Seemingly inexpensive NEMA 14/50 option may have just gotten pretty expensive afterall

[MD56]

Have spent the last few days doing research on what the best charging option would be for my home. Was feeling pretty good about the NEMA 14/50 + Ford Mobile Charger option.

• Already have a run of 240v in my garage and not being used by anything
• 240v leg ends essentially in the exact location where I'd want to spot the charger
• Simple matter of replacing standard 3 prong 240v appliance outlet with a $10 NEMA 14/15

Well all those good vibes kind of evaporated when i took a peek at my electrical panel

• Hmm my 240v leg is running off of a 30amp breaker... Ford specs + Nema outlet are calling for a 50amp breaker and 6g conductor from the breaker to the outlet
• The location of my panel is in the farthest location from the garage as you can get with my house
• 6/3 Romex is like $5+ a foot currently ... rough calculation, that's about $500 just in wire cost!!!

It is what it is, but just kind of a gut punch because I'd thought I'd found a level 2 options on th cheap.

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[Pilot2022]

Have spent the last few days doing research on what the best charging option would be for my home. Was feeling pretty good about the NEMA 14/50 + Ford Mobile Charger option.

• Already have a run of 240v in my garage and not being used by anything
• 240v leg ends essentially in the exact location where I'd want to spot the charger
• Simple matter of replacing standard 3 prong 240v appliance outlet with a $10 NEMA 14/15

Well all those good vibes kind of evaporated when i took a peek at my electrical panel

• Hmm my 240v leg is running off of a 40amp breaker... Ford specs + Nema outlet are calling for a 50amp breaker and 6g conductor from the breaker to the outlet
• The location of my panel is in the farthest location from the garage as you can get with my house
• 8/3 Romex is roughly $5+ a foot currently ... rough calculation, that's about $500 just in wire cost!!!

It is what it is, but just kind of a gut punch because I'd thought I'd found a level 2 options on th cheap.

I would wait till more specs are published before making any decision + wire costs will come down as well.

 

[RedWilly11]

Have spent the last few days doing research on what the best charging option would be for my home. Was feeling pretty good about the NEMA 14/50 + Ford Mobile Charger option.

• Already have a run of 240v in my garage and not being used by anything
• 240v leg ends essentially in the exact location where I'd want to spot the charger
• Simple matter of replacing standard 3 prong 240v appliance outlet with a $10 NEMA 14/15

Well all those good vibes kind of evaporated when i took a peek at my electrical panel

• Hmm my 240v leg is running off of a 40amp breaker... Ford specs + Nema outlet are calling for a 50amp breaker and 6g conductor from the breaker to the outlet
• The location of my panel is in the farthest location from the garage as you can get with my house
• 8/3 Romex is roughly $5+ a foot currently ... rough calculation, that's about $500 just in wire cost!!!

It is what it is, but just kind of a gut punch because I'd thought I'd found a level 2 options on th cheap.

I feel you! I recently had an electrician install a 50Amp breaker and run that expensive wire towards my garage door for a 240V receptacle. My total bill was $580 for the wire, the 50amp breaker, also had to get 2 2x20 breakers, and labor.

Hopefully it'll all be worth it when this truck eventually gets here. My wife's car is a PHEV, so we are using that receptacle for her car in the meantime.

 

[EVBill]

Have spent the last few days doing research on what the best charging option would be for my home. Was feeling pretty good about the NEMA 14/50 + Ford Mobile Charger option.

• Already have a run of 240v in my garage and not being used by anything
• 240v leg ends essentially in the exact location where I'd want to spot the charger
• Simple matter of replacing standard 3 prong 240v appliance outlet with a $10 NEMA 14/15

Well all those good vibes kind of evaporated when i took a peek at my electrical panel

• Hmm my 240v leg is running off of a 40amp breaker... Ford specs + Nema outlet are calling for a 50amp breaker and 6g conductor from the breaker to the outlet
• The location of my panel is in the farthest location from the garage as you can get with my house
• 8/3 Romex is roughly $5+ a foot currently ... rough calculation, that's about $500 just in wire cost!!!

It is what it is, but just kind of a gut punch because I'd thought I'd found a level 2 options on th cheap.

Have spent the last few days doing research on what the best charging option would be for my home. Was feeling pretty good about the NEMA 14/50 + Ford Mobile Charger option.

• Already have a run of 240v in my garage and not being used by anything
• 240v leg ends essentially in the exact location where I'd want to spot the charger
• Simple matter of replacing standard 3 prong 240v appliance outlet with a $10 NEMA 14/15

Well all those good vibes kind of evaporated when i took a peek at my electrical panel

• Hmm my 240v leg is running off of a 40amp breaker... Ford specs + Nema outlet are calling for a 50amp breaker and 6g conductor from the breaker to the outlet
• The location of my panel is in the farthest location from the garage as you can get with my house
• 8/3 Romex is roughly $5+ a foot currently ... rough calculation, that's about $500 just in wire cost!!!

