110 v charging options

[Elmst-e]

We will be moving to a retirement community this fall. We will be able to garage the Mach-e but wil not have access to a 220 v source.
110 charging will be fine for our driving needs and we do have a 110 outlet with the door opener. Our ’22 came with the mobile charger and I will start using this. Is it a reasonable long term evse? should I consider a more robust unit? I don’t see many 110 chargers on the market. Comments and suggestions are appreciate.

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[Maquis]

Most portable EVSEs can charge at both 120 and 240 volts. The downside is that you will pay for capabilities you don’t need.

The J+Booster units get very good reviews, but they’re pricey.

 

[RickMachE]

It is not a long term solution, no. However, it will last longer in 110 mode. Your garage door opener outlet, if on the ceiling, will require you to mount the charger bracket on the ceiling.

 

[ShadowTheHedgehog]

I've had my Mach E for about a month now and been charging daily with the 120V/240V mobile charger the car came with and have no issues to speak of (also plugged into the 15A garage door opener circuit, but my landlord ran a line from top of the garage ceiling to the side wall for power tool use). I did limit my power draw to 12A in the app so I don't trip the breaker and currently use 10% per day on work commute and charge about 15% everyday so there's a net positive.
I feel like there are a lot of decent options on Amazon (Ford mobile charger is too expensive for what it is, in my opinion), but I cannot make any specific suggestions as I have not personally used them. You can most likely see what has good reviews and go with that one.
I also did not mount my charger on the wall and just left it on the ground (call it laziness), and I've had no issues, but I will probably mount it after I move next year.

 

[4sallypat]

If your garage has the 20A circuit, consider getting a 15A 120V charger.

I used to have the DuoSida from Amazon and plugged it into my NEMA 5-20R and getting about 20% more output.

 

[RickMachE]

I've had my Mach E for about a month now and been charging daily with the 120V/240V mobile charger the car came with and have no issues to speak of (also plugged into the 15A garage door opener circuit, but my landlord ran a line from top of the garage ceiling to the side wall for power tool use). I did limit my power draw to 12A in the app so I don't trip the breaker and currently use 10% per day on work commute and charge about 15% everyday so there's a net positive.
I feel like there are a lot of decent options on Amazon (Ford mobile charger is too expensive for what it is, in my opinion), but I cannot make any specific suggestions as I have not personally used them. You can most likely see what has good reviews and go with that one.
I also did not mount my charger on the wall and just left it on the ground (call it laziness), and I've had no issues, but I will probably mount it after I move next year.

You cannot do what you stated. The Ford Mobile Charger has zero ability to limit the power draw. Yes, you can buy other chargers that have apps that do that, but the Ford Mobile Charger has no app, and the vehicle cannot limit what it pulls.

Edit - apparently the 2025 can limit power.

 

[E90alex]

…and the vehicle cannot limit what it pulls.

Only the 2025 can for now. Hopefully they update older cars with that ability.

 

[ShadowTheHedgehog]

You cannot do what you stated. The Ford Mobile Charger has zero ability to limit the power draw. Yes, you can buy other chargers that have apps that do that, but the Ford Mobile Charger has no app, and the vehicle cannot limit what it pulls.

Maybe it's a new feature? I can limit the amperage on both the car touchscreen (I have a 2025 model) and via the Fordpass app. More of a reason to buy other chargers!

 

[Maquis]

I've had my Mach E for about a month now and been charging daily with the 120V/240V mobile charger the car came with and have no issues to speak of (also plugged into the 15A garage door opener circuit, but my landlord ran a line from top of the garage ceiling to the side wall for power tool use). I did limit my power draw to 12A in the app so I don't trip the breaker and currently use 10% per day on work commute and charge about 15% everyday so there's a net positive.
I feel like there are a lot of decent options on Amazon (Ford mobile charger is too expensive for what it is, in my opinion), but I cannot make any specific suggestions as I have not personally used them. You can most likely see what has good reviews and go with that one.
I also did not mount my charger on the wall and just left it on the ground (call it laziness), and I've had no issues, but I will probably mount it after I move next year.

The car won’t draw more than 12A on 120V.

 

[Mach-Lee]

We will be moving to a retirement community this fall. We will be able to garage the Mach-e but wil not have access to a 220 v source.
110 charging will be fine for our driving needs and we do have a 110 outlet with the door opener. Our ’22 came with the mobile charger and I will start using this. Is it a reasonable long term evse? should I consider a more robust unit? I don’t see many 110 chargers on the market. Comments and suggestions are appreciate.

