Have a 11 Year Old Siemens Level II Charger - work ok for Mach E?

[Panzer948]

I am not new to the EV world but do feel like times have changed drastically since I bought my first EV 11 years ago. This was back in the day when your only option was the Tesla roadster, Nissan Leaf, and Chevy Volt. The latter was our choice but it's finally time to retire it for a full EV with great range and modern tech/performance. That being said, I think Chevy really dropped the ball on marketing the Volt as they failed to educate the general public that range anxiety is not a problem since it literally was two cars in one (EV first, ICE second). If they had, more people may have been comfortable with the EV transition. Due to so much misinformation out there, which the media fueled, it was a losing battle; comments like "Obama Car", golf cart, and a couple of keyed doors come to mind.... I take very good care of all my cars but our Volt sadly has the scars of some of this negative energy. I hope times are better now since EVs are finally becoming more mainstream. Sometimes I like to think I helped pave the way for others to accept them down the road...

My question is about our 11 year old Siemens charger, which was actually installed for free by our local utility company who started a program in 2011 to monitor how people charged there new EVs (note the stubby antenna on top right). I was the first customer to sign up for this 1 year program so they had the local news come out and do a story on the home charger and our new Volt. After one year of monitoring, we got to keep the charger! Anyway, long time ago.

This is a 220 volt Siemens Charger (Model # 8EM1111) and charges our Volt in half the time of the standard 110 volt charger. Does anyone use this type of charger with their new Mach E? It has the standard J1772 plug but wasn't sure if it would take longer to charge than a more "modern" Level II charger. Just trying to see if I it is worth upgrading this or not.

BTW, we will be selling our Volt between now and delivery at a good price. It gets 32 or so miles on EV but then another 300 miles on gas (if you need it). Most of our daily commutes were well within its EV range so we have the same gas in it since April...

 

[Maquis]

Somewhere on the nameplate or in the manual, there should be a KW or charging amp rating. That tells you the answer. For reference, the included Ford Mobile Charger is 30A or 7.2 KW (nominal figures).

Edit - I did a bit of research and it seems these are 7.2KW rating. So the same charge rate as the FMC. If it’s worked for 11 years, I’d keep using it. It may outlast the FMC you get with the car, based on many reports on here!

 

[Garbone]

Assuming it has a J1772 connection it should work.

 

[kdonnel]

According to this page it is 7.2 kWh capable.

https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/att...rgers-also-thanks-to-vintc.11211/#post-114958

Unless you often run the car to 0% and need it to be 100% the next morning, 7.2 kWh is more than enough. I charge at 5.7 kWh and have never run into a situation where I wished I was charging faster.

 

[SnBGC]

I am not new to the EV world but do feel like times have changed drastically since I bought my first EV 11 years ago. This was back in the day when your only option was the Tesla roadster, Nissan Leaf, and Chevy Volt. The latter was our choice but it's finally time to retire it for a full EV with great range and modern tech/performance. That being said, I think Chevy really dropped the ball on marketing the Volt as they failed to educate the general public that range anxiety is not a problem since it literally was two cars in one (EV first, ICE second). If they had, more people may have been comfortable with the EV transition. Due to so much misinformation out there, which the media fueled, it was a losing battle; comments like "Obama Car", golf cart, and a couple of keyed doors come to mind.... I take very good care of all my cars but our Volt sadly has the scars of some of this negative energy. I hope times are better now since EVs are finally becoming more mainstream. Sometimes I like to think I helped pave the way for others to accept them down the road...

My question is about our 11 year old Siemens charger, which was actually installed for free by our local utility company who started a program in 2011 to monitor how people charged there new EVs (note the stubby antenna on top right). I was the first customer to sign up for this 1 year program so they had the local news come out and do a story on the home charger and our new Volt. After one year of monitoring, we got to keep the charger! Anyway, long time ago.

This is a 220 volt Siemens Charger (Model # 8EM1111) and charges our Volt in half the time of the standard 110 volt charger. Does anyone use this type of charger with their new Mach E? It has the standard J1772 plug but wasn't sure if it would take longer to charge than a more "modern" Level II charger. Just trying to see if I it is worth upgrading this or not.

BTW, we will be selling our Volt between now and delivery at a good price. It gets 32 or so miles on EV but then another 300 miles on gas (if you need it). Most of our daily commutes were well within its EV range so we have the same gas in it since April...

It will be great for your Mach-E.
My brother has a Siemens for his Mach-E, as does my niece for her Focus Electric and my son uses a Siemens for his Fiat 500e.

 

[Panzer948]

Somewhere on the nameplate or in the manual, there should be a KW or charging amp rating. That tells you the answer. For reference, the included Ford Mobile Charger is 30A or 7.2 KW (nominal figures).

