Why do you buy an expensive wall charger unit for home when Ford gives you a 14-50 plug?

[Jimrpa]

As others have said:

1. I want the fastest charger at home, so a hardwired 60A circuit gives me a 48A charger - the highest I can handle with the Mustang Mach E
2. I can always leave the portable charger packed in its case, in the trunk. I’ll never have to worry about forgetting it on a trip
3. Tax credits made the cost of getting and installing the home charger much more attractive!

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[Joelalt]

I have two wall-mounted (wired in) EVSE's in my garage.

1 - the best electric rate I can get for charging via my electric utility requires that I put in a 'dedicated' electric meter on my house (so I have two meters ... one for the house, one for the cars).

2 - that dedicated meter supplies up to 125 amps ... so I have the amperage.

3 - since I have enough to run two 60 amp circuit breakers ... that means I can have two 48 amp chargers.

4 - I MAY NOT plug ANYTHING into the meter dedicated to EV charging ... OTHER than an EV charger (they were quite strict ... I cannot plug in so much as a night light). So it's not like the NEMA 14-50 outlet buys me any flexibility.

5 - the electric utility had a $500 rebate provided I bought one of their approved EVSEs (I can buy it from anyone ... it just has to be a model on their list of approved models). When you combine the 30% federal tax credit for installing EV charging equipment *and* the $500 rebate.... the wall-mounted dedicated EVSE (mine is a ChargePoint Home Flex) was free ... actually more than free. They paid me a tiny bit to take it. Although... the cost to hire the electrician to do all the wiring was still expensive so it's overall I still paid.

In other words... why not install a wall-mounted direct-wired EVSE?

I also had a ChargePoint installed in my garage. Charger cost $649 (plus tax) and the electrician charged $210. The state of Maryland sent me a check for $358 and my electric company gave me $300. So for a little over $200 I have a charging station in my garage. A small price to pay for a 50K+ vehicle.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

I also had a ChargePoint installed in my garage. Charger cost $649 (plus tax) and the electrician charged $210. The state of Maryland sent me a check for $358 and my electric company gave me $300. So for a little over $200 I have a charging station in my garage. A small price to pay for a 50K+ vehicle.

Don't forget you may also get a federal tax credit for up to 30% of the cost to buy and install the EVSE charging equipment (capped at $1000).

 

[BMT1071]

Help me understand this one. I've owned a few EVs over the past 5 years and I never understood why people do this.

You have to run 240V/50A to the garage anyway, so there's that cost. But why hard wire in a wall unit that you have to purchase separately, in addition to the cost of getting the power to the garage? Why not just put a Nema 14-50 wall plug in the garage and use the charger Ford gives you with the car?

The MME can take up to 48A, and the plug on the wall is 50A, so you would set the car to charge at 40A safely. (80% of total available 50A for safety!)

At 40A you will always be fully charged to 80% or 90% by morning with the Ford charger.

So why do people do that? Is it a cool factor thing? Or is it just so you can keep the Ford one in the car?

Thanks folks.

Not mentioned yet is that the dedicated home EVSE is more robust than the Ford mobile unit. Several reports on here of the Ford unit overheating in high ambient temps and slowing substantially or not working at all.

 

[jpblincoln]

Help me understand this one. I've owned a few EVs over the past 5 years and I never understood why people do this.

You have to run 240V/50A to the garage anyway, so there's that cost. But why hard wire in a wall unit that you have to purchase separately, in addition to the cost of getting the power to the garage? Why not just put a Nema 14-50 wall plug in the garage and use the charger Ford gives you with the car?

The MME can take up to 48A, and the plug on the wall is 50A, so you would set the car to charge at 40A safely. (80% of total available 50A for safety!)

At 40A you will always be fully charged to 80% or 90% by morning with the Ford charger.

So why do people do that? Is it a cool factor thing? Or is it just so you can keep the Ford one in the car?

Thanks folks.

I purchased a hard wired charge point charger which is set for 60a and I received a $300 rebate from Pepco. Also it automatically charges at midnight for a 50% discount on electricity.

 

[zvez]

I thing the tax credit is limited to 30% on $1,000. not a huge deal. Also I would think the credit is limited to the out of pocket cost net of rebate but I haven’t looked in to it.

actually, unless I misread it, it's 30% up to $1000 credit for install costs. So I take that to mean say it costs $3k, you'd get 30% back

 

[Nklem]

I wanted the metering, trending and scheduling that comes with my CP wall unit. I know how much I am spending to power the car, to the penny. Mine is outdoors and I am not a fan of unplugging 240v items in the rain. I measured the Ford unit and am only getting 28 amps from it. Kind of disappointing, I get the full 32 from my CP and simply love the networking. Also, my 32 AMP CP only needed a 40 amp breaker which was already in place. I do keep the Ford in the trunk to use when traveling to relatives houses.

