Trying to determine which EVSE to get

When building my house, I told the electrician to wire it for an EVSE. They ran #10 wire and put a 30A breaker on it. I think I can probably get away with putting in a 40A breaker. I like the Juicebox with the wireless, but it is marked for 40A. Does it draw that amount, or is it just capable of it? I thought I read that it could be dialed back. My next option is a Seimens, which also has WiFi connectivity.

No, do not put a 40 amp breaker on 10 gauge wiring for an EVSE. That circuit can safely support charging at 24 amps, not 32, and definitely not 40.

You want a Clipper Creek LCS30 or equivalent. Yes it will charge your car plenty fast.

https://store.clippercreek.com/all-products/lcs-30-24-amp-ev-charging-station

Otherwise you wanted a 50 amp circuit installed.

ArmyMutt64A said:

When building my house, I told the electrician to wire it for an EVSE. They ran #10 wire and put a 30A breaker on it. I think I can probably get away with putting in a 40A breaker. I like the Juicebox with the wireless, but it is marked for 40A. Does it draw that amount, or is it just capable of it? I thought I read that it could be dialed back. My next option is a Seimens, which also has WiFi connectivity.

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#10 wire is only good for 20A intermittent. For a EVES then you are limited to 80% or 16A. It should have a 20A double pole breaker, not 30A.

Basically the evse broadcasts the maximum current and the car takes what it needs. If you have a Leaf with the enhanced charger then it will try to draw 27.5A and seriously overload the wiring. A basic S or a 2012 or earlier Leaf will draw 16A and that is fine.

#10 copper is good for 30 amperes by NEC so the 30-ampere 2-pole breaker and wire are suitable for 24 amperes continuous. I personally prefer to use larger wire than minimum Code requirement to minimize heating (especially at breaker and equipment terminals) for circuits that are likely to have continuous heavy loads. As others have already noted, the #10 wire is not suitable for a 40-ampere breaker--DO NOT CHANGE THE BREAKER (unless you also replace the wire and receptacle).

Gerry

GlennD said:

ArmyMutt64A said:

When building my house, I told the electrician to wire it for an EVSE. They ran #10 wire and put a 30A breaker on it. I think I can probably get away with putting in a 40A breaker. I like the Juicebox with the wireless, but it is marked for 40A. Does it draw that amount, or is it just capable of it? I thought I read that it could be dialed back. My next option is a Seimens, which also has WiFi connectivity.

Click to expand...

#10 wire is only good for 20A intermittent. For a EVES then you are limited to 80% or 16A. It should have a 20A double pole breaker, not 30A.

Basically the evse broadcasts the maximum current and the car takes what it needs. If you have a Leaf with the enhanced charger then it will try to draw 27.5A and seriously overload the wiring. A basic S or a 2012 or earlier Leaf will draw 16A and that is fine.

Click to expand...

Glenn, you are off a gauge. You are describing #12 wire. #10 wire is NEC rated for a 30 amp circuit breaker and at 24 amps continuous.

You are absolutely right . #10 should have a 30A breaker and it is good for 30A intermittently. For EVSE use it is limited to 24A (80% of 30A).
I know the JuiceBox can be set to 30A with the pot at zero ohms but I am not sure it can be set to less. It needs to be set to 24A.

Call E works and ask. The Juice box can be set to whatever output you want . I think it can be set as low as 200 watts. call them, it is a nice portable ,small , easy to install, easy to use. EVSE....
https://emotorwerks.com/

I think I'm just going to tell the builder that I asked for a 220V circuit for a charging station, and I expect their electrician to know what to do. We'll see how that plays out. Otherwise, I'll just have one installed.

That's 240 volts in the US, these days.

ArmyMutt64A said:

I think I'm just going to tell the builder that I asked for a 220V circuit for a charging station, and I expect their electrician to know what to do. We'll see how that plays out. Otherwise, I'll just have one installed.

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Seems silly not to ask for the correct amperage that you desire but to each their own. A good electrician would respond with what EVSE you going to use so I can install the proper circuit.