It is what it is, but just kind of a gut punch because I'd thought I'd found a level 2 options on th cheap.

You could use a charger that pulls 32 Amps maximum. The Ford mobile charger is only capable of pulling 32 Amps even though it has a NEMA 14-50 connector on it. You could also use something like a JuiceBox 32. The larger issue would be if what was run to your outlet contains both the neutral and the ground or not. Whatever charger you use, it is going to need both hot wires, a neutral and a ground. You will need to consult with an installation electrician to confirm.

 

[MD56]

Yeah without having to pull new wire i'm going to be capped at 30amps.

So that would be ok for a 14/15 outlet + the Ford mobile charger? Is there recommendation of a 50amp breaker assuming that other appliances may draw from that same run?

 

[Nick Gerteis]

You could use a charger that pulls 32 Amps maximum. The Ford mobile charger is only capable of pulling 32 Amps even though it has a NEMA 14-50 connector on it. You could also use something like a JuiceBox 32. The larger issue would be if what was run to your outlet contains both the neutral and the ground or not. Whatever charger you use, it is going to need both hot wires, a neutral and a ground. You will need to consult with an installation electrician to confirm.

My JuiceBox is plugged into a 14-50 receptacle that’s hooked up to only the two hot wires and the ground wire. No neutral. Works just fine. Probably not to code though.

 

[EVBill]

Yeah without having to pull new wire i'm going to be capped at 30amps.

So that would be ok for a 14/15 outlet + the Ford mobile charger? Is there recommendation of a 50amp breaker assuming that other appliances may draw from that same run?

You cannot use a breaker that is above the current rating of the cable installed. If the cable is 8 gauge copper, you will need to keep the circuit limited by the 40A breaker.

 

[jefro]

I'd ask how many miles do you expect to drive each day before you get too far along.

A lot of EVSE's have a jumper to adjust current. Not sure if the Ford 40A does or not.

In any case, I assume you could easily charge at 24A on a 30A circuit for your typical in town use.

I am able to replace 70 miles on a Bolt EV on 120VAC 12A overnight with time to spare. That would be about 30 F150 EV miles if my guess is somewhat close.

 

[EVBill]

My JuiceBox is plugged into a 14-50 receptacle that’s hooked up to only the two hot wires and the ground wire. No neutral. Works just fine. Probably not to code though.

I looked up the JuiceBox wiring and installation requirements on the enel X website and it indicates as a footnote "The neutral wire is not used, but may need to be present in the receptacle." It appears that only the two hot wires and the ground are present in the plug pigtail to the JuiceBox, so the neutral is not necessary. The issue would be if you were to plug anything else into the 14-50 receptacle that required a neutral and it was not present.

 

[Brian Head Yankee]

You don't need 50 amps of charging power. While you sleep for 10 hours a night you can top it off each night or charge it a full 10 hours as needed. Without knowing how many miles a day you drive, we can't provide an exact answer.

 

[biers]

Check to see if the wire is 10 gauge. If it is get a juicebox or ChargePoint flex that you can set for a max 24A draw. If you get lucky and find 8 gauge wire you can swap the breaker for a 40 and use the Ford EVSE at 32A.

This is what I’m doing. My garage had 2 30A 240 runs. Got a juicebox classic for $150 off Craigslist. Set it to max 24A and it’s been great. It’s only half as fast as the Lightning SR can charge. But it’s the cheapest way to go in your situation.

I’d agree to wait at this point. Once we know more about the 80A home
back up is when I plan to hire an electrician or do the work myself.

 

[Lippy]

I happened to be in Home Depot today. You are right, Romex has gotten *crazy* expensive.

 

[astricklin]

Isn't there a tax credit available for evse installation. Also state, local, and possibly utility incentives.
Even if there isn't.
Another 2k on top of a $40k+ vehicle shouldn't be a deal breaker.

 

[EVBill]

You could use a charger that pulls 32 Amps maximum. The Ford mobile charger is only capable of pulling 32 Amps even though it has a NEMA 14-50 connector on it. You could also use something like a JuiceBox 32. The larger issue would be if what was run to your outlet contains both the neutral and the ground or not. Whatever charger you use, it is going to need both hot wires, a neutral and a ground. You will need to consult with an installation electrician to confirm.

Looks like the original posting was edited to change the 40A breaker to a 30A breaker. In this case, you would need to install an EVSE that pulls 24A maximum if the wire between the 30A breaker and the outlet is 10 gauge instead of 8 gauge.

 

[Sklith]

Charging at 24A at home is nearly 6kW, that's not awful. You should be able to charge overnight as long as you haven't driven 150 miles or something.

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