Charger specs for Home charging Mach e 2022

[timbop]

One more thing: because the charger will be running for hours you must set the EVSE to 80% of the breaker rating. Therefore if you do put a 50 amp breaker in, the max you can set the EVSE for is 40 amps. On a 60 amp breaker, the EVSE can't go over 48A

Sponsored

 

[Bobbyg813]

Hi

We have bought a home that is currently being built. We wanted to get the L2 electric charger installed, and we are being asked for the charger specs so that they can provide the right type of wiring.

I told them that I wanted a L2 car charger, but that drew a blank from them. They basically need exact specs.

Is it basically that we need a 240V / 48A supply we need with a NEMA 14-50 switch?

It seems that these people need the exact specs (which is fair), but I am not entirely sure what to tell them. If someone know what to tell an electrician to get the proper charger for a Mach E 2022, that would be great.

Thank you for your help.

After reading the responses here, just wanted to reiterate, you should have them install a 60 amp circuit (wiring) and a 60a breaker if you know you're going to install an EV charger. If you're only going to install a NEMA 14-50 then it has to be a 50a breaker. While you’re Mach-e might only need 50, particularly if you put in a Nema 1450, you never know what your next EV is going to be, and having the additional headroom to support expansion is definitely worthwhile. The cost difference between a 50 and 60 amp circuit is negligible And it’s a one time expense, even less, if it’s going to be rolled into your mortgage. Do it right upfront, and you will be rewarded.

 

[generaltso]

After reading the responses here, just wanted to reiterate, you should have them install a 60 amp breaker and circuit. While you’re Mach-e might only need 50, particularly if you put in a Nema 1450, you never know what your next EV is going to be

If he goes with a 14-50 outlet, the breaker needs to be kept at 50A. But it would be wise to size the wiring for a 60 circuit since breakers are a lot easier to change later than wiring is.

 

[carinquiryad]

Thank you all for your kind responses.

From what I am understanding, Ideally I should have a 60 amp breaker and circuit.

I am a tad bit confused on the hardwired vs NEMA 14-50 plug. It seems that the hardwired installation is more expensive but since it can go up to 60A it is going to be faster (perhaps also future proof). The NEMA 14-50 plug is cheaper but somewhat slower charging .

Our state does not have any incentives, but I think an energy company (NHEC) offers a $300 rebate for residential EV charging installations. (I do not know if will be the energy suppliers to our new home).

In any case, I will talk to them and see what price they come up with for each scenario. Thank you all for your help.

 

[Bobbyg813]

If he goes with a 14-50 outlet, the breaker needs to be kept at 50A. But it would be wise to size the wiring for a 60 circuit since breakers are a lot easier to change later than wiring is.

Thank you all for your kind responses.

From what I am understanding, Ideally I should have a 60 amp breaker and circuit.

I am a tad bit confused on the hardwired vs NEMA 14-50 plug. It seems that the hardwired installation is more expensive but since it can go up to 60A it is going to be faster (perhaps also future proof). The NEMA 14-50 plug is cheaper but somewhat slower charging .

Our state does not have any incentives, but I think an energy company (NHEC) offers a $300 rebate for residential EV charging installations. (I do not know if will be the energy suppliers to our new home).

In any case, I will talk to them and see what price they come up with for each scenario. Thank you all for your help.

The Nema 1450 is essentially a dryer or electric stove plug, and then you’ll have to purchase the optional cable with the Mach e in order to charge it.

leaving the wires bare means that you can install an EVSE, or electric car charger. This gives you additional features and conveniences like timed charging Wi-Fi access and others depending on the unit you purchase. It will usually allow you to charge the car a little bit quicker, and you don’t have to use the cable.


if you live in the right ZIP Code, there is a federal tax credit for up to 30% of the cost of the charger equipment and installation. Although in your case, this may be difficult to break out from the construction of the house. By all means get the EV charger if you can get the builder to include it in the price of the house, so it’s just part of your mortgage.

my recommendation would be to get the actual charger, because it will make charging at home much easier. you can do an Amazon search and find dozens of them. In fact with prime day coming up in a few days you may be able to get a great deal on one.

 

[kennethjk]

If he goes with a 14-50 outlet, the breaker needs to be kept at 50A. But it would be wise to size the wiring for a 60 circuit since breakers are a lot easier to change later than wiring is.

Isn’t the wiring size the same, 6 gauge or is the wiring for a 60 amp breaker 4 gauge?

 

[timbop]

.. have them install a 60 amp breaker and circuit...

60 amp wiring yes, but NOT a 60A breaker.

Thank you all for your kind responses.

From what I am understanding, Ideally I should have a 60 amp breaker and circuit.

