Ford Mobile Charger

[TaxmanHog]

Now that I have a 6/6 build date, it's time to get the plans off the drawing board and implement.

Plan 1, second 200 amp service drop to our stand-alone garage, 200 amp LC with circuit for the Ford Charger Pro and the rest of garage loads move to the new panel, then remove existing 2 x 15amp wiring coming from the house.

Plan 2, if the utility refuses to allow a second service drop to our property, then we need a 100 to 400 upgrade on our house feed line, all new service entrance on the house, 200 amp upgrade inside the house, then a 200 amp second tap (through an external in cabinet 200 amp breaker) to new underground conduit from house to garage, then another 200 amp load center in the garage, servicing all garage loads and the new Ford Charger Pro.

Either way is going to cost a lot and absorb the value of my federal credit!

Anyone else out there considering a second service drop?

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[Ken]

try angie's list in your area. There are usually some electricians on there who are just starting out and looking for work. We have a ton of houses going up in our area so you are totally spot on about not being able to find someone for a "small job"

 

[beatle]

For those thinking they may want to charge TWO EVs at the same time in the future, there is another option to having tons of capacity in the garage - using EVSEs that allow two on the same circuit, share the power, and balance the need.

One such charger is the JuiceBox. If you have two identical model JuiceBox EVSEs (I have the JB48), they work together to determine if both vehicles need to be charged, and either provide half the capacity for a period of time, or if one vehicle is done charging give all the capacity to the other vehicle.

Per JB, the EVSEs will default to 6amps, then check for sharing. If one car is already charging, the 2nd one will start at 8amps, then ramp up to 50% while the first car ramps down to 50%. This is done via a "Load Group".

I bought the JB48 exactly for this reason, because when I buy another EV, I can buy another EVSE (JB48) for well about $150 since my utility company provides a $500 rebate.

This is a good non-Tesla option if you don't plan to charge at more than 9kw. You can still charge a Tesla on these with a J1772 adapter, and those adapters are less expensive than the TeslaTap to go from a Tesla HPWC to a J1772 vehicle.

 

[PA Lightning]

Now that I have a 6/6 build date, it's time to get the plans off the drawing board and implement.

Plan 1, second 200 amp service drop to our stand-alone garage, 200 amp LC with circuit for the Ford Charger Pro and the rest of garage loads move to the new panel, then remove existing 2 x 15amp wiring coming from the house.

Plan 2, if the utility refuses to allow a second service drop to our property, then we need a 100 to 400 upgrade on our house feed line, all new service entrance on the house, 200 amp upgrade inside the house, then a 200 amp second tap (through an external in cabinet 200 amp breaker) to new underground conduit from house to garage, then another 200 amp load center in the garage, servicing all garage loads and the new Ford Charger Pro.

Either way is going to cost a lot and absorb the value of my federal credit!

Anyone else out there considering a second service drop?

Glad you finally got a build date. Congratulations.

 

[shutterbug]

One such charger is the JuiceBox.

Another is Wallbox Pulsar Plus. Inexclicably, ChargePoint people made an assumption that you will never buy more than one EVSE, so of course, no power sharing.

 

[jefro]

Why do you need 200A in the garage?

Pretty sure if you can drop a new 200 you can replace to 400 but it could cost a lot if you have underground and transformer is a long way away. Overhead ought to be simple.

 

[Beans]

Now that I have a 6/6 build date, it's time to get the plans off the drawing board and implement.

Plan 1, second 200 amp service drop to our stand-alone garage, 200 amp LC with circuit for the Ford Charger Pro and the rest of garage loads move to the new panel, then remove existing 2 x 15amp wiring coming from the house.

Plan 2, if the utility refuses to allow a second service drop to our property, then we need a 100 to 400 upgrade on our house feed line, all new service entrance on the house, 200 amp upgrade inside the house, then a 200 amp second tap (through an external in cabinet 200 amp breaker) to new underground conduit from house to garage, then another 200 amp load center in the garage, servicing all garage loads and the new Ford Charger Pro.

Either way is going to cost a lot and absorb the value of my federal credit!

Anyone else out there considering a second service drop?

The utility service rules in my area say you can't get a second service unless the building is 150' away from the primary building. If you have similar rules, it may be plan 2.

 

[pstansel]

So moving to a new place since I first ordered my Lightning (next week). I've got 200amp service to the house and then a separate 100amp that services several of the outbuildings. Short term I'm getting a Nema 14-50 and a Charegpoint Home Flex since it's practically free after state rebates. I can run that off the 100amp I believe with no problems. Ultimately I have to decide what to do with the Ford charger. I'd need to upgrade that service to 200amp as well, and frankly it's buried wire and a super long run to the road. So I'd reaaaalllly prefer not to.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Why do you need 200A in the garage?

Pretty sure if you can drop a new 200 you can replace to 400 but it could cost a lot if you have underground and transformer is a long way away. Overhead ought to be simple.

