Just Joined The Gang - Looking for Advice

[robi]

Also, no matter what setup you go with, deciding on the mounting location in your garage or outside needs some thoughtful consideration. We put our Ford Promise hard-wired Emporia on the center of the back wall for the following reasons: 1) We have a side-entry garage and prefer to pull our Mach E straight in. Backing in could have worked as well, but we find that the rear camera can become fuzzy due to the weather in our area. 2) It was the shortest distance from my basement breaker box. 3) The Emporia cord length is generous, so I can easily reach the front left fender charging port on my Mach E in either of the two garage spaces. 4) My daughter and her fiancé occasionally come up from NJ in their Tesla 3 and can back in to also easily reach the back left charging port on that car.

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[RickMachE]

I second the placement focus.

We have a 3 car garage, with 2 bays for cars. We pull into the spaces forwards, and aren't going to back in. When we bought our Mach-E, I took a rope 25' long and laid it out to see where it would reach the charging port of that parking space with ease. THEN, I said, "what if I park it over there?", and laid it out to the bay on the opposite side of the garage. Then, I ran the rope from the mounting spot to the outside of the garage, for the very rare (hasn't happened in 4.5 years) situation where someone might need to charge outside. And I considered what if we shared the circuit (which our chargers handled).

When our first charger was installed by the electrician, I went to lay out the charging cord and said "something is wrong". Yup, despite advertising a 25' cord, it in fact was around 18'. The electricians (who supplied the charger as they were also a distributor) were clueless. I contacted the company (this was during Covid), and they discovered that they had shipped a "big box version" of the charger, which comes with a 20' cord. I pointed out that the cord was 18', and they responded "you have to measure the handle too". Ok, 18.75', not 20'. They made 25' cord (well, 23.75') charger and shipped it to me and paid the electrician to swap it out. I ended up getting the charger for free, because they shipped them a replacement unit also (so he was made whole) and they never invoiced me...

Anyway, we added the Lightning 2 years after getting the Mach-E, then swapped bays for the car a year later. Now, the charging cord runs from the mounting spot across the back of the garage then to the Mach-E charging port, clicked into a holster mounted on the wall. Nothing had to be relocated due to playing with that 25' piece of rope.

 

[condition5]

Ford was offering either the home charger installation or $2000 bonus cash... I took the $2000 which lowered my lease payments...
And I read through you post and you had quite an adventure! Once I get some quotes and decide on my charging installation I will post my journey...

But I have to ask where in MD do you live that got that cold? I live in PG County and I don't remember those temps!

Carroll County...down in a holler near Liberty Reservoir. Consistently 5 degrees cooler than BWI during winter

 

[Maquis]

So I really do just have a simple question for you. Do you feel that if a receptacle that is not properly tightened is susceptible to potential problems no matter the quality? And hardwired chargers are not found to be a cause of any major issues in the near future l?

Proper torquing of the terminals is critical. And you need a torque wrench or screwdriver to do it properly. But the higher quality receptacles have terminal screws that make proper torquing much easier. Allen screws with saddle clamps vs slotted screws that twist directly on the wire.

The top one is the cheap Leviton.

 

[Maquis]

In all honesty, my lifestyle probably does make a strong case for Level 1 charging being acceptable. I work exclusively from home, most of my needs are only in a 10 to 20 mile radius, and in the very rare case I have to drive to my rental properties and AirBNB. My AirBNB and 1 rental are both 30 miles away. A second rental is 8 miles away. The good thing is I do not have to visit any of these properties on a regular basis. There are many days of the week where I do not move my vehicle from the garage!
But I am also a person that craves convenience. So Level 1 charging and visiting fast charging stations might be tolerable in the short term, it would probably best to go ahead and invest in a quality Level 2 system at my home!

And I plan to check with my electric company to see if they have any incentives on certain chargers

Keep in mind that L1 is 15 to 20% less efficient than L2. That not insignificant if you use only L1 fir you home charging.

 

[dalola]

I second the placement focus.

