Home Charging Options

[barryvo]

I am looking to purchase a 40amp level 2 home charger? I have time as my projected MME arrival date is Dec. The electrician is coming over next month to install a 240 volts 50 amps outlet.

Any suggestions? I might try using the Ford mobile charger at first and see how it does. We thought of getting a direct wired charger drawing 48 amps and requiring a 60 amp breaker but think that is overkill.

I am new to the EV world and am open to suggestions. Feel free to post a link to a thread if this has been previously addressed. I did a search and could not find it.

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[Texas-E]

My advice is to check with your local electric utility to see if they offer any incentives. Some have highly discounted models or have programs that give you bill credits.

ChargePoint and JuiceBox are good brands, but there are many others out there that are as good or better. I'd also recommend having your electrician check to see if you can support a 60amp circuit. It isn't needed, but you might wish you had it later for the lower addtional cost now. I went with a direct wired ChargePoint. I have a 60 amp circuit that my Chargepoint operates at 48 amps. You can always use less, but you might wish that you occasionally had a faster changing option.

I even had 4 gauge wire pulled, so I have the option of a larger circuit in the future. Overkill? Yep, but I figured for the slight additional cost, which is offset somewhat by the federal tax credit, it was worth it for me.

If you had a usable circuit, I don't think upgrading it now would be worth the hassle, though.

 

[barryvo]

My advice is to check with your local electric utility to see if they offer any incentives. Some have highly discounted models or have programs that give you bill credits.

ChargePoint and JuiceBox are good brands, but there are many others out there that are as good or better. I'd also recommend having your electrician check to see if you can support a 60amp circuit. It isn't needed, but you might wish you had it later for the lower addtional cost now. I went with a direct wired ChargePoint. I have a 60 amp circuit that my Chargepoint operates at 48 amps. You can always use less, but you might wish that you occasionally had a faster changing option.

I even had 4 gauge wire pulled, so I have the option of a larger circuit in the future. Overkill? Yep, but I figured for the slight additional cost, which is offset somewhat by the federal tax credit, it was worth it for me.

If you had a usable circuit, I don't think upgrading it now would be worth the hassle, though.

Thank you for the information. Nevada has no incentive programs. The power company kind of does but not anything good.

 

[EELinneman]

I am looking to purchase a 40amp level 2 home charger? I have time as my projected MME arrival date is Dec. The electrician is coming over next month to install a 240 volts 50 amps outlet.

Any suggestions? I might try using the Ford mobile charger at first and see how it does. We thought of getting a direct wired charger drawing 48 amps and requiring a 60 amp breaker but think that is overkill.

I am new to the EV world and am open to suggestions. Feel free to post a link to a thread if this has been previously addressed. I did a search and could not find it.

I too have a car arriving....someday. Fingers crossed!

We also had a new 50 amp circuit installed and an electrician wire an outlet in our garage. I happened to stumble on a sale of the Juice Box at Costco and ordered from them. It's installed, powered, ready to go! Now, to get a car....

Personally, with the problems people have reported with the Ford chargers, I went with one of the major brands when it happened to be on sale. The plug is the standard J1772 so will charge anything that is an EV. Details on that can be found here:
https://chargehub.com/en/electric-car-charging-guide.html

If you ever need to solve insomnia, this is a great start. Plus, you will know more than you want about EV charging:
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/technical-articles/four-ev-charging-modes-iec61851-standard/

 

[barryvo]

I too have a car arriving....someday. Fingers crossed!

We also had a new 50 amp circuit installed and an electrician wire an outlet in our garage. I happened to stumble on a sale of the Juice Box at Costco and ordered from them. It's installed, powered, ready to go! Now, to get a car....

Personally, with the problems people have reported with the Ford chargers, I went with one of the major brands when it happened to be on sale. The plug is the standard J1772 so will charge anything that is an EV. Details on that can be found here:
https://chargehub.com/en/electric-car-charging-guide.html

If you ever need to solve insomnia, this is a great start. Plus, you will know more than you want about EV charging:
https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/technical-articles/four-ev-charging-modes-iec61851-standard/

Are there known problems with the Ford Mobile Charger? I was not aware of any.

 

[EELinneman]

Are there known problems with the Ford Mobile Charger? I was not aware of any.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/29/...harge-station-sales-halt-issue-mustang-mach-e

Plus the current thread from the electrician regarding the dip switches, labeling and settings.

I just prefer someone who has to get this right to stay in business. Honestly, Ford doesn't and now with the Lightning in the works, their focus will shift to getting ready for that. The current charger will be EOL before too long in my opinion.

