While most of us wanted Nissan to finally move from CHAdeMO/type 1 to CCS/type 2 charging standards, things aren’t this simple. There is absolutely no reason for Nissan not adopting the type 2 (AC) standard in Europe, however leaving the CHAdeMO (DC) standard would be a problem, since Nissan already invested a lot of resources in DC fast chargers around the world, and modifying them to CCS would take extra time and money.
The simple solution to keep – almost – all of us happy is easy, keep the CHAdeMO but ditch the type 1 standard in the new generation Nissan Leaf. In 2015, Kreisel Electric showed us this is a valid option. The Austrian company developed an internal 22 kW AC charger for the Leaf and the e-NV200.
As you know the type 1 standard doesn’t support 3-phase charging, so Kreisel Electric had to use the official European AC charging standard, the type 2.
Below we have more photos.
Nissan Leaf with 22 kW internal charger by Kreisel Electric
Nissan Leaf with 22 kW internal charger by Kreisel Electric
Nissan Leaf with 22 kW internal charger by Kreisel Electric details
I brought this topic up for discussion since many persons believe that in the new generation Nissan Leaf – showed in the photo below -, the right charging socket is type 2, since it seems too big for type 1.
Camouflaged second generation Nissan Leaf
In Europe every electric car should have a 3-phase 22 kW internal charger for everyday use, and the ability to charge up to 80-100 kW at a DC fast charger when needed. Can Nissan do it? If it does, the new generation Nissan Leaf can do very well, even with a 40 kWh battery.
In some occasions a faster internal charger makes more sense than carrying a bigger, costlier and heavier battery all the time. What do you think?
Even the introduction of a 3-phase 11 kW internal charger would be nice. This is what BMW did to the i3 with bigger battery capacity in Europe. Don’t forget that Nissan considers BMW to be its most direct adversary regarding electric cars…
What would you prefer? A new generation Nissan Leaf with a 40 kWh battery and a 22 kW internal charger, or an Opel Ampera-e with a 60 kWh battery and a 7,4 kW internal charger, which is at least 5.000 € more expensive? I would choose the first option.
