Charger options?

[Tanbam]

I just picked up a new Mach E, but I’ve been driving a Fusion Energi for a couple of years. I’ve just been using the 110V charger since the 9kW battery was able to charge to full overnight. t’s not cutting it with the Mustang, though.

My wife and I will be alternating commutes with the two cars. She works about 10 miles from home, but I drive 50 miles each way. I have access to a free Level 2 charger at work, so if it were only me driving, I could keep it topped up there. Power is pretty cheap in my area, so I’d like to install a Level 2 at home.

I realize that there are quite a few threads here, but I think my install would be a little more challenging. I’m an electrical engineer, but I’m not an electrician...

My circuit breaker panel is outside located about 10 feet away from my garage. Unfortunately, it’s completely filled up. I did see that one of the breakers is not connected to anything, but that’s the only free slot. All of the breakers installed are dual except for one.

Also, my home has an 18kW tankless heater, so I’m worried about what might happen if the the electric range, the electric dryer, and the Mustang charger are all on at the same time and someone decides that they want to take a shower. My breaker has a 200A main breaker, but I don’t know what my service is. The hot water heater pulls 80A every time someone opens a faucet.

I think that the best solution would be if I could have some automatic switch on one of the two 220V water heater feeds that would turn off the charger when the hot water tank comes off would be the best way to do this, but I’m not sure if there is something that would work for this. I’ve seen the dryerbuddy gadgets, but my dryer is pretty far from the garage. The water heater is in the back of my garage, but we usually park outside, so it’s a pretty long run. The water heater is hardwired, so there’s no plug that I could easily bypass with the dryerbuddy.

Does anyone have any advice on what would be a good solution? I thought about installing a sub panel, but since my breaker box is full, I don’t know how I could split the power out of it.

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[TruWrecks]

You can install a 15-50 socket on a 50A or 60A breaker and use the included charger to get a full charge over night.

Or look at the Grizzl-E Classic EVSE.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Ask an electrician to help you analyze your load. You might be fine. And he or she can also give you a quote for running the new circuit for you.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

You have some options....

One option would be to upgrade the service to your house from 200amp to 325amp and get a new/bigger service panel.

Another option is that you can (and probably should) schedule the charging window so that it happens at night when it is extremely unlikely that someone would be running the water, oven, dryer, AC, all at the same time.

Another option is to limit the charge rate. Many Level 2 chargers (my ChargePoint does this as does my Ford Connected Charge Station) let me dial back the charge rate via their app. This way you draw enough power to recharge by morning ...rather than an aggressive amount of power that can recharge the car in just a few hours.

E.g.

At 48 amps you get about 28-30 miles of range per hour.
At 24 amps you get about 14-15 miles of range per hour.
At 16 amps you get about 10 miles of range per hour.

So if you think that you would only need to replenish enough power to drive say ... 50 miles (because you charge at work) then even the 16 amp rate would be fast enough.

You don't have to buy a 16 amp charger ... just get a charger that lets you set the rate via the app and dial the rate up/down as needed.

 

[fixed]

i was pleasantly surprised when the electrician i hired to analyze the load told me that my 100A panel/service was enough to do everything i needed it to do. that's where i'd start.

 

[Tanbam]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I was going to try to DIY this, but I think I’m just going to call an electrician to come out.

I really don’t need this thing to charge at the maximum rate, so I’ll look into getting g a charger that I can set the rate.

 

[ncaadam]

I live in the city and in an 8 flat walk up. Each unit has a meter in the basement. Our dedicated panel is in our unit on the 2nd floor. far too expensive to route from up there down to where we park. The electrician was able to split from our meter to a sub-panel (not sure if that is the proper term for it, but it is a one switch 60A disconnect - so not really a true panel, I guess).

just want to provide my experience. we had a few electricians tell us it wasn’t possible to do what this guy did, but it passed inspection and was much cheaper than other quoted options

edit: just wanted to add we have a grizzl-e smart charger - 40A

 

[SnBGC]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I was going to try to DIY this, but I think I’m just going to call an electrician to come out.

I really don’t need this thing to charge at the maximum rate, so I’ll look into getting g a charger that I can set the rate.

Sometimes your utility company will provide your demand history over the last 12 months. That will be very helpful. If you find your demand never gets that high then you can install an L2 unit and run it on the lowest power setting that will still get you charged up by morning. Set your charging schedule to start after everyone has showered and you should be okay.

Just throwing out some ideas. Good that you are considering all the options. Sounds like you have enough to work with hopefully. Good luck!

 

[TRP]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I was going to try to DIY this, but I think I’m just going to call an electrician to come out.

I really don’t need this thing to charge at the maximum rate, so I’ll look into getting g a charger that I can set the rate.

You can always hire the electrician as a "consultant", pay him for his time to tell you what is possible and DIY it after that.

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