Did you check with the landlord or HOA regarding whether you can charge an EV in the garage? They may have rules against it. Some garages use shared circuits for the garage door opener outlets, this means you cannot charge an EV on it because it could overload the circuit which was only designed for occasional opener use (e.g. six garages share one circuit).

Also it should be established who is paying for the electricity coming out of that outlet, in some cases it is metered to the landlord, so by charging an EV you would be committing electricity theft.

If the garage is detached from your unit, there’s a good chance the landlord pays the bill, which is a problem.

You should investigate these before signing to moving into that place. I’ve heard numerous stories of people thinking they could L1 charge in an apartment or multifamily garage situation, only to find out the landlord prohibited it and they now cannot charge their EV anymore.

What you want to see is a breaker in your panel for the garage that you can shut off, and verify it kills power to the outlets in the garage. Then you know that circuit is connected to your panel only (not shared) and you’ll pay the bill.

 

[Elmst-e]

Did you check with the landlord or HOA regarding whether you can charge an EV in the garage? They may have rules against it. Some garages use shared circuits for the garage door opener outlets, this means you cannot charge an EV on it because it could overload the circuit which was only designed for occasional opener use (e.g. six garages share one circuit).

Also it should be established who is paying for the electricity coming out of that outlet, in some cases it is metered to the landlord, so by charging an EV you would be committing electricity theft.

If the garage is detached from your unit, there’s a good chance the landlord pays the bill, which is a problem.

You should investigate these before signing to moving into that place. I’ve heard numerous stories of people thinking they could L1 charge in an apartment or multifamily garage situation, only to find out the landlord prohibited it and they now cannot charge their EV anymore.

What do you want to see is a breaker in your panel for the garage that you can shut off, and verify it kills power to the outlets in the garage. Then you know that circuit is connected to your panel only (not shared) and you’ll pay the bill.

Checked it out ahead of time. We will be charged $30 a month for power, which is quite reasonable. It’s a strong circuit which powers a whole bank of openers, don’t know exact amperage but the low amp draw of the charger will be fine.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Checked it out ahead of time. We will be charged $30 a month for power, which is quite reasonable. It’s a strong circuit which powers a whole bank of openers, don’t know exact amperage but the low amp draw of the charger will be fine.

OK. Hopefully it’s a 20A circuit. The Mach-E will draw 12A, openers are about 6A, so if more than one opener is in use while charging, the breaker may trip. Now everyone is POed about their doors not opening, and you might not be able to charge again. Even worse if it’s a 15A circuit. Hopefully it’s okay, but that’s why I strongly advocate for dedicated EV charging circuits.

 

[Trielectric]

US History: 110vac was used when most light bulb filaments would fail sooner, if voltage was higher than 110vac. Our light bulbs of today are capable of a long life at 120vac. Running the electrical grid at 120vac is more efficient than running it at 110vac. If your voltage is at 110vac in your house, you are a long way from a transformer and /or your grid is overloaded. House's built today are designed for 120 & 240vac. A few old holdouts are 3 phase 120vac & 208vac in the US.

 

[ChrisO]

When we first got our Mach-E we used that Ford mobile charger that we got with the car on a 120V 15-amp circuit. And like Mach-Lee said it was drawing 12A, which was pushing it a bit (20A would have been better), and for the most part it worked fine. But then the circuit breaker popped, and I realized there was only one circuit in the garage, and the garage door was on that circuit too.

So, we really needed a new circuit put in, and since that we were going to have to do that, we just decided to put in a 240v circuit. We are still using the Ford mobile charger for this.

Some people have had bad luck with the Ford mobile charger, and others it works fine. My take on it is to use it until I have a problem with it and then decide on getting a different/better one.

So, if you do go the 120V way you have to make sure it is either a 20A or that nothing else is on that circuit.

BTW just for reference. I seriously doubt it is really 110V, most likely 120V. The terms 110, 120, 125, ... all pretty much refer to the same thing, the charger will work with any of these. The actual voltage is not "fixed". It can vary somewhat, but another thing that confuses the issue is if you look at a given plug what you might be looking at is the "rated voltage", which is what voltage the plug was design to handle normally.

 

[TRP]

I am currently limited to charging on a 120v outlet as well. Electrical upgrade coming soon....ish.

Anyway, been charging like this since mid January with the Ford mobile charger and have had zero issues. I am Fords included charger is not the best solution but....here I am ?‍

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