Just Joined The Gang - Looking for Advice

[SpaceEVDriver]

With a qualified electrician, a high-quality, well-designed receptacle will probably be fine, especially if you don’t cut corners on the cost of that receptacle, and you don’t ever unplug the EVSE. But if you’re not going to unplug the EVSE, you might as well hardwire it.

I’ve had two instances in the past few years where I didn’t get the qualified electrician.

First, I hired an electrician to install my ChargePoint HomeFlex hardwired home charger. Unfortunately I got the C-Team instead of the A-Team and the installing electrician didn’t bother to double-check with me or the lead electrician about the settings I wanted and I had to walk them through the correct installation, including the proper gauge wire and proper size breaker. Fortunately for me I’m that PITA homeowner who goes and checks on things while the work is being done.

Second, when we moved into our current home, we found out that the installing electrician (for the previous owners) hadn’t bothered to properly torque ANY of the breaker connections in the main service entrance and the 125A breaker to the house subpanel would trip whenever there was more than 50 Amps of current. When I started the troubleshooting, I found that the wire at the 125A breaker was loose.

When I had a qualified electrician upgrade our panel for my workshop, he said that all of the breakers were under-torqued.

Find a qualified electrician, have the conversation, and if you don’t need the EVSE to be removable, get it hardwired. If you do need it to be removable, pay the extra cash for the higher-quality plug. It’s cheaper than a house fire.

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[rsummerset]

You are going to enjoy your new pony.

I've had my vehicle for over 3 years and continue to use the Ford supplied charter--with almost zero issues. From my perspective, you can use it reliably and save yourself some money.

I rely upon Ford Blue Oval and have found it pretty seamless. I don't use DC charging often, but on occasional trips it has been seamless. Plug it into a Tesla Supercharger and it simply works.

I already had the opportunity to enjoy dis lil pony my first day of driving which was earlier this morning after a New Year party! Got some much needed sleep before heading home which was about an hour away... I had fun easily passing by drivers who thought they had acceleration!

As far as the Ford supplied charger I assume you mean the Mobile charger? If not and you had Ford install one, then you have a setup that I don't... But if you mean the mobile charger then do you simply use it with a 240 volt outlet that you had installed?

And yes I plan to go ahead and sign up for Blue Oval since it costs nothing just to do that

 

[Mach-Lee]

The Ford Promise program that came with my 2025 Mach E Premium included an Emporia “Classic” charger with installation allowance. I exceeded that due to the long distance between my breaker box and garage plus inspection is a consumer cost. The company doing the installation would only hardwire the unit with a 60 amp breaker even though the Emporia can be set to limit current within the safety zone of a 50 amp service. They do this because of liability reasons since there is no preventing the customer from changing to the higher setting. I’ve been using the Emporia since November 18th and it is working as expected. It’s also a Smart Charger that allows me to get 5 cent per kWh discount by charging between 7pm and 2 pm the next day.

That is false, the breaker size setting on the Emporia can be PIN locked by the installer to prevent the end-user from changing it and exceeding the circuit capacity. It should be perfectly safe to install it limited to a lower amperage (such as 40A). The user can then adjust the amperage lower to their liking if desired, but can’t exceed the breaker setting.

My guess is that policy is designed to force the customer to pay (or bill Ford) for the most expensive install, which increases profits.

As for me, I prefer having the 14-50 outlet for flexibility (I can plug in my heater, or different EVSEs) but I have an industrial-grade receptacle installed. Which is so much better than the cheap ones at box stores.

 

[rsummerset]

Is Ford still offering the Ford Power Promise incentive? Did your dealer mention it?

I also thought I had asked all the right questions about home (and public) charging. It's all second nature now, but I was suffering until I had fast charging at home (especially in near zero temps of last January).

Here was my adventure from a year ago:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...days-from-delivery-to-l2-power-at-home.42377/

Ford was offering either the home charger installation or $2000 bonus cash... I took the $2000 which lowered my lease payments...
And I read through you post and you had quite an adventure! Once I get some quotes and decide on my charging installation I will post my journey...

But I have to ask where in MD do you live that got that cold? I live in PG County and I don't remember those temps!

 

[rsummerset]

OP, do you know your electrical requirements at your house, meaning, will you need panel upgrades, or extensive work to get a 240v circuit? Pending that situation, consider that "smart" EVSE's will allow you to charge at reduced amperage to be compatible with different sized breakers/wiring. Unless you need to charge quickly, you may not need the full 48A circuit. If you have the panel capacity, then sure, go as big as possible. If you don't, or have a smaller amperage 240v circuit already in existence, consider that as well. I charge on an existing 20A 240v circuit, at 16A, it's good for about ~15 miles of range added every hour, which satisfies our needs just fine.

So, I would access your homes electrical situation first, then make a plan based on that, vs. your charging requirements.

As someone else suggested I need to have a conversation with my electric company as well as an electrician to get these questions answered... I probably need to look into my solar usage also.... Thanks!

 

[rsummerset]

This.

Always go hardwired.

That appears to be the consensus... Thanks

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I think hard wiring is over rated, but that is just for myself….I would not suggest that others do not hard wire. A 14-50 EV rated receptacle on a 50 amp circuit allows you plug in a backup mobile charger should your main charger fail. A properly wired and torqued receptacle is just as safe as long as you are not frequently pluging/unplugging especially if you don't need the speed of 48 amp input. I've checked mine occasionally and the plug barely gets warm with 6AWG wiring. YMMV.

