I’m looking at EVs or PHEVs and was wondering what I need at home. I know I can charge with a standard 110 outlet, but what about a 220? Would I be able to charge directly from it or do I have to get a charger installed?
Thank you
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It’s not necessary but it is nice to have.
It depends on how much you drive, and the car’s efficiency. I only have access to 120v for my car. I can charge 29 kWh per day if plugged in for the full 24 hours. Which on my Lightning is about 58 miles/day.
I work from home, and so my avg daily mileage is pretty low. There is also a public L2 charger about 4 blocks from my house that I can use if I’m low from a trip.
It’s workable in my situation, but wouldn’t be ideal or even feasible for a lot of people.
You will need a charge cord (EVSE). Most car will come with a portable one, that usually supports 120/240. If you don’t get one with the car, they can be found for under $200 new.
And keep in mind that when the battery is cold, some of that energy has to go towards heating the battery. Your charge time will therefore take longer. At 240V/40A, that won’t affect much, but at 120V/15A, you’ll see the difference.
Tesla is notoriously conservative about charging at L1 speed on a cold pack. Most other manufacturers will divert a lot less power to heating the pack. I’ve never had any issue charging at L1 on the 3 EVs I’ve owned in Chicago (all non-Teslas, and non-Fords either). I know some Tesla drivers in Canada report that their cars will use the full 1.2kW for battery heating and zero energy actually goes into the pack. This seems overly conservative to me. But Tesla knows best, I assume.
Lithium batteries can only charge very slowly if below freezing. Anything over a trickle can damage them. That’s damage that can cause a fire. Is that overly conservative for you?
Different battery chemistries have differing tolerances to cold charging. You cannot just transfer charge parameters between chemistries.
We are literally talking about trickle charging!
I basically have 220V outlet already setup in my garage, so you are saying all I need is a cable? No need for the wall mounted charger?
Use the regular socket, first. A small EV gets 4 miles per KW, so you will need 15KWh, and can charge during the night. Then you can top it up on the L2 charger or every time you drive outside of the city.
80% of households just need a 120v outlet for a single EV. Still you have to decide if you are in the 20%. If you drive more than 60 miles per day or are looking to get a particularly large or inefficient EV you would be for sure. If you randomly drive more than 60 and you have no public charging near you you might be.
You want a 220V adapter in any event. Many EVs come with them. This is your emergency backup charger at RV parks.
You do not need a 220. However a 110 has its limits. ~3miles of charge per hour (12 hours of charging ~36 miles of range). That is very dependent on outside temperatures. If it gets really cold (below 0F) you will get to a point that the power needed to heat the battery is higher than the current you can draw. Thus, you will get no range increases, no matter how long you are plugged in.
110 is less efficient, loose more in heat, than 220. Finally, I have never seen a 110 outside outlet that is a single run. What I mean is, there will most likely be one to several outlets or appliances on the same circuit. This can lead to trip breakers or overheating.
Now, I currently do not have a 220 outlet so I have been using 110 for over a year. So yes it can be done. I will upgrade to 220 once some renovations are done.
For 220v, you have options. The best is a dedicated level 2 charger. There are many to choose from.
The other option is a 220v outlet that is compatible with your mobile charger. This would be cheaper.
Either way, have an electrician do it. Make sure to tell them it is for constant use. This way the size the wire and breaker correctly!
Be sure to check on your car’s charging capabilities though. New Tesla Model 3 RWDs, for example, max out at 32A which is what most 240V plugin chargers can do. Hardwired L2 chargers can usually go higher, but if your vehicle doesn’t support the higher amps then the added cost wouldn’t give you any actual benefit.
A receptacle is not necessarily cheaper, because you want a high quality one so it doesn’t burn up like the cheap ones do in EV service, and more importantly, most jurisdictions require a GFCI breaker which adds about $120 to the cost.
