Why would you by a charger?

[woody]

best to purchase an EVSE with 25' of cable.
When you have two EVs the extra 7' are sure handy (18' works only if you are less than 18' from source).
Most folks/manufacturers would strongly advise against using extensions

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[Blinkin]

best to purchase an EVSE with 25' of cable.
When you have two EVs the extra 7' are sure handy (18' works only if you are less than 18' from source).
Most folks/manufacturers would strongly advise against using extensions

Yes. I upgraded to 24 foot after realizing I could run a cable of that length overhead and be able to charge either of two BEVs with but facing their charge ports towards the center of the garage.

 

[reaelec@g]

I just recently purchased a Mach e and I'm wondering why would anyone buy a charger like the grizz-le or FLO or any of them for that matter. Why not just get a 220V plug installed. It makes no sense to me to spend that money. Please enlighten me on why.

I fully agree. I just finished installing the charger and associated hardware. Saved me $500. Unfortunately I need to upgrade the service to my garage to 100 amps. That will cost around $2000.

 

[Mirak]

Some people get really snippy about this topic. It’s a weird trigger. Truth is, for most people a dedicated garage charger is just a little added luxury. Slightly higher charge speed, keep the mobile in the car, etc. It really isn’t necessary for most people but nothing wrong with buying another little toy.

Also nothing wrong with questioning the value. People are allowed to be fiscally minded even after buying a $50,000+ car.

Let’s all get along!

 

[JSW]

I already had a Clipper Creek that I used with my Volt & Bolt.

The mobile charger supplied with the MMe is superior to the mobile chargers supplied with my old Volt and Bolt. Good enough that I probably would have just plugged it into the existing 220 line, used the included bracket to ”permanently” mount it to the wall, and would never have considered buying another for the garage.

In almost 10 years of driving EVs, I’ve only once used the mobile charger while on the road. It’s very unlikely I’ll ever do so again.

 

[Mirak]

I already had a Clipper Creek that I used with my Volt & Bolt.

The mobile charger supplied with the MMe is superior to the mobile chargers supplied with my old Volt and Bolt. Good enough that I probably would have just plugged it into the existing 220 line, used the included bracket to ”permanently” mount it to the wall, and would never have considered buying another for the garage.

In almost 10 years of driving EVs, I’ve only once used the mobile charger while on the road. It’s very unlikely I’ll ever do so again.

Yeah if I ever have to use the mobile charger in a mobile setting, likely on 120v, that’s a bad day.

 

[Frank Katz]

Why do I have an EVSE? Because my very dear son sent me one to welcome me into the plug in world after 17 years with my Prius. It works easily and well. "Just plug it in" as he said. I don't doubt that the mobile charges in my trunk would be adequate, but it is nice to leave it in the trunk just in case.

 

[woody]

My EVSE is between the two vehicles and I have room to go either way w/o going overhead.
I did replace my main (150 to 200) because I ran out of space/capacity with the smaller one.
(I had switched to all electric power.)
I now have room to spare.
I agree with the rest of the gang. You will more than likely not use the supplied mobile chargers outside of your house - temptation is too great for the bad guys to steal or cut it.
Only exception is visiting a friend or relative out of state. But the odds are not good that they will have an adequate 14-50 available.

 

[LagerHead]

LOL Ok, so it's literally a waste and no real advantage. That's great to know.

I wouldn't say that. A hard wired EVSE probably has less electrical losses and might save more than a little money over time. It can also be a bit safer to have a hard-wired solution. While a plug-in solution is not exactly dangerous when properly installed and maintained, the plug does introduce one more potential point of failure and resistance. Unless you have a gold plated plug and receptacle contacts, the copper will oxidize over time., the prongs transfer the energy less efficiently.

I figure an EV is a large enough consumer of electricity, it makes sense to insure those electrons can go in as efficiently as possible.

 

[LagerHead]

My reasons for a dedicated home charger (any charger) is that I want to leave the mobile charger in the car ... I can imagine a few places where I'd need it when out on the road (like my marina) and I'm the sort of person who would reach for it, realize it's missing, and then realize that's because I left it in the garage. I don't want the hassle of having to (a) anticipate when I might need the mobile charger in the car and (b) have to coil it up and pack it in the car. I'd rather just always know it's in the car because that's where it lives.

I agree with that thinking.

Also, for people who have an electrical provider that has time of use plans, another advantage of a charge solution that charges at a faster rate is it could assist with fitting more consumption in the windows with the lowest prices.

 

[ncmagus]

I just recently purchased a Mach e and I'm wondering why would anyone buy a charger like the grizz-le or FLO or any of them for that matter. Why not just get a 220V plug installed. It makes no sense to me to spend that money. Please enlighten me on why.

Because you are in Ontario:
At -20c, it might be hard to roll the cable and put it back in the car.
To avoid having melting snow in the car.
The extra power might be useful to get the car conditioned in the morning (I'm not sure for that one ... I know the 110v is not enough to charge + heat the car in the morning)
If ever you leave your evse outside, it might get damaged when snow blowing.

