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120V Charging Questions


mets67

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Just got some estimates to put a level 2 charging station in. Since my driveway is long (no garage) and the car is parked 60 ft from the house, there would need to be a lot of trenching work plus a sub-panel put in. The cost for the electric work would be about $2K, which if it included the unit I would do.

 

I do have another option that would cost only $250-300. Have pier lights where I park the car and the electrician can split the line and add a 120v outlet onto the pier bricks. This seems like a better alternative for me as I will only be charging the car overnight anyway. However, can I charge the car on the same circuit as these lights (they only take 2amps total as they have fluorescent bulbs) or does the car need its own separate circuit? And how many amps does the Fusion Energi use when its charging? Hope this all makes sense! Thanks -

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The owner's manual states that a dedicated circuit is recommended for charging and it be a 15amp minimum breaker. I believe the included convenience charger pulls 12 amps when charging.

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I currently use the only outlet I have inside my garage. It is on a 20amp breaker and I actually have a spare fridge on that same circuit. The fridge draws 6amps max under load. So I'm going against recommendations but have not had a problem in the month I've owned my car. If I weren't putting the house on the market in a couple weeks, I would make some changes to at least get it on a dedicated circuit.

 

If those lights are on a 15amp circuit, I think you'd be a little tight but pretty much the same 2amps under the circuit load that I am running. If they are on a 20amp, I would expect you'd have no problem.

 

I am not an electric expert by an means. So any advice or opinions I give are just that, opinions of a non-professional and am relating my own personal experiences. You should always confirm any of this w/ a professional.

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The owner's manual states that a dedicated circuit is recommended for charging and it be a 15amp minimum breaker. I believe the included convenience charger pulls 12 amps when charging.

.

I currently use the only outlet I have inside my garage. It is on a 20amp breaker and I actually have a spare fridge on that same circuit. The fridge draws 6amps max under load. So I'm going against recommendations but have not had a problem in the month I've owned my car. If I weren't putting the house on the market in a couple weeks, I would make some changes to at least get it on a dedicated circuit.

 

If those lights are on a 15amp circuit, I think you'd be a little tight but pretty much the same 2amps under the circuit load that I am running. If they are on a 20amp, I would expect you'd have no problem.

 

I am not an electric expert by an means. So any advice or opinions I give are just that, opinions of a non-professional and am relating my own personal experiences. You should always confirm any of this w/ a professional.

 

I thought my dedicated circuit in my garage was 20A, but today I looked again at the breaker and it says 25A. Is that to much? It is a single space breaker I used for a spa, but I built an in ground spa with a different 240V remote panel. Any suggestions?

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I thought my dedicated circuit in my garage was 20A, but today I looked again at the breaker and it says 25A. Is that to much? It is a single space breaker I used for a spa, but I built an in ground spa with a different 240V remote panel. Any suggestions?

 

It's ok if it's a 25A circuit provided they used 10 gauge wire and the outlet itself is 25 Gauge. If not you should change the breaker to match the wiring and outlet. Otherwise the wire or outlet could overheat before the breaker trips.

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I thought my dedicated circuit in my garage was 20A, but today I looked again at the breaker and it says 25A. Is that to much? It is a single space breaker I used for a spa, but I built an in ground spa with a different 240V remote panel. Any suggestions?

 

As Akirby mentioned, so long as the proper gauge wiring is in place to handle that amperage, there isn't an issue using that for your 110v charger. If this circuit is a 240v and you're looking at level 2 chargers, you'll either need to find one that works under the 25 amp breaker or have the breaker changed out to accommodate whatever level 2 you get.

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As Akirby mentioned, so long as the proper gauge wiring is in place to handle that amperage, there isn't an issue using that for your 110v charger. If this circuit is a 240v and you're looking at level 2 chargers, you'll either need to find one that works under the 25 amp breaker or have the breaker changed out to accommodate whatever level 2 you get.

 

I thought the plug and circuit was 240V, but when I seen a single breaker and the receptacle had just a T type on one of the prongs, I thought it may be is a 110 socket.

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I thought the plug and circuit was 240V, but when I seen a single breaker and the receptacle had just a T type on one of the prongs, I thought it may be is a 110 socket.

The 120 volt charger that comes with the car has a standard plug.

 

L2 240 volt chargers come in hard wired and plug-in.

Depending on the capability of the L2 charger the plug will be different.

A charger capable of 3.8KW will have a 6-20P plug.

A charger capable of 7.6 KW will have a 6-50P plug.

 

Each plug requires a matching socket.

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The 120 volt charger that comes with the car has a standard plug.

 

L2 240 volt chargers come in hard wired and plug-in.

Depending on the capability of the L2 charger the plug will be different.

A charger capable of 3.8KW will have a 6-20P plug.

A charger capable of 7.6 KW will have a 6-50P plug.

 

Each plug requires a matching socket.

 

Took the cover off the receptacle and it's marked 125V 60HZ 20amp GFCI. The breaker is 25A on this circuit. Looks like it will take a standard plug, but also a plug with a T on the left prong with the ground at the bottom. It looks like the 6-20 plug has the T prong on the right that I googled.

 

The wiring was done by a friend who was a County Electrical Inspector and a colleage electrical instructor here in Palm Beach County. He did the wiring for an above ground spa that was latter removed. Do you agree that the 120V charger that comes with the car will work?

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Took the cover off the receptacle and it's marked 125V 60HZ 20amp GFCI. The breaker is 25A on this circuit. Looks like it will take a standard plug, but also a plug with a T on the left prong with the ground at the bottom. It looks like the 6-20 plug has the T prong on the right that I googled.

