Home L2 Charging: 40A versus 48A

[dtbaker61]

slower charge is better for battery... charging at home overnight, and usually not from less than 50%, only takes a couple hours even w 32a mobile charger. I would suggest sticking with NEMA 14-50 on a 50amp circuit.

Bonus with using an outlet rather than hardwire is that you have an easy way to plug in a Generator for Emergency Backfeed to power the whole house if the Grid is down.... whether it is a regular generator, or your MME thru an Inverter, or running from a future Lightning, etc.....

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[fallguy]

I recently bought the same charger, and have considered this as well. I had the plug installed, and used the supplied Ford charger for over a year.

Now that I have this new charger, it looks like I can just switch the breaker off and undo the plug, then use the same wires to plug in the charger. I just don't think they're long enough to reach all the way in the charger. So I'd have to have the electrician come back out... Not sure it's worth it. I'm home every day, so I can charge every day. I rarely drive more than 50 miles a day. Work, gym, school, grocery store are all with 15 miles from my house. I'm at 9.2 kwh.

But part of me just wants it to be as fast as possible... But for now I think I'll leave it.

 

[Fordmaybe]

Interesting. You're right. JuiceBox uses a junction box, ChargePoint doesn't. Glad I got a JuiceBox. If I move, turn off breaker (and mark it), open junction box, disconnect wires.

Yes have the Chargepoint hardwire. If I move just attach junction box with plug for next owner and take my charger with me.

 

[Fordmaybe]

slower charge is better for battery... charging at home overnight, and usually not from less than 50%, only takes a couple hours even w 32a mobile charger. I would suggest sticking with NEMA 14-50 on a 50amp circuit.

Bonus with using an outlet rather than hardwire is that you have an easy way to plug in a Generator for Emergency Backfeed to power the whole house if the Grid is down.... whether it is a regular generator, or your MME thru an Inverter, or running from a future Lightning, etc.....

Make sure if you do that you kill the main breaker so you back-feed the grid. I have one installed for my generator although to turn breaker on the main must be turned off is a inter lock and does allow both to be on at same time.

 

[Fordmaybe]

Make sure if you do that you kill the main breaker so you back-feed the grid. I have one installed for my generator although to turn breaker on the main must be turned off is a inter lock and does allow both to be on at same time.

Yes I have solar with the red warning plates

 

[jgcom]

My two cents: I chose the 40 A setup with plug rather than hard-wiring, so that when the day comes that the EVSE fails or is suspected of failure, I can just plug in using the Ford-supplied 30 A unit to debug and charge while I replace or repair the main EVSE.

Regarding 32 A versus 40 A, when the car was new 32 A charging was much quieter. A recent update changed this, and 40 A charging is now quite civilized.

 

[Rocketman]

Do all level 2 chargers have to be hardwired? Or could they be used with 14-50 outlet on 50amp?

So reading through all the comments I guess any 40A EVSE is good enough to be used with the 14-50 outlet. Thanks folks!

 

[Djynn81]

Hey all this brings up a question for me what is the battery life longer through the life of the vehicle slower charge meaning 32-40Amp versus 48 Amps.
I know it stays not to regularly do DC fast charging is it better just to go low and slow to prolong battery life?

 

[RickMachE]

It is highly unlikely that you would notice any impact to the life of battery, during your ownership, period. It is warranted to have 70% life for 8 years /100,000 miles.

It is highly unlikely that any level of level 2 charging would have any different impact than any other level. People who charge at 32 instead of 40 to "extend battery life" are just satisfying a belief they have that's not factual.

Yes, DC charging over time will have an impact.

 

[dbsb3233]

So reading through all the comments I guess any 40A EVSE is good enough to be used with the 14-50 outlet. Thanks folks!

If the 14-50 outlet is installed on a 50A breaker, and the EVSE you get has a 14-50 plug, yes.

Some EVSEs come with different plugs, and some come without a cord/plug. So if you're putting in a 14-50 outlet, be sure to get an EVSE that has a 14-50 plug (that's the most common configuration).

Sometimes a 14-50 outlet will be installed on a 40A breaker instead of 50A. If that's the case, then a 32A EVSE is the most you can put on that one. But if it's a 50A breaker, you can go up to a 40A EVSE (80% rule).

 

[Bill S]

I support the 50 amp 14-50 plug option thinking that if my EVSE station goes out for some reason I can revert to my mobile charger. We are a 2 EV house and rarely use DCFC so home charging is the norm. Hers is a Tesla and mine is an MME. We have a WallBox Plus.

 

[jeffvick2005]

I support the 50 amp 14-50 plug option thinking that if my EVSE station goes out for some reason I can revert to my mobile charger. We are a 2 EV house and rarely use DCFC so home charging is the norm. Hers is a Tesla and mine is an MME. We have a WallBox Plus.

With 2 EVs, did the electrician have to run two separate lines from your breaker (and two outlets)? This will be my first EV and I’ve thought about what the electrician can do now to prep for a 2nd EV or if it requires 2 runs anyway (no point prepping now).

 

[Bill S]

With 2 EVs, did the electrician have to run two separate lines from your breaker (and two outlets)? This will be my first EV and I’ve thought about what the electrician can do now to prep for a 2nd EV or if it requires 2 runs anyway (no point prepping now).

No. We use one outlet and neither of us use 250 miles a day. In fact, each of us only charges once a week. And the EVSE is a J1772 plug and the Tesla has a converter adapter to make it fit her car.

Again, my choice of a plugin 40 amp is to have the ability to use most any mobile charger if necessary.

 

[RickMachE]

With 2 EVs, did the electrician have to run two separate lines from your breaker (and two outlets)? This will be my first EV and I’ve thought about what the electrician can do now to prep for a 2nd EV or if it requires 2 runs anyway (no point prepping now).

If you use two JuiceBox chargers (same model), they can share the same circuit and balance the load.

 

[jeffvick2005]

If you use two JuiceBox chargers (same model), they can share the same circuit and balance the load.

How would you set that up? Would you install 2 sockets off the same line, one for each juice box?

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