 

[jdmrc93]

I bought a ChargePoint home Flex, and it's set at 50amps (on a 70amp circuit). It is my understanding that the car can only pull 48amps. It charges it ridiculously fast.

Is it faster than the Mobile Charger? Absolutely, and by a decent amount. Is it necessary? No.

Not everyone has the capability to pull that much power (I have 400amp service), but you can hardwire or plug-in +program lower amperages with the HomeFlex.

I did it for the sheer convenience. There is nothing easier than pulling up and just plugging in. I prefer to have the Mobile Charger, frankly, mobile. I keep it in the car, I don't want to separate them. And I don't have to fight with it every time I get in and out of my car. Now, if you keep it plugged in 100% of the time and don't leave it with your vehicle, that's another story. I just don't like doing that.

In fact, my husband just got a PHEV Mini Cooper Countryman, and we're considering a second HomeFlex. It is nearly the same amount of effort to wire each one up if you have the amperage capability compared to a NEMA 14-50 socket. And you get the 30% federal tax credit. If your energy provider is requiring another meter to get their credits, that is something to consider which will make this much more difficult. If there is a TOU rate that makes sense, then you could do that instead.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

Ok then - why just not to buy another Level 2 charger and use it with your 240v? It might cost less than $200 (maybe even Fed's 30% tax rebate?). And then you can have Ford's mobile in your car? Why go with spending $1000+ for the charger and the complex installation?

Depending on your situation, that 2nd charger might effectively be pretty cheap. My electric utility offers a $500 rebate on the purchase of a charger ... with the caveat that it has to be one of the chargers on their list of approved chargers (more on that in a moment). So I bought a $700 ChargePoint Home Flex while it was on sale at Amazon for $650 ... got a $500 rebate check from my electric company, so I effectively paid $150 for a level 2 charger that can handle charge rates up to 50 amps (mine is set for 48 amps).

The ChargePoint comes with a plug-in design and is RIDICULOUSLY easy to set up (a child could do it) ... if you have an outlet, you don't need to hire anyone. The caveat is that the plug-in variants (there are two optional plug-types supported) are limited to 50 amp circuits and can only draw 80% of that rating ... so 40 amps because the maximum you can pull. The plug is attached to the charger (physically) via lever-locks (you don't even need to own a screwdriver) and a retaining clip. Flip up the lever locks, pull out the retaining clip and the cord comes off the ChargePoint ... at which point you could run 6-gauge wire into it for a hard-wire setup and that would let you draw the full 50 amps. They make it really easy to install this thing. They even include a mounting template, the correct size drill-bit for the mounting screws, and the screws themselves.

So while I DID have to hire an electrician to run 240v power to my garage wall ... I did not need to hire anyone to connect the charger. But I would have had to hire the electrician to install 240v power in my garage even if I planned to use the included mobile charger ... so that's a wash.



As for why the utility companies are fussy about *which* specific charger you use ... they only want chargers that support things like OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) and OSCP (Open Smart Charging Protocol). This is something that hasn't really been discussed on these forums. But this sort of technology allows the charger to talk to the utility company (basically it talks to management servers) and they can get data and/or control charging.

For example... I had to install a 2nd electric meter dedicated to EV charging to take advantage of the best time-of-use rate for charging my car during off-peak hours without also being penalized for how I use power in my home. But with these protocols, the utility company could pull data that tells them how much power I used and when... effectively they could offer a special rate for charging my car WITHOUT the need for a dedicated meter.

In times of high-stress on the electric grid, they could potentially also use this to control the chargers ... to limit when they will charge or how much amperage they could supply.

While my utility company doesn't seem to use these features, they only offered the rebate on chargers that supported them (so I'm guessing they may just trying to be ready for the future when they are a lot more chargers in use). They incentive installation of chargers that give them the best visibility and control of how power is used on the grid for EV charging.

Incidentally, the Ford Connected Charge Station also implements the protocols.

You can visit https://www.openchargealliance.org/protocols/ to learn more ... but I've noticed they keep the language a bit abstract. There are also some YouTube videos that walk through what these protocols do and how they work.

 

[benk016]

I had a Chargepoint Home Flex put in. Not for the extra charging speed, but for the convenience.

I don't want to have to go through the process of parking the car, getting in the trunk or frunk, getting the mobile charger out, plugging it in, and then packing it back up every time I go somewhere.

I want that mobile charger in my car any time i'm out. To me that is as important as jumper cables were on an ICE vehicle. If I was using it to charge all the time, I'd end up leaving it at home and then my luck get stuck somewhere and not have it.

 

[Woeo]

Yeah if I ever have to use the mobile charger in a mobile setting, likely on 120v, that’s a bad day.

Worse day if your mobile charger is in your garage.

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