 

The wiring was done by a friend who was a County Electrical Inspector and a colleage electrical instructor here in Palm Beach County. He did the wiring for an above ground spa that was latter removed. Do you agree that the 120V charger that comes with the car will work?

 

They should not have used a 20A receptacle with a 25A breaker. If you know for a fact that you're never pulling more than 20A it will work fine. But if you ever plug in a device that uses more than 20A but less than 25A you could overheat the receptacle and cause a fire. Also - they should have used 10 gauge wire with a 25A breaker. If they used 12 gauge it really should be a 20A breaker.

 

If it was me I'd replace the breaker with a 20A just to be 100% safe or verify the wiring is 10 gauge and change the receptacle to a 25A receptacle.

Edited by akirby
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Took the cover off the receptacle and it's marked 125V 60HZ 20amp GFCI. The breaker is 25A on this circuit. Looks like it will take a standard plug, but also a plug with a T on the left prong with the ground at the bottom. It looks like the 6-20 plug has the T prong on the right that I googled.

 

The wiring was done by a friend who was a County Electrical Inspector and a colleage electrical instructor here in Palm Beach County. He did the wiring for an above ground spa that was latter removed. Do you agree that the 120V charger that comes with the car will work?

The included charger will work fine on that circuit. It's rated to work on a 15 amp circuit. A point that you may not be aware of. Breakers are sized to protect the wire, not the load.

 

We already know that you have a 25 amp breaker and a 20 amp receptacle which is wrong. The unknown is what size wire was used. The size is on the jacket of the wire. If it's 10 gauge it will say 10/2 with Ground or some abbreviation of those words.

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The included charger will work fine on that circuit. It's rated to work on a 15 amp circuit. A point that you may not be aware of. Breakers are sized to protect the wire, not the load.

 

We already know that you have a 25 amp breaker and a 20 amp receptacle which is wrong. The unknown is what size wire was used. The size is on the jacket of the wire. If it's 10 gauge it will say 10/2 with Ground or some abbreviation of those words.

 

Pulled some wire from the receptacle and no writing on the NM, but I cut a piece of wire and measured it on my wire strippers. It's 12 gauge for sure. I'll replace the 25A breaker with a 20A breaker because I'm moving the receptacle to a better location with better access to the vehicle for charging. When I'm not charging, I can use the receptacle for my 14A air compressor near that location also.

 

Based on charging times of 7 hours at 120V and 2.5 hours at 240V, it appears as though the Energi is limited to 1.4 kW for Level 1 and 3.3 kW for Level 2 chargers. It won’t speed charging times for a Level 1 or Level 2 charger with faster kW specifications. Level 1 AC chargers use the standard AC 120V receptacle and can operate at 1.4 kW drawing up to 12 amps of current and 1.9 kW drawing up to 16 amps.

 

 

You and akirby have been a big help, Thank you.

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The reason a dedicated circuit is advised is because like any AC/DC charger voltage sags can cause a fault. The DC output drops slightly and the charger tried to protect itself. When the output voltage goes low it drives up the current and can damage the diode bridge. The biggest thing to watch out for on a shared circuit are large inductive loads, motors, heaters anything that has a limitless current draw on startup. These cause very short voltage sags.

 

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All this talk about the charger really makes me wish *again* I had gotten the plugin version.

 

I discovered Free level 2 Charging stations at my wife's work parking lot and at the Jupiter Town Hall. They said Obama bucks are paying for the stations and they're popping up all over the place here. The plug-in is capable of 85mph in EV, and the standard C-Max is only good for 62mph EV for a short distance.

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Since it is recommended that you have a dedicated plug for charging, doesn't this mean that pretty much any house needs to have a 120V plug added? I don't know of any house that has a plug in (especially in the garage) that is a single outlet on a circuit. Seems like you will always have to have an electrician install this on your main. As much as I like DIY even with elec, I don't think I'd attempt that one yet! Also, why wouldn't you just add the 240V at that point? The additional cost that people quote for the 240V seems WAY too high if you ask me.

Edited by glocklt4
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Found an electrician that is not going to charge me an arm and a leg to put the charger on its own circuit and trench out to my driveway...so I am going to go ahead with the 240V. This will be kept outdoors, so I am looking at the Clipper Creek LCS-25 for $595 and the Leviton EVB32-8ML for $899. Besides the $300 price difference are there any other differences between the two that would support spending the extra monies?

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Found an electrician that is not going to charge me an arm and a leg to put the charger on its own circuit and trench out to my driveway...so I am going to go ahead with the 240V. This will be kept outdoors, so I am looking at the Clipper Creek LCS-25 for $595 and the Leviton EVB32-8ML for $899. Besides the $300 price difference are there any other differences between the two that would support spending the extra monies?

 

Geez, that's still a fortune. What is the reason for the cost on these? This can't actually contain the AC/DC inverter in it, does it?? If so, I would understand the cost, but I really would expect the car to contain that since they are supposed to be able to just plug in to a normal 120V socket for 120V charging (or maybe the built in inverter is only for 120V and not 240V?).

Edited by glocklt4
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It depends on how far your power panel is from the garage. Mine are at opposite ends of the house.

100 feet of 10-2 with ground is about $115.

 

Yeah, that's not bad at all. I guess it's the 240V stuff that's very pricey due to the box required (inverter?). For the home, I would imagine that 240V is worth it for short charges unless you have access to a 240V charger at work for free like someone above posted. That would be great!!

Edited by glocklt4
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