 

[RetiredDP]

Help me understand this one. I've owned a few EVs over the past 5 years and I never understood why people do this.

You have to run 240V/50A to the garage anyway, so there's that cost. But why hard wire in a wall unit that you have to purchase separately, in addition to the cost of getting the power to the garage? Why not just put a Nema 14-50 wall plug in the garage and use the charger Ford gives you with the car?

The MME can take up to 48A, and the plug on the wall is 50A, so you would set the car to charge at 40A safely. (80% of total available 50A for safety!)

At 40A you will always be fully charged to 80% or 90% by morning with the Ford charger.

So why do people do that? Is it a cool factor thing? Or is it just so you can keep the Ford one in the car?

Thanks folks.

The Ford Mobile Charger is 32 amps, not 40 amps. I went with a 40 amp EVSE because of reports of the included Ford Mobile Charger crapping out under duress...

 

[Garbone]

Why, my charger and EV live outside. The garage is for the C10 and Enfield Hack.

Used the Ford supplied one for a week or two. When I took it apart when done there was water under the power connection. Not game ending but..

 

[woody]

a footnote reminder:
the charger is in your car. It controls the electron flow.

the EVSE (S=supply; E=equipment) supplies the electrons: 40amp > than 32amp; 48amp> than 40 amp, etc. The higher amperes= faster supply.( so for future proofing [eg. EV tank purchase]it might be practical to install a higher amp., hard wired EVSE. Most likely more expensive later. )​

The car will not let (you accept) any harmful flows. You can still use a fast charger or or larger Xamp EVSE.
The faster electron flow generates more heat and with (our primitive) batteries this can lead to more wear and tear, lessening longevity.

 

[ZuleMME]

a footnote reminder:
the charger is in your car. It controls the electron flow.

the EVSE (S=supply; E=equipment) supplies the electrons: 40amp > than 32amp; 48amp> than 40 amp, etc. The higher amperes= faster supply.( so for future proofing [eg. EV tank purchase]it might be practical to install a higher amp., hard wired EVSE. Most likely more expensive later. )​

The car will not let (you accept) any harmful flows. You can still use a fast charger or or larger Xamp EVSE.
The faster electron flow generates more heat and with (our primitive) batteries this can lead to more wear and tear, lessening longevity.

The EVSE doesn’t supply any set current, it simply tells the car what current it’s programmed for via the pilot signal. This is hard coded on most but some allow you to vary the setting on the fly. Likely to be restricted in the near future for UL listing as they want it to be fixed to the line configuration only.

 

[ChuckA]

Few good reasons like taxes and rebates. But really the truth is we are too lazy or might forget to put it in the car on a road trip. I myself only have the ford charger that came with the mache. When we go somewhere I walk over unplug it and put it in the car. Takes about 3 minutes.

It's more along the line of well I can afford it the American way why not. It's not a need but more of a want.

Before going on a a road trip I scout out charging stations. The thought of bringing the mobile charger and running it at 110v, ouch. That said, I attached it to the garage wall. Good enough. $650 for the electrical work and $20 for the bracket. The box and pole in the picture is just clutter.

 

[cckorn]

I agree the 14-50 works very well for the 50 miles a day I drive. We are putting the stage 2 charger in solely because of local Minnesota electric company programs. They rebate the entire cost of the charger then reduce the charging rate cost by 50% when charging from 10pm to 6am.

 

[Njia]

So why do people do that? Is it a cool factor thing? Or is it just so you can keep the Ford one in the car?

Because DTE Energy (Michigan-based electric utility) paid for it, then were kind enough to give me a nighttime charging rate of $0.04/kWh since they put it on a separate meter.

 

[jaycake]

Help me understand this one. I've owned a few EVs over the past 5 years and I never understood why people do this.

You have to run 240V/50A to the garage anyway, so there's that cost. But why hard wire in a wall unit that you have to purchase separately, in addition to the cost of getting the power to the garage? Why not just put a Nema 14-50 wall plug in the garage and use the charger Ford gives you with the car?

The MME can take up to 48A, and the plug on the wall is 50A, so you would set the car to charge at 40A safely. (80% of total available 50A for safety!)

At 40A you will always be fully charged to 80% or 90% by morning with the Ford charger.

So why do people do that? Is it a cool factor thing? Or is it just so you can keep the Ford one in the car?

Thanks folks.

I hard wired mine as it's outdoors... and the idea of cord yoga with a weathertight box did not appeal to me, add in the question, is the included charger itself, weather rated with the changeable plug whip..?

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