Edit - I did a bit of research and it seems these are 7.2KW rating. So the same charge rate as the FMC. If it’s worked for 11 years, I’d keep using it. It may outlast the FMC you get with the car, based on many reports on here!

Great news. And I had no idea the included Ford Mobile Charger was a Level II. I just assumed it would be Level I since that is all we got with the Volt back in the day. So good to know as well!

 

[Panzer948]

According to this page it is 7.2 kWh capable.

https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/att...rgers-also-thanks-to-vintc.11211/#post-114958

Unless you often run the car to 0% and need it to be 100% the next morning, 7.2 kWh is more than enough. I charge at 5.7 kWh and have never run into a situation where I wished I was charging faster.

Wow, small world. That link you posted is actually talking about the program I got my charger through (I am in NC and a Duke Energy customer). Although based on the dates of those posts, I got mine installed prior to them. I also recall positing to the Gm-volt message board about it so I have something buried on that forum somewhere. But yeah, those responses are very accurate as it was a very positive experience and it was a 2 year program not 1. I also recall now paying $250 at the end to own it outright, which was a good deal overall. Thanks for the memories!

 

[Maquis]

Great news. And I had no idea the included Ford Mobile Charger was a Level II. I just assumed it would be Level I since that is all we got with the Volt back in the day. So good to know as well!

The FMC comes with two plugs, a 14-50 for L2 and a standard 5-15 for L1. It’s great to leave in the car for occasional use when traveling, but several have reported overheating issues when used as an everyday charger. Sounds like you’re all set!

 

[Panzer948]

The FMC comes with two plugs, a 14-50 for L2 and a standard 5-15 for L1. It’s great to leave in the car for occasional use when traveling, but several have reported overheating issues when used as an everyday charger. Sounds like you’re all set!

I am almost not surprised the included charger has issues. Although you would think there would be lessons learned over the years, even if from different companies. Same thing happened with our included GM Level I Charger. I learned the hard way to never use a cheap splitter or extension cord with it. Actually, I was such an early adapter that I had GM Engineers reach out to me and ask for me to mail them the splitter my charger melted. Maybe they changed the recommendations on what was ok to use with it after that.

Back then (still 2011), even the few public charging stations had issues. I went to one brand new public charging station in downtown Charlotte only to have it discharge my battery dry and cause error codes. Luckily I could get home on my ICE generator engine but if that has been a Leaf or early Tesla, it would have been bad news. But it did cause problems with my car so I had to take it to the dealer to fix it under warranty. That was such a big deal that GM Engineers went after the owner of the charger (Nations Bank). But that's another story.

 

[Maquis]

I am almost not surprised the included charger has issues. Although you would think there would be lessons learned over the years, even if from different companies. Same thing happened with our included GM Level I Charger. I learned the hard way to never use a cheap splitter or extension cord with it. Actually, I was such an early adapter that I had GM Engineers reach out to me and ask for me to mail them the splitter my charger melted. Maybe they changed the recommendations on what was ok to use with it after that.

Back then (still 2011), even the few public charging stations had issues. I went to one brand new public charging station in downtown Charlotte only to have it discharge my battery dry and cause error codes. Luckily I could get home on my ICE generator engine but if that has been a Leaf or early Tesla, it would have been bad news. But it did cause problems with my car so I had to take it to the dealer to fix it under warranty. That was such a big deal that GM Engineers went after the owner of the charger (Nations Bank). But that's another story.

To be fair, not everyone has had issues. But enough that most of us are wary.

 

[BigMach-E]

My FMC has been pretty flawless thus far. I have had maybe about 5 times that it errored out over almost a year and a half of use. It has always been a simple unplug, check connection of pigtail, plug back in to fix. It's my only EVSE.

That Seimens looks like a nice unit, though. When equipment is built in small batch runs, it tends to hold up better over time.

Minor note is that my electrician is really good, and my 220 install was done well (and right next to the breaker box), and my FMC has an substantial air gap behind it from how I mounted it.

 

[SnBGC]

My FMC has been pretty flawless thus far. I have had maybe about 5 times that it errored out over almost a year and a half of use. It has always been a simple unplug, check connection of pigtail, plug back in to fix. It's my only EVSE.

That Seimens looks like a nice unit, though. When equipment is built in small batch runs, it tends to hold up better over time.

Minor note is that my electrician is really good, and my 220 install was done well (and right next to the breaker box), and my FMC has an substantial air gap behind it from how I mounted it.

I would argue that "flawless" isn't the best description. But yeah, when they cool down then they normally function again.....until the next time they overheat. Then repeat. That is the nature of portable EVSE units. This issue isn't unique to Webasto...

