Do NOT Plug a 48A Connector into a 50A outlet to charge your EV.

[Ostrichsak]

I've seen a couple of people in various threads now mention having a NEMA 14-50 outlet and plugging a 48A mobile connector into this to charge their Lightning at 48A @ 240v. Do NOT do this.

A 20% buffer of whatever the circuit is rated at needs to be left for safety. This means that since a NEMA 14-50 receptacle is 50A @ 240v you want to keep your charge rate at or below 40A. Anything above that is dangerous and is asking for trouble. Having a 50A breaker doesn't mean you can run 48A. To safely run a 48A charge you'd need a 60A circuit for the proper safety margin.

I was going to reply directly to the posts I saw but this is a fundamental tenant of EV ownership and a safety concern that needs to be seen by anyone who's newer to the concept. I think this forum will have a lot of members new to EVs so it's an important message that needs to be heard.

While we're on the subject, make sure that whomever installs your EV charger outlet does so properly. Many of the melted receptacle stories you read about are caused by a receptacle that was carelessly installed. The lugs need to be fully secured to prevent the wires from loosening over time & charge/heat cycles creating resistance that will cause excess heat.

The absolute last thing I want to read about is another "EV causing a fire" when it's super rare and almost always caused by operator error of some sort that could have been avoided.

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[RickLightning]

What do you do about 14-50 outlet? A 14-60 outlet appears to have a different pin arrangement

A 60amp breaker should have a hardwired charger, not a plug-in charger. There should not be a 48amp charger with a plug.

 

[PA Lightning]

Good posts Ostrichsak and RickLightning. Problem is with a lot of newbies to the EV world, like me, is we don't know what we don't know. I was able to get enough info from this form to get a general understanding of the different chargers and their requirements.

After reading the forum for about a year, I decided to use the Ford Mobil Charger with a NEMA 1450. The cable I had installed is 6/3 with a ground using a 50a breaker. That has working fine, but if I find I need more juice, I will have the electrician hard wire a 48a and swap the breaker to a 60a.

Keep up the good work fellows.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Good posts Ostrichsak and RickLightning. Problem is with a lot of newbies to the EV world, like me, is we don't know what we don't know. I was able to get enough info from this form to get a general understanding of the different chargers and their requirements.

After reading the forum for about a year, I decided to use the Ford Mobil Charger with a NEMA 1450. The cable I had installed is 6/3 with a ground using a 50a breaker. That has working fine, but if I find I need more juice, I will have the electrician hard wire a 48a and swap the breaker to a 60a.

Keep up the good work fellows.

Thanks. Just trying to pay it forward since I was once a n00b to all of this stuff and people provided useful info and experience at points along my journey.

Your electrician will likely have to replace the wire between the new wall connector and the breaker too. This is the part of the install that can add anywhere from hundreds of dollars to thousands depending on the length of the run and if there are any complications involved with pulling it.

You may also have considerations for your panel size and a load calc may be needed to assure that you've got the room (not necessarily physically) to add the amount of amperage draw you're considering.

Just some things to be aware of for consideration.

 

[PA Lightning]

Thanks. Just trying to pay it forward since I was once a n00b to all of this stuff and people provided useful info and experience at points along my journey.

Your electrician will likely have to replace the wire between the new wall connector and the breaker too. This is the part of the install that can add anywhere from hundreds of dollars to thousands depending on the length of the run and if there are any complications involved with pulling it.

You may also have considerations for your panel size and a load calc may be needed to assure that you've got the room (not necessarily physically) to add the amount of amperage draw you're considering.

Just some things to be aware of for consideration.

Thanks for the heads up. I have a 400amp service to my house, so the electrician said using a 60a in one of the panels is no problem

 

[TaxmanHog]

Pinned thread!!

 

[lancersrock]

Thanks for the heads up. I have a 400amp service to my house, so the electrician said using a 60a in one of the panels is no problem

400!!! Here I am with what I thought was 100 amp service until the electrician told me the socket meter is actually only good for about 80 (old). Why do you have such a large incoming service?