We have a 3 car garage, with 2 bays for cars. We pull into the spaces forwards, and aren't going to back in. When we bought our Mach-E, I took a rope 25' long and laid it out to see where it would reach the charging port of that parking space with ease. THEN, I said, "what if I park it over there?", and laid it out to the bay on the opposite side of the garage. Then, I ran the rope from the mounting spot to the outside of the garage, for the very rare (hasn't happened in 4.5 years) situation where someone might need to charge outside. And I considered what if we shared the circuit (which our chargers handled).

When our first charger was installed by the electrician, I went to lay out the charging cord and said "something is wrong". Yup, despite advertising a 25' cord, it in fact was around 18'. The electricians (who supplied the charger as they were also a distributor) were clueless. I contacted the company (this was during Covid), and they discovered that they had shipped a "big box version" of the charger, which comes with a 20' cord. I pointed out that the cord was 18', and they responded "you have to measure the handle too". Ok, 18.75', not 20'. They made 25' cord (well, 23.75') charger and shipped it to me and paid the electrician to swap it out. I ended up getting the charger for free, because they shipped them a replacement unit also (so he was made whole) and they never invoiced me...

Anyway, we added the Lightning 2 years after getting the Mach-E, then swapped bays for the car a year later. Now, the charging cord runs from the mounting spot across the back of the garage then to the Mach-E charging port, clicked into a holster mounted on the wall. Nothing had to be relocated due to playing with that 25' piece of rope.

Unfortunate circumstance there, but the customer service to resolve it was exemplary.

Adding to this, keep in mind, you can buy extension cords for EVSE's, to extend the reach. We bought a 12' extension, for our 20' Emporia, in case we need to reach outside the garage on occasion.

 

[RickMachE]

Unfortunate circumstance there, but the customer service to resolve it was exemplary.

Adding to this, keep in mind, you can buy extension cords for EVSE's, to extend the reach. We bought a 12' extension, for our 20' Emporia, in case we need to reach outside the garage on occasion.

Yes, you can. BUT, it is not recommended. And, some people buy under-rated extension cords.

 

[dalola]

Yes, you can. BUT, it is not recommended. And, some people buy under-rated extension cords.

lol... the discussion of what "some people" will do is an entirely new & very long thread of it's own.....

 

[Phil-Springs]

In all honesty, my lifestyle probably does make a strong case for Level 1 charging being acceptable. I work exclusively from home, most of my needs are only in a 10 to 20 mile radius, and in the very rare case I have to drive to my rental properties and AirBNB. My AirBNB and 1 rental are both 30 miles away. A second rental is 8 miles away. The good thing is I do not have to visit any of these properties on a regular basis. There are many days of the week where I do not move my vehicle from the garage!
But I am also a person that craves convenience. So Level 1 charging and visiting fast charging stations might be tolerable in the short term, it would probably best to go ahead and invest in a quality Level 2 system at my home!

And I plan to check with my electric company to see if they have any incentives on certain chargers

Having a level 2 at home is the EV sweet spot. You won’t regret not having to think about charging unless your going to road trip, but that is a well discussed use case in this forum.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

The concerning thing about this is that it appears that you have to be knowledgeable in home wiring to make sure the job is done correctly! I'm a tech guy but I leave electricity to the professionals and stick to computer programming and software design. My only concern is hiring an electrician that I think would do a good job but would be labeled as the "C" team as you put it. I am probably not qualified to determine whether an electrician is A or C quality so my best course of action is research and recommendations!

Making the install as simple as possible reduces potential failure points.

A high-quality receptacle installed by a skilled electrician doesn't add much potential failure.

A hardwired EVSE has one fewer potential failure points.

 

[Wenatchee Mach E]

Finally retired my 2007 Cadillac Escalade las night! It was sad to see her go with all her years of loyal service and over 220K miles of fun! But it was time to move on... So needless to say, going from a massive gas guzzling vehicle to a much smaller, faster, and modern electric vehicle is a major lifestyle change!

So far with just a ride from the dealership to home I can say I truly do enjoy the ride! I miss the roominess of the Escalade and the ability to see over most vehicles when driving, but I can tell I am going to have fun getting to know this new stallion!