I am a tad bit confused on the hardwired vs NEMA 14-50 plug. It seems that the hardwired installation is more expensive but since it can go up to 60A it is going to be faster (perhaps also future proof). The NEMA 14-50 plug is cheaper but somewhat slower charging .

Our state does not have any incentives, but I think an energy company (NHEC) offers a $300 rebate for residential EV charging installations. (I do not know if will be the energy suppliers to our new home).

In any case, I will talk to them and see what price they come up with for each scenario. Thank you all for your help.

There's really no way to know for certain how much current an EV will be able to take 10 years from now, so in that sense you're not truly going to "future proof" for certain. However, home charging will always potentially take you hours to fully charge a depleted battery. So, you're going to have to charge overnight anyway so you might as well not worry about if future cars can take greater than 48A anyway.

 

[Maquis]

Isn’t the wiring size the same, 6 gauge or is the wiring for a 60 amp breaker 4 gauge?

Depends on the wiring method. NM-B (Romex) would need to be #4. THHN in conduit or MC cable can be #6.

 

[Maquis]

60 amp wiring yes, but NOT a 60A breaker.



There's really no way to know for certain how much current an EV will be able to take 10 years from now, so in that sense you're not truly going to "future proof" for certain. However, home charging will always potentially take you hours to fully charge a depleted battery. So, you're going to have to charge overnight anyway so you might as well not worry about if future cars can take greater than 48A anyway.

The F150 Lightning with the ER battery can charge at 80A today. Thus my previous suggestion to install a 1” conduit which can easily handle a 100A circuit even if only pulling wires for 60A now. You’re right, nothing is 100% future-proof, but I’d give high odds that a 100A circuit will still be adequate in 10 years.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Tell them to install a 50A range outlet (NEMA 14-50) on a 50A breaker. That should ring a bell for any electrician.

If you can, ask the electrician to run the wires in conduit so they can be upgraded to bigger in the future. Some day you may want to upgrade from a 50A to 100A circuit for charging, or have multiple EVs charging at night.

It is likely the OP will want to use a 48A charger; so a 60A circuit makes more sense as a minimum. If I were having a new house built, I would install a 100A circuit to cover up to an 80A charger in the future.

Thank you all for your kind responses.

From what I am understanding, Ideally I should have a 60 amp breaker and circuit.

I am a tad bit confused on the hardwired vs NEMA 14-50 plug. It seems that the hardwired installation is more expensive but since it can go up to 60A it is going to be faster (perhaps also future proof). The NEMA 14-50 plug is cheaper but somewhat slower charging .

Our state does not have any incentives, but I think an energy company (NHEC) offers a $300 rebate for residential EV charging installations. (I do not know if will be the energy suppliers to our new home).

In any case, I will talk to them and see what price they come up with for each scenario. Thank you all for your help.

Do yourself a favor and watch these two videos:

 

[ChasingCoral]

The F150 Lightning with the ER battery can charge at 80A today. Thus my previous suggestion to install a 1” conduit which can easily handle a 100A circuit even if only pulling wires for 60A now. You’re right, nothing is 100% future-proof, but I’d give high odds that a 100A circuit will still be adequate in 10 years.

IIRC The Silverado and Lyric both charge at 80A as well. It’s best to think about what charging is like when all your vehicles are EVs.

 

[EVCheese]

Having literally just done this, first you need juice to your main box. We have 240V service at 200A. The rest of our appliances are on a sub panel.

From there we have a 50A breaker (apparently latest code calls for GFCI breakers) leading to a NEMA 14-50 outlet. Then I just got a dumb charger that pulls 40A max and plugged it in. (City code will allow a charger that pulls 80% of the breaker rating.) I get about 30mi charge in 1 hour.

If I really wanted to charge faster, I could go hard-wired: our city code requires anything more than 50A to not use the NEMA 14-50 outlet. I'd then get a breaker that could take 60A or more, then set up the charger to pull more than 40A.

(I went with the plug-in charger because then I can swap chargers in a few years. i.e. we all standardize on NACS.)

(Also with my driving style I do max about 85mi in a day. That only takes up about 30% of my standard range battery. It takes about 2.5 hours to go from 60% back to 90%. I start at 12:00AM for better rates.)

 

[RickMachE]

True, it is easy to swap out breakers, but


The Nema 1450 is essentially a dryer or electric stove plug, and then you’ll have to purchase the optional cable with the Mach e in order to charge it.

leaving the wires bare means that you can install an EVSE, or electric car charger. This gives you additional features and conveniences like timed charging Wi-Fi access and others depending on the unit you purchase. It will usually allow you to charge the car a little bit quicker, and you don’t have to use the cable.


if you live in the right ZIP Code, there is a federal tax credit for up to 30% of the cost of the charger equipment and installation. Although in your case, this may be difficult to break out from the construction of the house. By all means get the EV charger if you can get the builder to include it in the price of the house, so it’s just part of your mortgage.

my recommendation would be to get the actual charger, because it will make charging at home much easier. you can do an Amazon search and find dozens of them. In fact with prime day coming up in a few days you may be able to get a great deal on one.