Probably the most versatile J1772 EVSE on the market:

J-Wall, based on the Tesla second generation HPWC "Wall Connector" is probably the most capable J1772 charge stations on the market:

http://shop.quickchargepower.com/J-Wall-Premium-80A-Wall-Mounted-J1772-Charging-Station-JWALL80A.htm

1) Up to 4 units on one circuit

2) A simple rotary knob is used to program the circuit amp rating for the master unit. All the remaining units are "slaves".

3) Capable of 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72 and 80 amps

4) Lowest cost 80 amp capable unit on the market (there aren't very many anyway!)

5) Easy to link together... just a simple 4 conductor communication cable. We recommend 2 twisted pairs in shielded cables.

6) Available with 23 or 8 feet cable lengths

7) Plug temperature monitoring (nobody else does this)

8) Looks good!

So I am hoping to future proof my home EVSE setup. I purchased a home and want to install a Tesla wall charger as I hope to have a Model S sometime next year or 2018.

Right now I have a Leaf and am considering a Rav4 EV as well. The Leaf is a 2011 with the 3.3 kWh onboard charger. The RAV4 is 10kWh and the tesla would be up to 72 amp onboard charger.

Can I install the Tesla wall connector on a 90 or 100 amp circuit and would the Leaf and RAV4 know to only pull the maximum amount of power from the EVSE for each car or does the wall connector need to be setup to only allow one set current?

Right now I charge at work on 240v 6.6kWh and the Leaf obviously only pulls 3.3. I f I have the RAV4 would it blow the charge station because of the ability to take up to 10kWh or would it still only charge at 6.6 kWh?

Right now I only charge using the 110v portable brick. It does the trick for my commute but with the higher capacity vehicles I plan to use the car almost exclusively.

It is always OK to have more power available. Same as at home when you plug in a lamp that takes 1 amp. The 15a circuit does not make it explode.

If the EVSE supply is small then it tells the car to go slow. So either way there is no issue.

50 amp circuit and 40 amp EVSE should work fine in normal conditions to have any vehicle charged overnight.

The RAV4 EV can't physically pull more than 40 amps, regardless of the amp setting of the charger station.

If you only want 40 amps, just set the J-Wall for 40 amps and use a 50 amp circuit breaker. But, of course, it will be perfectly fine on a 100 amp breaker with an 80 amp setting. You will be wise to use 3 gauge copper wire.

LeftieB is correct. You will burn down your house . Wire size is the limiting factor..and the breakers job is to limit the current to match the wire.. not the load ( charger/battery) !

You have choices. Either run a new circuit with bigger wire.. if you want to charge at the 6.6 KwH rate
or use a smaller EVSE.. that matches your existing wiring. The good news is that the smaller EVSE's are now "obsolete"
and available cheap used.. and they will work just fine. If you are sleeping does it matter if your car charges in 5 hours or 8 ?

Now.. if you ARE going to put in new wire.. put in # 6 wire.. for a 60 amp circuit.. and buy the biggest Clipper Creek you can get
an HSC-60 ( 48 amp 240v). Then you will be all set for the next generation of 200 mile cars with batteries twice the size of the new
leaf. you might lower your standards and help a tesla person out.. just don't expect them to be grateful !

LeftieB is correct. You will burn down your house . Wire size is the limiting factor..and the breakers job is to limit the current to match the wire.. not the load ( charger/battery) !

You have choices. Either run a new circuit with bigger wire.. if you want to charge at the 6.6 KwH rate
or use a smaller EVSE.. that matches your existing wiring. The good news is that the smaller EVSE's are now "obsolete"
and available cheap used.. and they will work just fine. If you are sleeping does it matter if your car charges in 5 hours or 8 ?

Now.. if you ARE going to put in new wire.. put in # 6 wire.. for a 60 amp circuit.. and buy the biggest Clipper Creek you can get
an HSC-60 ( 48 amp 240v). Then you will be all set for the next generation of 200 mile cars with batteries twice the size of the new
leaf. you might lower your standards and help a tesla person out.. just don't expect them to be grateful !