One area where I will need to educate myself on more is charging. I thought I had a fairly good understanding of how it worked with the research I did before buying, but now I know how much I have to learn. I plan to do most of my chargeing at home so I know to will need to eventually have a 240 V outlet installed in my garage. I just don't know if I should rely on the Ford Mobile Power Cord package that came with the vehicle or buy one of the suggested level 2 chargers like JuiceBox, Emporia, or ClipperCreek. And is signing up with Blue Oval useful for remote charging or should I use individual charging apps l I keep the one provided by Tesla?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Interesting... Grizzl-e is a brand I need to do research on. But it sounds like you are doing fine with an industrial grade 240 volt outlet?

Installed a plug-in for my special case of traveling with it. It only got unplugged about 3 times a year. Also, because of my building wiring I have it set to charge at 24 amps, so it is never carrying a heavy load.

 

[khbkhb]

Thanks for the advice! I will ask the same question that I asked others... What is the advantage of hardwired?

speed and reliability. With a 60amp circuit you can charge at 48amps (code requires upsizing 1.2x). However if you are panel limited a plug in is fine especially if you hardly ever unplug. It’s the plugging in and out that wears things out . You’ll likely be limited to 40amp max, but that’s still fast enough for a typical overnight charge.

You’re local power company may well have a program to manage your charging schedule (which can minimize costs), as well as rebates and incentives.

we went with Wallbox and have been happy.

 

[rsummerset]

I’ve done both. Originally, 5 years ago, I had an electrician install a NEMA 14-50 outlet and used the Ford charger that came with the car. I mounted the included bracket on the wall next to the outlet and left the charger in place, plugged in. It only got unplugged for long road trips which was, maybe twice a year. That worked fine until the Ford charger started to show the amber light indicating it was overheating and slowing the charge. Even then, I kept using it for months because even with the slower charge rate, it could still charge the car overnight. (The included Ford chargers don’t seem to last very long before showing the amber light.)

Ended up trading in for a newer 2024, still using the included charger until I saw an amber light on it. Decided it was time to buy a wall unit And figured that I would just go with a hard-wired unit. I bought the ChargePoint with a Tesla plug figuring that the next wave of EV’s were all coming with the NACS plug and I already had the adapter but also because that model was significantly cheaper.

Now I have both a hard-wired CP on a 60 amp breaker and the NEMA 14-50 outlet on a 50 amp breaker along with the Ford charger stowed in the trunk. The first setup was cheaper - no charger purchase and cheaper electrician charge for only the plug But ended up paying for the more expensive charger and install later, FWIW.

Your experience lends to the thought process that the mobile charger is not really heavy duty enough for daily or consistent use. I will be looking into finding a really good electrician this week and contacting my electric company to see if they have any preferred chargers on rebate. Thanks

 

[rsummerset]

I will second the emporia, excellent charger and it also outperforms the Ford charger.

You will need a 240V outlet, but it is worth the investment.

If the Emporia is listed as one that the electric company will provide a rebate for, then it is on the top of my list but I might be leaning towards having it hardwired. Thanks

 

[rsummerset]

I have used the mobile charger exclusively since bringing my 2024 Premium 4X-ER home 17 months ago. The car is always garaged and plugged in at all times. Being retired, we don’t drive all that much and so only have 7,500 miles on the car. I charge to 90% every night after midnight, which means that it is usually charging from no less than 75%-ish to 90%; many time from 85% to 90%. I also charge to 100% every thousand miles. So far so good with zero problems.

When I picked up the car from the dealer, it showed 100% charge and 303 miles. In 2025, during late Spring/early Fall when outside temps are ideal, I saw 312 miles after those 100% charges, a reflection of my ‘Whisper-only’ driving style I guess.

Since I work from home and really only consistently commute locally I put minimal amount of miles on a vehicle myself. But I doubt if it is as little as 7500.

Right now since I only have access to Level 1 charging in my garage at this time, I am using the mobile charger also. It takes forever to charge but if you don't put a lot of miles on the vehicle then this isn't a major issue.

And since I bought in late December and it was cold in MD, when I picked it up from the dealership it showed about 270 or 280 on 100% charge. I am hoping to see those 300 ranges when the weather warms up!

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