Wires to a receptacle outlet need to be retightened on a very regular basis. If you don’t, the wires can work just a bit loose and you’ll be at risk for a fire. Even those with properly rated outlets and professionally installed. Hardwired outlets are a lot more secure. Plus you get the added advantage of 48 amp charging,

This is what happened after a bit more than 2 years of use on new construction of a custom home. It was installed by one of the best electricians in the area and done to code. 32 amp EVSE, not hard wired. I was 15 feet away in the garage when this happened. While the CB did its job and tripped early, this could have been a disaster.

 

[rsummerset]

I think hard wiring is over rated, but that is just for myself….I would not suggest that others do not hard wire. A 14-50 EV rated receptacle on a 50 amp circuit allows you plug in a backup mobile charger should your main charger fail. A properly wired and torqued receptacle is just as safe as long as you are not frequently pluging/unplugging especially if you don't need the speed of 48 amp input. I've checked mine occasionally and the plug barely gets warm with 6AWG wiring. YMMV.

Very interesting information and perspective... It sounds like making sure to install highly rated outlet/receptacle is the key... As well as not frequently plugging and unplugging... Thanks!

 

[rsummerset]

Hardwire is the great option, you can charge at 48A speed, but I opted dedicated outlet so I limited to 40A outlet. I like Costco warranty. I know many chargers would last years, but Costco accepted my JuiceBoxes return when company seized US operation so I bought pair Wallboxes from Costco.

So even though you say hardwired is a great option, you went with the 240 outlet? Was this to have flexibility in swapping out chargers?

 

[rsummerset]

I am still using an old, “dumb” 240V EVSE at 32A on a 6-50 outlet. I got rid of my Ford Mobile Charger and instead got a Tesla Mobile Connector since I already had a Tesla L2 adapter and I needed a reliable mobile EVSE that could work with a 10-30 outlet that was at my friend’s duck club.

How long have you had your setup?

 

[rsummerset]

Upvote for hardwired Emporia. For the daily drive, I set it at 16 amps through the app. On heavier days, I set it to 32 amps. When I need power in a hurry, 48 amps is sweet. I only need 48A a few times per year, but really happy for it when I need it.

Interesting... Hardwired seems to be the most recommended... Are you changing the amps to throttle changing which saves battery life? Excuse me if I am asking novice questions but I am truly new to this! Thanks

 

[rsummerset]

You might check with your power company about discounts and rebates. I have time of day rates and charge between 11 pm and 5 am for lowest rate. I got a $500 rebate from MN Power back in 2024. Also got a 30% federal tax credit, but I don’t think that’s available anymore (?)

Probably would have gone with Emporia, but it wasn’t on the list for $500 rebate, so I went with ChargePoint, which has been problem free for me. I Charge at 40A (50A breaker). Hardwired. Honestly, 20A would work just fine for the driving my wife and I do.

i normally charge to 85%. 100% when planning longer trip the next day. (Mostly charge only to 80% on DCFC.) I set the preferred charging window and charging limit in the car (not on the ChargePoint charger). Actually I use the Ford app most of the time for this, which seems to work fine.

Though I am still weighing the option to hardwire or go 240 volt outlet (hardwired is currently winning) I am definitely going to check my electric company to see if they have any rebates on certain chargers as well as time of day discounts...
Is there a reason you use the Ford app as opposed to ChargePoint charger to set the preferred charging window and limits? Do you feel that the Ford app makes smart EV charges unnecessary?

 

[NorthlandPhil]

Though I am still weighing the option to hardwire or go 240 volt outlet (hardwired is currently winning) I am definitely going to check my electric company to see if they have any rebates on certain chargers as well as time of day discounts...
Is there a reason you use the Ford app as opposed to ChargePoint charger to set the preferred charging window and limits? Do you feel that the Ford app makes smart EV charges unnecessary?

The vehicle may make a request for power for reasons other than charging. If I set a departure time, or press the “Climate” button, and the vehicle is cold, it will draw power from the charger to heat the cabin and the battery. (Or to cool cabin and battery if it’s hot.) Also, if it’s plugged in, it will keep the battery above a certain temperature (above freezing, I believe) at all times.

If the charger were programmed to allow power requests only during 11 pm and 5 am, this wouldn’t work.

My car is parked in an attached and insulated garage, but it still gets below freezing. Preconditioning the cabin and battery on charger power not only makes it more comfortable, it gives me some additional range (because it reduces the amount of heating the battery needs to do).

Also, it just seems to be more practical that I control charging of the vehicle from the vehicle itself. I’m sure others have different thoughts and preferences.

 

[HuntingPudel]

How long have you had your setup?

I have had a dumb 32A EVSE since 2014, the current white Siemens dumb EVSE I got in 2018. I am uninterested in getting a smart EVSE since any scheduling can be done in the car.

I have had the Tesla Mobile Connector for about 3 years. I got the Lectron L2 adapter back when my 2021 still hadn’t been assigned a production week but never used it until I got the Tesla Mobile Connector. I actually got to use both of my L3 adapters before I got to use the L2 adapter.

Side note: Tesla uses the same pins on their charge connector to supply L2 (AC) power as they use to supply L3 (DC) power. Because of that, you cannot use an L2 adapter with an L3 station and also cannot use an L3 adapter with an L2 station.

 

[Maquis]

Interesting... Hardwired seems to be the most recommended... Are you changing the amps to throttle changing which saves battery life? Excuse me if I am asking novice questions but I am truly new to this! Thanks

Varying rates of L2 charging will not result in any measurable effect on battery life.

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