 

[timbop]

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/29/...harge-station-sales-halt-issue-mustang-mach-e

Plus the current thread from the electrician regarding the dip switches, labeling and settings.

I just prefer someone who has to get this right to stay in business. Honestly, Ford doesn't and now with the Lightning in the works, their focus will shift to getting ready for that. The current charger will be EOL before too long in my opinion.

You are confusing the "32A mobile charger" that comes with the car with the "48A ford connected charger" that you have to buy.

The mobile charger is fine

 

[shutterbug]

Are there known problems with the Ford Mobile Charger? I was not aware of any.

I think macchiaz-o posted about mobile charger overheating in the valley of the Sun. Since you are in Vegas, that may be of interest to you.

 

[barryvo]

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/29/...harge-station-sales-halt-issue-mustang-mach-e

Plus the current thread from the electrician regarding the dip switches, labeling and settings.

I just prefer someone who has to get this right to stay in business. Honestly, Ford doesn't and now with the Lightning in the works, their focus will shift to getting ready for that. The current charger will be EOL before too long in my opinion.

Are you referring to the included mobile on or their on hold hard-wired one? I'm thinking of trying the portable one but will burn a better one. I'm thinking around Black Friday since the should arrive the middle of De

I think macchiaz-o posted about mobile charger overheating in the valley of the Sun. Since you are in Vegas, that may be of interest to you.

Thank you, overheating is a concern here on days like today.

 

[shutterbug]

Are you referring to the included mobile on or their on hold hard-wired one? I'm thinking of trying the portable one but will burn a better one. I'm thinking around Black Friday since the should arrive the middle of De

Thank you, overheating is a concern here on days like today.

Since your car will arrive in December, you don't need to worry right away. But now would be a good time to take a infrared thermometer, and figure out how hot your garage gets on the hottest days.

Most of the people don't need to worry, but we in Southwest know that the summers can get freaking hot, or hotter. Yesterday evening my garage was 116.

 

[barryvo]

Since your car will arrive in December, you don't need to worry right away. But now would be a good time to take a infrared thermometer, and figure out how hot your garage gets on the hottest days.

Most of the people don't need to worry, but we in Southwest know that the summers can get freaking hot, or hotter. Yesterday evening my garage was 116.

The garage is routinely 116 or more here. Hopefully it doesn't impact charging too much.

 

[macchiaz-o]

The garage is routinely 116 or more here. Hopefully it doesn't impact charging too much.

Most of the chargers have an operating temperature range that tops out at 113F (45C).

A small number of options go up to 122F (50C).

I think I could have continued to use the Ford Mobile charger in my garage but it was slowing down due to heat at the beginning of the month and it got me worried since I knew it'd continue to get hotter here.

So I found out several local dealers had some Connected Charge Stations in stock so I went and picked one up and installed it.

So far it's been fine. It's one of the few with the higher rating AND it lets me adjust down the charge speed to whatever level I want.

Slower charging generates a lot less heat.

I think other good options are the ChargePoint Home Flex and maybe the Grizzl-E and the JuiceBox units. I will caution though that the JuiceBoxes seem to have higher failure rates than others, based on Amazon reviews and some scattered forum posts.

 

[barryvo]

Most of the chargers have an operating temperature range that tops out at 113F (45C).

A small number of options go up to 122F (50C).

I think I could have continued to use the Ford Mobile charger in my garage but it was slowing down due to heat at the beginning of the month and it got me worried since I knew it'd continue to get hotter here.

So I found out several local dealers had some Connected Charge Stations in stock so I went and picked one up and installed it.

So far it's been fine. It's one of the few with the higher rating AND it lets me adjust down the charge speed to whatever level I want.

Slower charging generates a lot less heat.

I think other good options are the ChargePoint Home Flex and maybe the Grizzl-E and the JuiceBox units. I will caution though that the JuiceBoxes seem to have higher failure rates than others, based on Amazon reviews and some scattered forum posts.

Is the connected charge station the Ford one for $799? If so, I thought ford scratched it for now.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Is the connected charge station the Ford one for $799? If so, I thought ford scratched it for now.

Yep. It was on a Stop Sale for awhile but that was lifted about a month ago.

Following some purchase strategy and considering sales tax, tax credits, etc, it cost me less than $300 (effectively).

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...d-cashback-strategies-for-mach-e-buyers.1201/

 

[krafty81]

Got the CP at Home Depot. Wired it for 40 AMP charging. Works great. I keep the portable charger that came with the car in the back. Have never used it. The Ford wall charger looks of questionable quality to me.

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