The utilities pole mounted transformer is 125 feet from our house (at opposite corner of our corner lot) this transformer services 18 personal residences, a mix of new construction 200A and old 100A, That is another issue the utility might need to rebalance the 4 direction pole runs with a second transformer.

In addition to the two car garage, I have a work shop for my road & race motorcycles, planning to install HVAC in the work shop portion, that is where the additional capacity is going, along with compressor, machine tools, lathe, lighting, door openers, at the moment I'm struggling with 2 15amp feeds.

The house LC is 100amp at the moment, but I want to do Mini-splits in the house as well, if I am constrained to one pole to house feed, vs a second feed direct to the garage, then it will go through this 400 amp pan, with two 200 amp breakers, one to the house the second to 60 foot overhead or underground conduit to the stand alone garage.

Red is an existing over head 200a feeder to 200a meter to 100a LC, to change to 400a feed to 400a weatherhead/pan, split 200a to house and 200a to garage

Blue UG is proposed underground from house to garage

Blue A is proposed second service drop direct to the work shop/garage

 

[ShirBlackspots]

Now that I have a 6/6 build date, it's time to get the plans off the drawing board and implement.

Plan 1, second 200 amp service drop to our stand-alone garage, 200 amp LC with circuit for the Ford Charger Pro and the rest of garage loads move to the new panel, then remove existing 2 x 15amp wiring coming from the house.

Plan 2, if the utility refuses to allow a second service drop to our property, then we need a 100 to 400 upgrade on our house feed line, all new service entrance on the house, 200 amp upgrade inside the house, then a 200 amp second tap (through an external in cabinet 200 amp breaker) to new underground conduit from house to garage, then another 200 amp load center in the garage, servicing all garage loads and the new Ford Charger Pro.

Either way is going to cost a lot and absorb the value of my federal credit!

Anyone else out there considering a second service drop?

You should watch this video, as what you want to do is probably completely unnecessary (and this guy is a certified electrician)

 

[Amps]

(and this guy is a certified electrician)

Anither endorsement here for Dustin. I think he’s the best. I always appreciate his evangelism for electricians to professionally practice their craft.

 

[metroshot]

Thanks for the explanation. I don't plan on going on any long trips with the Lightning, but if I do, I now understand that you should take the Mobile Charger with you, just in case.

Yes, my PHEV, I have the OEM Honda charge cable for those times I travel outside my normal area like a road trip.

At my house, I have a L2 Duosida charge cord which works like a charm since day 1.

Now that I am getting the Lightning, I am asking my electrician to change the breakers from 20A to 50A so that both cars can charge using one common EVSE (included Ford charge cable) since both cars use J1772 charge heads.

 

[TaxmanHog]

You should watch this video, as what you want to do is probably completely unnecessary (and this guy is a certified electrician)

I understand what he is saying in the video, but we live in a 1946 Cape 900 sq ft with a 100 amp panel to start with, running a 80 amp continuous load to my Ford Charger Pro might be an issue with the city electrical inspector.

Granted, my highest energy using appliances in the house are, Fridge, Washing machine, steam boiler, microwave and 48" LED flat screen, I'm not shutting down the house to charge the truck!

So the plan includes upgrades to accommodates future proofing additional green mandates adopted by the Commonwealth of Mass Legislature a few years ago NET ZERO policies.

These rules are making it harder for us to replace aged natural gas equipment in our house, some day we will not be able to replace our gas fired range, cloths dryer or water heater, think about the amps involved with those upgrades.

My wife loves her gas appliances, but bureaucrats might get in our way, so I'm planning around these possibilities.

Then I have the detached garage with work shop and more power hungry equipment, it's not unreasonable to have an upgraded LC in the house for 200 amps, and then some how get 100 to 200 amps to the garage.

 

[VTbuckeye]

Yes, my PHEV, I have the OEM Honda charge cable for those times I travel outside my normal area like a road trip.

At my house, I have a L2 Duosida charge cord which works like a charm since day 1.

Now that I am getting the Lightning, I am asking my electrician to change the breakers from 20A to 50A so that both cars can charge using one common EVSE (included Ford charge cable) since both cars use J1772 charge heads.

If you use the charge station pro from an ER lightning it will likely not work with the phev due to the DC plugs that match up with the ccs type connector. Yes, they are both j1772, but the phev (unless it is an outlander phev) does not accept the ccs plug. If the evse is the portable 32 amp model with the lightning then you are all set once wired appropriately.

 

[metroshot]

If you use the charge station pro from an ER lightning it will likely not work with the phev due to the DC plugs that match up with the ccs type connector. Yes, they are both j1772, but the phev (unless it is an outlander phev) does not accept the ccs plug. If the evse is the portable 32 amp model with the lightning then you are all set once wired appropriately.

Yes I am aware - I ordered an SR Lariat which comes with standard Ford J1772 mobile charger.

I am planning on using the Ford charger with both vehicles.

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