 

[Ostrichsak]

Thanks for the heads up. I have a 400amp service to my house, so the electrician said using a 60a in one of the panels is no problem

400A service, huh? Nobody likes a braggard.

Seriously though, we built this house about 16 years ago and it's a pretty nice place but the one thing I didn't know was to question the electrical service they were putting in. Since it's a ranch and we only finished the ground level they ran just enough to provide the bare minimum required to meet our needs (long before EVs were a consideration) which resulted in a both a 100A service and main panel. Ugh. If I wanted to put even one more 15A circuit in it would quite literally cost many thousands of dollars and lively surpassing the $10k mark, all told.

That's probably accurate as long as there's room in your panel too and not just your service. Sounds like you've got a system that was planned for expansion and, thus, far more future-proof than our current setup. Color me peanut butter and jelly.

 

[RickLightning]

Thanks for the heads up. I have a 400amp service to my house, so the electrician said using a 60a in one of the panels is no problem

Just to be clear, you need to make sure the wiring between the breaker and the charger is sized for 60amps.

I put in a 60 amp circuit. Electrician wanted to use 3 conductor wire, I made them use 4 conductor wire in case I ever want to put in an outlet instead (which would require a 50amp breaker, and downsizing to 40amps max for charging).

 

[Pioneer74]

Just to be clear, you need to make sure the wiring between the breaker and the charger is sized for 60amps.

I put in a 60 amp circuit. Electrician wanted to use 3 conductor wire, I made them use 4 conductor wire in case I ever want to put in an outlet instead (which would require a 50amp breaker, and downsizing to 40amps max for charging).

You used a multi-conductor cable? Is it 4 AWG?

 

[RickLightning]

You used a multi-conductor cable? Is it 4 AWG?

Yes.

 

[metroshot]

200A service and was very easy to hardwire dual 60A breakers for my 48A EVSE.

Over the summer, I have checked the cable temps and the 25" side gets warmer than the 1' 240V feed side.

Even charging at 110+ degree temps the charger has been able to delivery 11kW and never pulled back nor shut down.

And it's double duty charger - my wife's PHEV daily charger and my Lightning once a week charger...

Hats off to Emporia's 48A UL listed EVSE!

 

[bmwhitetx]

Your electrician will likely have to replace the wire between the new wall connector and the breaker too. This is the part of the install that can add anywhere from hundreds of dollars to thousands depending on the length of the run and if there are any complications involved with pulling it.

Just to be clear, you need to make sure the wiring between the breaker and the charger is sized for 60amps.

Correct. @PA Lightning says he has #6 already. If the wire is THW, THWN , THWN-2 or THHN in conduit, then that is good for a 60A breaker. If it's Romex, aka NM-B then it is not. Romex only good for 55A. Good chart here:
https://www.cerrowire.com/products/resources/tables-calculators/ampacity-charts/

 

[lancersrock]

400A service, huh? Nobody likes a braggard.

Seriously though, we built this house about 16 years ago and it's a pretty nice place but the one thing I didn't know was to question the electrical service they were putting in. Since it's a ranch and we only finished the ground level they ran just enough to provide the bare minimum required to meet our needs (long before EVs were a consideration) which resulted in a both a 100A service and main panel. Ugh. If I wanted to put even one more 15A circuit in it would quite literally cost many thousands of dollars and lively surpassing the $10k mark, all told.

That's probably accurate as long as there's room in your panel too and not just your service. Sounds like you've got a system that was planned for expansion and, thus, far more future-proof than our current setup. Color me peanut butter and jelly.

Hows that working with charging 2 evs? (guessing based on your sig).

 

[jimfigler]

Just to be clear, you need to make sure the wiring between the breaker and the charger is sized for 60amps.

I put in a 60 amp circuit. Electrician wanted to use 3 conductor wire, I made them use 4 conductor wire in case I ever want to put in an outlet instead (which would require a 50amp breaker, and downsizing to 40amps max for charging).

There are a lot chargers out there that use a 6-50 plug.

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