 

[Mach-Lee]

I am not new to the EV world but do feel like times have changed drastically since I bought my first EV 11 years ago. This was back in the day when your only option was the Tesla roadster, Nissan Leaf, and Chevy Volt. The latter was our choice but it's finally time to retire it for a full EV with great range and modern tech/performance. That being said, I think Chevy really dropped the ball on marketing the Volt as they failed to educate the general public that range anxiety is not a problem since it literally was two cars in one (EV first, ICE second). If they had, more people may have been comfortable with the EV transition. Due to so much misinformation out there, which the media fueled, it was a losing battle; comments like "Obama Car", golf cart, and a couple of keyed doors come to mind.... I take very good care of all my cars but our Volt sadly has the scars of some of this negative energy. I hope times are better now since EVs are finally becoming more mainstream. Sometimes I like to think I helped pave the way for others to accept them down the road...

My question is about our 11 year old Siemens charger, which was actually installed for free by our local utility company who started a program in 2011 to monitor how people charged there new EVs (note the stubby antenna on top right). I was the first customer to sign up for this 1 year program so they had the local news come out and do a story on the home charger and our new Volt. After one year of monitoring, we got to keep the charger! Anyway, long time ago.

This is a 220 volt Siemens Charger (Model # 8EM1111) and charges our Volt in half the time of the standard 110 volt charger. Does anyone use this type of charger with their new Mach E? It has the standard J1772 plug but wasn't sure if it would take longer to charge than a more "modern" Level II charger. Just trying to see if I it is worth upgrading this or not.

BTW, we will be selling our Volt between now and delivery at a good price. It gets 32 or so miles on EV but then another 300 miles on gas (if you need it). Most of our daily commutes were well within its EV range so we have the same gas in it since April...

Wow, a lot has changed in those 11 years. That charger is sort of the genesis of ChargePoint as a modern company. Back then they were called Coulomb Technologies and didn't sell their own hardware yet. They modified equipment and sold the software solutions to allow some of the first network managed charging. That is an early Siemens branded unit before they took over their own branding.

I think the Leaf and the Volt in 2010 were the first vehicles to use the new J1772 charge port standard. Still in use today and for a long time in the future. It will be a good experiment to see how long it lasts. As pointed out it's only a 7.2 kW charger, the Mach-E can charge at up to 11.5 kW. It should be fine but will probably get a lot more use being used at 7.2 kW vs. the 3.3 kW the old Volt draws. It sounds like you don't have your Mach-E yet, so just keep an eye on the charger temps the first time you use it since that might be the first time it's been put under a heavy load.

 

[Panzer948]

Wow, a lot has changed in those 11 years. That charger is sort of the genesis of ChargePoint as a modern company. Back then they were called Coulomb Technologies and didn't sell their own hardware yet. They modified equipment and sold the software solutions to allow some of the first network managed charging. That is an early Siemens branded unit before they took over their own branding.

I think the Leaf and the Volt in 2010 were the first vehicles to use the new J1772 charge port standard. Still in use today and for a long time in the future. It will be a good experiment to see how long it lasts. As pointed out it's only a 7.2 kW charger, the Mach-E can charge at up to 11.5 kW. It should be fine but will probably get a lot more use being used at 7.2 kW vs. the 3.3 kW the old Volt draws. It sounds like you don't have your Mach-E yet, so just keep an eye on the charger temps the first time you use it since that might be the first time it's been put under a heavy load.

Thanks, I never thought of that. And that is interesting that I may have a special antique although not sure that is good or not, time will tell! Hopefully they put some good guts in the thing as back then it was so new and there was a lot of worry about fires, much so more than now. My first year of ownership they actually had us quite using them for awhile as they investigated a regional fire. I think there were 3 maybe that first year in our area that involved EVs but of course most came down to either not being the EV or something the owner did wrong. You know how media spins things. It's not as big of a news item now.

I assumed the Volt did draw 7.2Kw on a Level II since it only took 4 hours to fully charge from 0%. On my Level I, it would take about 9 hours. If it did only at 3.3, then your right, I will have to watch it very closely when I finally do get it. Thanks again.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I assumed the Volt did draw 7.2Kw on a Level II since it only took 4 hours to fully charge from 0%. On my Level I, it would take about 9 hours. If it did only at 3.3, then your right, I will have to watch it very closely when I finally do get it. Thanks again.

Yeah it was only 3.3 kW back then (later models got 7.2 kW and charged in only 2 hours). The Volt has a 10.8 kWh usable pack, the Mach-E has a 90 kWh usable pack so it takes 9x more energy to charge fully. At 7.2 kW it will take the Mach-E about 14 hours to charge from 0-100%.

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