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

[woody]

Those damn Physics teachers.
They taught me that In an electrical circuit, the number of electrons in motion is called the amperage or current, and it's measured in amps.
And some nonsense about 1 amp physically means that 6.24 x 1018 electrons move through a wire every second.
And more nonsense that amps are equal to watts divided by volts. Watt is the unit of power. The voltage is the amount of pressure behind those electrons. I thought more amps x more volts meant more power (watts) (No power factor or rms thrown in here, gets a bit more complicated for us dummies). I realize there is more (calculus) to it, but basic physics sometimes helps understanding once and awhile.
I extrapolated and thought that greater amperage/voltage supplied by an EVSE(or super charger for that matter) meant more electrons in motion which would result in faster charging times. Larger charger in the car would also shorten charging time moving/accepting more electrons.
My EVSE allows my cars to charge faster than 120v. I must be missing something.
I guess I will have to go back and rethink it.
My Physics professor also thought all Physics majors should be required to take algebra based physics. He must have been bamboozling me all along. Not (he was actually very good).
Oh well.
I am still having fun.
You?

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[67 Stang Convertible]

30% rebate from Feds & $250 rebate check from Utility so pretty cheap for me (Juice Box)

 

[Mirak]

Lots of reasons people buy them, some more legitimate than others:

• Their state/city/utility basically gives them away. I like free stuff, too.
• It’s just another tech toy. To each his own.
• They want the extra amps / speed. This is highly unlikely to ever matter.
• They want to keep the mobile charger in the car “for emergencies.” This is easily the dumbest rationale. If you really run out of juice, you’re not gonna find a 220 in the wild, and the 110 is so slow you’re better off calling a tow to a DCFC.

 

[RockwallRick]

So far have not seen any reason to carry the mobile charger around! There seems to be plenty of places that have J1772 plugs!!

 

[sotek2345]

Lots of reasons people buy them, some more legitimate than others:

• Their state/city/utility basically gives them away. I like free stuff, too.
• It’s just another tech toy. To each his own.
• They want the extra amps / speed. This is highly unlikely to ever matter.
• They want to keep the mobile charger in the car “for emergencies.” This is easily the dumbest rationale. If you really run out of juice, you’re not gonna find a 220 in the wild, and the 110 is so slow you’re better off calling a tow to a DCFC.

Agree with most of that, but you left off "exterior installation / no garage"

 

[Olds442]

good to know that the mobile charger is suss.

i used to have a 40A mobile charger that i kept at home, and the stock 32A charger i'd leave in the car.

after all the replies, i'll probably be getting a 40A supplier box for the garage and just leave the stock mobile unit in the car.

looks like the 40A supply box that plugs into a Nema 14-50 outlet is around $650. think the gov't will buy in on my $1,000 install costs for the 14-50?

 

[Haven]

For me it was cheaper to get a charger.

$550 240v electrical install
$700 ChargePoint

Ford mobile charger only: $550 no rebate or federal tax credit
Charger: $700+$550-$500(utility rebate)-$375(tax credit)=$375

You have to have a tax liability in order to claim the credit though. I was not sure I could claim the credit for the electrical only solution but if I could, it still came out to $385 and that was more than getting a charger.

 

[rohankumar]

This question might have been addressed on these forum elsewhere but which is the best Level 2 charger to install at home / garage. The 2 options I am researching are Chargepoint (https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers/home/chargepoint-home-flex/) and the Ford Connected charge station (https://www.ford.com/buy-site-wide-content/overlays/mach-e-overlays/ford-connected-charge-station/). Seems like the former offers more flexibility on planning and scheduling your charging hours and explore the peak - off peak cycles better. Also they allow you flexibility of changing the amperage on your charge cycle between 14-50A. The one downside is it's backordered at this time, which isn't a biggie for me since I have a couple of months before my car gets delivered.

I agree with most of the other users here. Between the federal and local utility provider rebates, it seem like a no brainer to be taking the car charger in an out at all times. Also the flexibility of being able to track charging and spends along with being able to set schedules is hard to turn down.

 

[Sneezy]

I can enter in my electric rate and know my charging costs. This is covered to death elsewhere.

 

[RW Journey]

I started out using the mobile charger that came with the car. Unplugging and repacking it up in the car for every long distance drive was a slight inconvenience but after forgetting to take it one time (although I didn't need to use it) it actually added some additional stress to the entire trip. Call me crazy but if felt the same as if we forgot the spare key.

So during the trip, I ordered a JuiceBox. It was installed immediately after I put the mobile charger back in the car.

 

[bp99]

• They want to keep the mobile charger in the car “for emergencies.” This is easily the dumbest rationale. If you really run out of juice, you’re not gonna find a 220 in the wild, and the 110 is so slow you’re better off calling a tow to a DCFC.

RV Parks often have 14-50 outlets. Some small towns/wilderness areas I've gone to for outdoor activities don't have chargers, but do have RV Parks.

The hardwired EVSEs also tend to have longer charger cords than the mobile charger. The extra few feet can make a difference.

 

[ARK]

RV Parks often have 14-50 outlets. Some small towns/wilderness areas I've gone to for outdoor activities don't have chargers, but do have RV Parks.

The hardwired EVSEs also tend to have longer charger cords than the mobile charger. The extra few feet can make a difference.

How odd, your post quotes me but I never wrote that.

 

[TheSeg]

I rent a duplex with two dedicated outdoor parking spots (one for each unit) and was able to convince my landlord to pay for the install the wiring and I paid* for the EVSC appliance.

I asked the electrician for a plug rather than hardwired, but the electrician was against it in my situation. He already switched a previous client from a plug to hardwired as their open-air EVSC was stolen. That and the connivance of a permeant install was enough for me to go hardwired. I didn't have the bandwidth to go more than 40amp, but I don't regret hardwiring the appliance.

* I ended up making money on the EVSC. I got a ChargePoint Home Flex for $716 delivered. Alameda Power gave me $800 and the IRS $241.80. If I didn't have the rebate I would likely go for a cheaper unit. As it stands, I am very happy with what I got.

 

[RickMachE]

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.

You might want to go look at that rate closer. There is no such rate to my knowledge.

EV rate (D1.9) is 11 cents at night, 24 cents during the day.
Time of day plan (D1.2) is 12 cents at night (and longer hours) and 20 or 23 cents during the day.
Dynamic Peak Pricing Plan (D1.8) is 11 cents at night, and 16 or 23 cents during the day.

Be careful you're not taking the base rate off your bill, and not adding in all the extras. I pay 1.16 cents at night. But... I also pay a non-capacity charge per kwh of 4.261 cents, and a power supply cost recovery of 0.322 cents, and a distribution cost of 6.611 cents. That brings the 1.16 cent number to 12.354 cents, plus tax, as compared to the 12 cents that my Time of Day plan states.

 

[engnrng]

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.

My outdoor mounted Juicebox/Aerovironment EVSE L2 is about 8 years old, cost me virtually nothing when originally installed (utility incentive + energy tax credit + state incentive). I don't have to separately program every EV I use - the Juicebox software is great, just check the box for TOU rates, and it charges whatever I plug into after 10 pm and stops at 8 am. I leave the automotive EV charge cord in each vehicle to use if needed (daughter has a beach house we visit often - with the 14-50 outlet, for example). I have a Juicebox record of every charge session for the last few years. I can override with a phone app if necessary (during day hours when solar is high output, for example). And, the real biggie: it has a 23 ft charge cord. I park my EV's side by side and can charge either one without having to move them around.

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