in the 120? trying to teach myself since I bought through a fleet dealer who did not know much.

Since I don't see it mentioned yet, it's worth noting that the conventional option for Level 2 charging is to buy a charging station (cheapest one I know is the Bosch Power Max for $450 + installation, see at http://www.pluginnow.com/power-max). You would then have two "chargers", a Level 2 that stays on the wall of your garage and a Level 1 that you could always have in the car for emergencies. I highly recommend this, since if you have only one charger, the car's dead if it breaks. It's also hugely convenient.

We have several fans of EVSE Upgrade on the forum here, but keep in mind you won't have any charger at all until they send back the conversion, so you'd be either parked or dependent on public chargers (I think you mentioned in another post you're near a store w/charger?). Even if you do that, you really should put a dedicated 220/240 (whatever) outlet in the garage to plug that in, not drag a cord out to the garage from the laundry room (assuming that's what you meant by "10 feet away from the garage").

Yes, the EVSE you get back from EVSE Upgrade will be able to do both Level 1 and Level 2 charging, both through the J1772 port on the passenger side of the car. Be sure to buy the correct adapter cords for the outlets you plan to use - EVSE Upgrade can explain that to you.

Since your fleet dealer apparently knew very little about the car and told you even less, I recommend that you review the Owner's Manual and other documentation from Mitsubishi VERY carefully - this is NOT a toaster oven. Here are some useful URLs to get you started:

Official Mitsubishi i-MiEV page:
http://i.mitsubishicars.com/

Mitsubishi Dealer education material:
http://www.imiev411.com/dealers

Mitsubishi media release describing the electric drivetrain:
http://media.mitsubishicars.com/releases/4eed9646-06be-4ff9-bc3c-7ea4ee8d9942/print

Mitsubishi media release describing the batteries:
http://media.mitsubishicars.com/releases/dc8be352-eeff-4d6b-a6e0-e62dec3a22fb/print

You can also get a lot of information on this forum by searching, though this site's search engine is worthless (I'd tell you to check our FAQ, but it's empty). Instead, go to google.com and put "site:myimiev.com" in the search box, followed by whatever you want to search for - Google will search the forum and return results just like any other Google search, but every result will be a link to an entry in this forum instead of the whole freaking interent.

 

[FiddlerJohn]

... it's worth noting that the conventional option for Level 2 charging is to buy a charging station (cheapest one I know is the Bosch Power Max for $450 ...

Vike, +1. Wonderful post. Some of this documentation is new to me. Good details. Thank you. A permanent L2 station is the recommended and hugely convenient solution.

PowerMax:
I use two of the new, cheap Bosch PowerMax L2 EVSE stations. They are well made and work great except my remote fails to program the car about half the time. The remote usually works the second time. The remote failures in this case are a minor inconvenience. I recommend the Bosch PowerMax EVSE stations.

WattStation:
My GE WattStation fails the remote test much more often. The remote sometimes shows and "ERROR," the GE WattStation stops charging, and the yellow Warning light comes on.

OEM EVSE:
My home modified stock EVSE L1 and L2 never fails the remote test, but it's not as convenient as a permanent L2 station.

 

[RobbW]

I did both. I had my Level 1 EVSE upgraded by EVSEUpgrade.com AND I had a Level 2 240V EVSE wall unit installed in my garage. I purchased and installed the Level 2 unit before I shipped out my Level 1 cable to be upgraded. I'm very happy with how everything turned out!

 

[Vike]

I did both. I had my Level 1 EVSE upgraded by EVSEUpgrade.com AND I had a Level 2 240V EVSE wall unit installed in my garage. I purchased and installed the Level 2 unit before I shipped out my Level 1 cable to be upgraded.

Good point, RobbW. That really is the best of both worlds - perhaps I'll do that myself. It would be handy to have more options for L2 charging away from home, especially in a town like mine with two total public chargers, neither in a location useful to me.

 

[Don]

If price is a major concern, the Upgraded OEM EVSE with it's adjustable current settings for both L1 and L2 coupled with it's small size and rugged portability is truly the 'best of both worlds' since it does it all - Adjustable current both and at home and away plugged into any source you like. Nothing else comes close for about $300

The single argument that I see here is . . . . what if it's your only EVSE and it breaks? I was a bit worried about this too, so I built my own Open EVSE L1/L2 adjustable current unit for permanent installation in my garage, but I rarely use it.
http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=654&hilit=pelican+open+evse
I use the Upgraded unit on L1 about 90 or 95% of the time and only use the Open EVSE for L2 when I need it, which is not that often - I try not to charge any faster than necessary

But . . . . the real point I wanted to make here is that I cannot recall reading about even one failure of the OEM EVSE, upgraded or not - Not a single one. Does anyone else recall one of these Panasonic bricks ever experiencing a failure?

If I had limited funds and needed both L1 and L2 charging at home (and away) it would be an Upgraded OEM unit for me - If you're going to put all your eggs in one basket, that's the best one I know of. Any other way you go about it, you're going to spend more and probably still have less versatility too

Don

 

[fjpod]

I'm still charging on my OEM level 1. I had every intention of getting a 220 volt unit, even wired my garage for it, but two things stopped me:
1. I thought $900 for a unit was ridiculous. There is no reason they should cost more than $150.
2. I found that the original unit fulfilled 99% of my charging needs, and maybe it is healthier for the battery anyway.

I'll get one someday...when they are about $250.

 

[PV1]

Don, if you ever think of selling your open EVSE, let me know. I'll take it for a good price.