6.6 kw onboard needs what at home?

[mathprofcarrie]

Hey all,
Upgrading my lease (hopefully) from a 2012 to a 2015 SV. I had the evse 240 v upgrade from here, so I have that on my house. What do I need on my house to take advantage of the 6.6kw onboard charger on the 2015?
Thank you!
C

 

[DuncanCunningham]

Your current one will work just fine, but to get the increased rate you'll need a new, higher AMPS, station to take advantage of that 6.6kwh charger in the car. Do you know what the circuit the current adapter is on.. is it a 40amp, 30amp?

 

[LeftieBiker]

If your EVSE upgrade is set to 16 amps, you may want a higher amperage (40 amp) circuit to supply a 30 amp charging station. If you have a 30 amp circuit now, you can also just get a 24 amp station like a Clipper Creek HCS-30, and that will let the car charge almost as fast as it can, without having to upgrade the wiring.

 

[mathprofcarrie]

Are the prongs the same on the EVSE upgrade from the guy here (forgive me, I don't remember his name, but he did the modification) and on the 2015 onboard equipment? I am pretty sure we have a 40 amp box, but I'll have the hubby check.

I appreciate the quick response.
Wish me luck on the final lease details.
C

 

[LeftieBiker]

If I understand the question, you have a 240 volt outlet, and are using a 240 volt plug on the EVSE upgrade? There are several kinds of 240 volt plug, but there are adapters for the EVSE upgrade to match them, and you can get a new charging station with the plug you need hardwired to the cable for that. We can't give a more specific answer without a picture, or at least a detailed description, of the outlet you have.

Good luck on the lease. They have gotten much worse than in 2013, unless you plan to buy the car when it ends, because the residuals have gone from "too high for Nissan's good" to "too low for the lessee's good."

 

[wmcbrine]

Doesn't the EVSE Upgrade max out at 16 amps? You might need a different (30+ amp) EVSE to take full advantage of the 6.6 kW charger.

 

[LeftieBiker]

One version maxes out at 16, the other at 20 amps, I think. If this is plugged into a dryer outlet, the circuit is probably rated at 30 amps, of which you can only use 24 continuously. That's why I suggested a 24 amp EVSE.

 

[mathprofcarrie]

Ahh, okay - I am going to online shop for this today, so I'll be reading the forums carefully!

While I'm reading, I'll give an update on that lease deal. I got lucky.
Thank you!

 

[mathprofcarrie]

Doesn't the EVSE Upgrade max out at 16 amps? You might need a different (30+ amp) EVSE to take full advantage of the 6.6 kW charger.

Okay - my fault in translating what he wanted to know. I guess hubby is okay with changing out the outlet and moving up in amperage. As long as the 6.6 kW charger is okay with it. What would you move up to if you wanted to take full advantage? He just doesn't want to burn anything out.

 

[91040]

40A circuit
30A EVSE

 

[GRA]

Doesn't the EVSE Upgrade max out at 16 amps? You might need a different (30+ amp) EVSE to take full advantage of the 6.6 kW charger.

Okay - my fault in translating what he wanted to know. I guess hubby is okay with changing out the outlet and moving up in amperage. As long as the 6.6 kW charger is okay with it. What would you move up to if you wanted to take full advantage? He just doesn't want to burn anything out.

You'll need a 240V circuit rated at a minimum of 40 amps (32 amps continuous rating) along with an EVSE rated at 30-32 amps to take full advantage of the 6.6 kW on board charger. Your service entrance has to be able to handle the total load. For future proofing to handle a BEV with a larger battery and faster charger, if your service entrance can handle it (or you're willing to upgrade it now), installing a 50 amp circuit (40 amps continuous) isn't a bad idea.

Some people with Tesla Model S and dual on-board chargers have installed 100 amp circuits (80 amps continuous), but that will probably require at least a 200 amp service entrance and possibly more (I'm not current on what the National Electrical Code requires, and your local jurisdiction may be more restrictive than the NEC). In any case, for home use I consider an 80 AMP EVSE overkill for most people, as 40 amps should be more than enough to give you a full charge overnight on any likely battery pack, barring a frequent need to take long trips back-to-back.

 

[smkettner]

Okay - my fault in translating what he wanted to know. I guess hubby is okay with changing out the outlet and moving up in amperage. As long as the 6.6 kW charger is okay with it. What would you move up to if you wanted to take full advantage? He just doesn't want to burn anything out.

The 6.6kW charger is fine with any standard J1772 EVSE. Less power just charges slower. More than 6.6kW just does not get used. If charging starts at 10 pm do you really need it charged by 1 am? or is 4 am OK?

You don't just change an outlet and get more power. The entire circuit must be upgraded back to the main breaker panel. 40 amp 240 volt supply allows an evse up to 32 amps (7.68 kW) as 80% of supply is what is allowed. 30amp =24 amp evse (5.76 kW). 20amp = 16amp Evse (3.84 kW). Any of these will work fine and have you fully charged every morning.

 

[billg]

Okay - my fault in translating what he wanted to know. I guess hubby is okay with changing out the outlet and moving up in amperage. As long as the 6.6 kW charger is okay with it. What would you move up to if you wanted to take full advantage? He just doesn't want to burn anything out.

The 6.6kW charger is fine with any standard J1772 EVSE. Less power just charges slower. More than 6.6kW just does not get used. If charging starts at 10 pm do you really need it charged by 1 am? or is 4 am OK?

You don't just change an outlet and get more power. The entire circuit must be upgraded back to the main breaker panel. 40 amp 240 volt supply allows an evse up to 32 amps (7.68 kW) as 80% of supply is what is allowed. 30amp =24 amp evse (5.76 kW). 20amp = 16amp Evse (3.84 kW). Any of these will work fine and have you fully charged every morning.

I agree with this post. Try your current ESVE for a while before spending any money on an upgrade. Unless you have a real need to top off your charge during the day, you should be fine.

 

[tkdbrusco]

I too would say that you're probably better off to just make do with the current EVSE upgrade you have. Like others have said, you'll need a dual 40A breaker and sufficient power at the box to handle it, although I think in most cases you are charging at night and usually you're ok in this department. You'll need a NEMA 14-50 plug as well and most 30A EVSEs will need to be close to the outlet to plug into it, you can order and attach a longer cord to some of them (up to 10 ft is the longest I found) but I don't think it will be up to code that way. Also another big thing to check is that is whether they ran at least 8 gauge wire to the current outlet. They may have ran 10 gauge because of the 16A needs of the current charger, if they did do this, you will not be able to use it for a 30A EVSE because the 10 gauge wire is only rated for 24A of continuous draw. If you are in a re-wiring situation, I wouldn't bother if I were you. There is a clipper creek unit that is 20A, which can use the 10 gauge wire, but 20A isn't much faster than what you already have.

 

[LeftieBiker]

The big advantage for the 6.6kw charger is in "opportunity charging" away from home. When you only want to be plugged in for 15-60 minutes, having twice the charging speed really makes a difference.

 

[mathprofcarrie]

The big advantage for the 6.6kw charger is in "opportunity charging" away from home. When you only want to be plugged in for 15-60 minutes, having twice the charging speed really makes a difference.

It does make a difference. Away, but at home too, because I tend to max out the range with my commute. Sometimes I want to go back out but can't right away. Or I forgot to plug in and need to run an errand.

Okay, I think I hear what you all are saying. I'll have to compare cost to see if it is worth paying for a evse with the lowest recharge time.