Charging Woes

[SightUp]

I made a post a week or two ago about needing help with charging. Since then I have brushed up a bit on some basics. I have since upgraded to a 30 amp breaker and my car is charging soooo much better than my 10 amp breaker. I do not even need a 50 amp.

My living situation is about to change. I am going to be moving into a new apartment in two months that only has a 20 amp breaker. I haven't yet seen behind the wall socket or what amps are available otherwise in the box. They are not allowing me to change the plug because, "It WILL cause a fire." Well, from what I now know, it will just trip a breaker in my apartment and not cause a fire assuming wiring is done correctly.

With that, using the FORD charger, will that 20 amps on a 120v be enough to charge my Mach E overnight to 90%? I ask because that 10 amps took days. Landlords won't have access to my appartment. Should I switch it out anyways if there is the right gage wire and amps available in my box anyways?

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[berg0319]

A 20 amp breaker can only be installed with 12 gauge wire. More than likely you will find that you have 15 amp breakers on your outlets and those have 14 gauge wire. Installing a 20 amp breaker with 14 gauge wire is a definite fire hazard. An oversized breaker will not trip at the proper overload, thus allowing the wires in the wall to heat up and potentially start a fire. This is especially true when using that circuit to charge a car battery for many hours. Don't do it.

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
With that, using the FORD charger, will that 20 amps on a 120v be enough to charge my Mach E overnight to 90%? I ask because that 10 amps took days. Landlords won't have access to my appartment. Should I switch it out anyways if there is the right gage wire and amps available in my box anyways?

It totally depends on how much juice you use in a day. If your daily drive is short, 120V~ charging should be fine over night. If you have a 30 or more mile trip one way to work, you will not have enough time over night to fully recharge.

Why would you be changing the outlet anyway? The Ford Mobile Charger uses a plug designed for up to 15A. The 20A plug or receptacle is different and requires larger gauge wire than a 15A circuit.

 

[SightUp]

I saw in the box. It's a 20 amp that is there right now.

 

[AKgrampy]

I saw in the box. It's a 20 amp that is there right now.

It really does not matter about the breaker size except for safety. The mobile charger either charges at approximately 3 mi per hour at 120V or 20 mi per hour at 240V. So if the outlet you are referring to is a 120V outlet your car will charge at 3 mi per hour. If that is not fast enough then you will have to use public charging. If you have access to a 240V outlet you can charge at 20 mi per hour which should be sufficient. Charging at Apartments, in my opinion, is one of the major issues for widespread EV adoption. DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM!

 

[SightUp]

What if I got a secondary charger?

 

[AKgrampy]

What if I got a secondary charger?

What is a secondary charger? It really comes down to voltage of the charger. Many 240V chargers can have their current draw set at various levels. The Ford mobile charger, to the best of my knowledge, is not programmable.

 

[SightUp]

Sorry, I mean a 3rd party charger. I have a ChargePoint one.

 

[AKgrampy]

Sorry, I mean a 3rd party charger. I have a ChargePoint one.

Once again it comes down to voltage. My ChargePoint is 240V and plugs into a NEMA 14-50 socket. What type of socket is available at your apartment? I would doubt it is a 240V socket. I guess to clarify is the socket you are referring to at the apartment located inside or outside the apartment?

 

[SightUp]

It's located inside a dedicated garage. It's, right now, a standard wall plug.

 

[AKgrampy]

It's located inside a dedicated garage. It's, right now, a standard wall plug.

If your ChargePoint can plug into the existing 120V socket then you should refer to your manual but at 120V I doubt you could get much more than the 3 mi per hour charging rate I mentioned earlier. Basically Level 1 charging. I guess my suggestion would be to see if a 240v outlet could be installed if you need greater charging than 30 - 36 miles of overnight charging.

 

[CHeil402]

When you're charging on 120 V, you're simply limited by current. Most US "standard" outlets (NEMA 5-15) are rated for 15 A max at 120 V. You may go up to 20 A max if they use the 'sideways' plug (NEMA 5-20) in the outlet which also means the outlet has a dedicated 20 A breaker not also used for another outlet. This is independent of charger. You also have to de-rate by 80% for continuous loads.

Essentially, if you want to charge faster than the "3 mi/hour" rate of the Ford charger, it's not a charger problem, it's a 120 V problem and you'll need to go into 240 V outlet territory to improve upon it. The NEMA 14-50 is the plug the Ford charger uses, but you can get third-party chargers that use others.

The power delivered to the car is voltage x current. So when on a "standard" outlet you're simply limited to 120 V x 15 A x 80% = 1.44 kW. The best you can get with the NEMA 14-50 outlet is 240 V x 50 A x 80% = 9.6 kW which is ~650% more power which is why it charges faster.

 

[Dave-O]

I made a post a week or two ago about needing help with charging. Since then I have brushed up a bit on some basics. I have since upgraded to a 30 amp breaker and my car is charging soooo much better than my 10 amp breaker. I do not even need a 50 amp.

My living situation is about to change. I am going to be moving into a new apartment in two months that only has a 20 amp breaker. I haven't yet seen behind the wall socket or what amps are available otherwise in the box. They are not allowing me to change the plug because, "It WILL cause a fire." Well, from what I now know, it will just trip a breaker in my apartment and not cause a fire assuming wiring is done correctly.

With that, using the FORD charger, will that 20 amps on a 120v be enough to charge my Mach E overnight to 90%? I ask because that 10 amps took days. Landlords won't have access to my appartment. Should I switch it out anyways if there is the right gage wire and amps available in my box anyways?

You have lots of reading to do. Lots and lots of it

 

[SightUp]

I guess so but what Cheil said is making sense.

 

[AKgrampy]

I guess so but what Cheil said is making sense.

Exactly! Need a 240V outlet to attain Level 2 charging. Think of the outlet/wiring as a hose. 120V is a garden hose and 240V is a firehouse. Limited flow in garden hose but plenty in a fire hose!

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