Do not get the EV charger included in the price of the house, or any cost for the wiring, you will get no tax credit. It has to be itemized, although if it was listed in the house purchase options that would probably be sufficient.

The federal tax credit of 30% has nothing to do with zipcode. It covers wiring and EV charger purchase. The credit is up to $1,000, i.e. spending up to $3,333.33.

There is also a new tax credit of 30%, up to $600, for panel upgrade. Make sure you and your electrician understand it. https://www.energystar.gov/about/federal_tax_credits/electric_panel_upgrade

Most people are uncomfortable wiring things. Having the charger wired by the electrician when they do the install should be minimal cost. We bought our first EV charger from the electrician who was an authorized distributor for JuiceBox and he matched the then current sale price.

 

[Bobbyg813]

Do not get the EV charger included in the price of the house, or any cost for the wiring, you will get no tax credit. It has to be itemized, although if it was listed in the house purchase options that would probably be sufficient.

The federal tax credit of 30% has nothing to do with zipcode. It covers wiring and EV charger purchase. The credit is up to $1,000, i.e. spending up to $3,333.33.

There is also a new tax credit of 30%, up to $600, for panel upgrade. Make sure you and your electrician understand it. https://www.energystar.gov/about/federal_tax_credits/electric_panel_upgrade

Most people are uncomfortable wiring things. Having the charger wired by the electrician when they do the install should be minimal cost. We bought our first EV charger from the electrician who was an authorized distributor for JuiceBox and he matched the then current sale price.

It's new construction so the panel upgrade credit doesn't apply.

Also be very careful if you're expecting a Federal tax credit for the EVSE. When the IRA took effect the feds changed the requirements for 26 U.S. Code § 30C - Alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit. The revision to 30C adds the following language:

Must be installed in an eligible census tract which is not in an Urban area and where the poverty rate is at least 20%. See applicable language below. The IRS was going to do an address lookup function but it hasn't been published yet so you're on your own for now to determine if you qualify.

(B)Eligible census tract

(i)In generalFor purposes of this paragraph, the term “eligible census tract” means any population census tract which—
(I) is described in section 45D(e), or
(II) is not an urban area.
(ii)Urban area

For purposes of clause (i)(II), the term “urban area” means a census tract (as defined by the Bureau of the Census) which, according to the most recent decennial census, has been designated as an urban area by the Secretary of Commerce.

45D(e) says:

(e)Low-income community
For purposes of this section—
(1)In general
The term “low-income community” means any population census tract if—
(A)the poverty rate for such tract is at least 20 percent, or
(B)
(i)in the case of a tract not located within a metropolitan area, the median family income for such tract does not exceed 80 percent of statewide median family income, or
(ii)in the case of a tract located within a metropolitan area, the median family income for such tract does not exceed 80 percent of the greater of statewide median family income or the metropolitan area median family income.

Subparagraph (B) shall be applied using possessionwide median family income in the case of census tracts located within a possession of the United States.

 

[RickMachE]

It's new construction so the panel upgrade credit doesn't apply.

Also be very careful if you're expecting a Federal tax credit for the EVSE. When the IRA took effect the feds changed the requirements for 26 U.S. Code § 30C - Alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit. The revision to 30C adds the following language:

Must be installed in an eligible census tract which is not in an Urban area and where the poverty rate is at least 20%. See applicable language below. The IRS was going to do an address lookup function but it hasn't been published yet so you're on your own for now to determine if you qualify.

(B)Eligible census tract

(i)In generalFor purposes of this paragraph, the term “eligible census tract” means any population census tract which—
(I) is described in section 45D(e), or
(II) is not an urban area.
(ii)Urban area

For purposes of clause (i)(II), the term “urban area” means a census tract (as defined by the Bureau of the Census) which, according to the most recent decennial census, has been designated as an urban area by the Secretary of Commerce.

45D(e) says:

(e)Low-income community
For purposes of this section—
(1)In general
The term “low-income community” means any population census tract if—
(A)the poverty rate for such tract is at least 20 percent, or
(B)
(i)in the case of a tract not located within a metropolitan area, the median family income for such tract does not exceed 80 percent of statewide median family income, or
(ii)in the case of a tract located within a metropolitan area, the median family income for such tract does not exceed 80 percent of the greater of statewide median family income or the metropolitan area median family income.

Subparagraph (B) shall be applied using possessionwide median family income in the case of census tracts located within a possession of the United States.

This is for commercial installations, not private homes.

https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/10513

Sponsored