My Tesla mobile charger has an adapter for 110 and 220. 220 works so well I haven’t bothered to install my free after rebate Tesla hardwired wall charger.
A level 1 (120V) charging cord will give most EVs 3 or more miles of charge for every hour it is plugged in unless the vehicle is below freezing. Most people can be charging for an average of 13 hours every weekday night for a minimum of 40 miles of range every weekday night and up to 75 miles of charge on each weekend day depending on how many hours you are home.
If you charge with the vehicle in well below freezing temperatures or you usually drive more than 1,200 miles a month you will want a level 2 (240V) charging cord. Alternatively you can occasionally top up the battery at a faster external level 2 charger or a DC fast charger.
Depends on your daily mileage. 110v is probably only adding 3 mph and it can be worse in the cold. If you have a PHEV thats nbd. If you have a BEV that can be a problem if you’re driving more than say 30 miles a day
I get 4 miles range per hour on my 2012 Prius phev. Are you not home 10 hours a day? Even if not, if you start the week with a full charge and go a few miles a day in deficit, you can top off on the weekend.
Many people can live on 120 only but its real nice to have 240 capability when you have a day where you drive more so you can actually catch up again. Like I could be fine on 120 most days, but some days I need that 240 to catch up when I drive over 100 miles in a day
I charge directly from a 220. I just had to buy the leve 2 charger that fit.
I have a model 3 and I use a normal outlet with an extension cord. I get 5mi an hour, which is easily 60mi overnight. I only use superchargers when I go on a long road trip.
Yes, you can charge off a 220. Yes, it will be not only faster than a 110, but it will be fast enough to be a full solution for anyone but a heavy commuter who also doesn’t spend much time at home (e.g., 120 mile commute and you regularly don’t get home until 10pm and you leave at 7 am). You may need to buy adapters and charging cord depending on the car you buy and what it comes with. But fundamentally if you can park your car at home near a 220 outlet, you are going to be set. For convenience and some safety, many folks will suggest getting a dedicated EV charger installed The Tesla dedicated wall charger is $475, so if you go the Tesla route, you should almost definitely just have one of those installed. Or get the universal version for $595. Even if you have a Tesla, visitors who drive EVs can easily top up during a visit.
Wow, yeah, first, everything you’ve heard is wrong. The lemmings will tell you that you need a 50A circuit to an RV park socket with costly 6/3 Romex with a pointless neutral wire “oh and then you’ll need a service upgrade” LOL NO.
However Technology Connections has the video for you. I like the part where he’s waving around yellow 12/2 Romex (around 32:55). That basically summarizes my position on it: that most people are afraid of buying an EV because they think they’ll need a service upgrade to power it.
Nah, the outlet and a compatible cord is fine in nearly every application
If you get a PHEV you’re more than capable of utilizing a 120v outlet over night. 220v would be more for higher charging speeds.
You need an EVSE (commonly confused with a charger) that is compatible with the plug type, regardless of voltage. A level 1 (110) EVSE usually comes with the car, and those sometimes have comparability with level 2 (220) via an interchangeable plug adapter.
A level 1 (110) EVSE usually comes with the car, and those sometimes have comparability with level 2 (220) via an interchangeable plug adapter.
This is a bit of a broad statement. About half of EVs (and since Tesla is one of them, about 75% of total cars) don’t come with any EVSE by default without an extra charge.
So you have to pay an extra charge to get a charger that will charge your car. English language fun.
And that means buying the cheapie plug-in travel unit is rather foolish, since the cost of that + quality non-melting socket + mandatory GFCI breaker is more than the cost of many hard-wired wall units, which will give a better experience overall. Further, the wall unit can be configured to ANY speed, and so can work on most any service panel. Even if your panel is 100% subscribed, a few hundred dollars more gets you a clamp ammeter kit so certain wall units can auto-adjust EV speed so panel overload is impossible.
I basically have 220V outlet already setup in my garage, so you are saying all I need is a cable? No need for the wall mounted charger?